(Ottawa) The participation of a senior official in a party at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa is a mistake, ruled Monday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.
Posted at 3:39 p.m.
“First of all, it should never have happened. Second, it won’t happen again,” she said during a press scrum in the foyer of the House of Commons, in reaction to these revelations reported by the Globe and Mail.
Mme Joly argued that the government’s intention is “clear from the start, which is to suffocate the Putin regime.”
Is there any value in maintaining a dialogue with Russia, the minister was asked.
“There is value in having an ambassador in Moscow,” she replied. And that’s why I met our ambassador in Moscow this morning to understand exactly what is happening on the ground, to understand what the reaction of the Russian people is. »
For the official opposition, “it is deplorable” that an official from Global Affairs Canada authorized the presence of the senior civil servant at the reception and Minister Joly should be accountable.
“Not only should she have known, she should have and she must take full responsibility for this senior official at the Russian Embassy,” said the Deputy Head of the Conservatives, Luc Berthold.
Russia’s actions in Ukraine are depriving “dozens of countries of the seeds necessary for their survival, […] will create a serious crisis in the world, […] is waging a war that has killed hundreds of civilians, thousands of civilians in Ukraine,” he noted.
“Totally unacceptable”
The presence of the civil servant at the party is in the circumstances “totally unacceptable” and “completely inappropriate”, declared Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure.
“It’s a matter of judgment at some point,” he explained. But when the device as such doesn’t make that kind of judgment in general, things like that can happen. »
Although he recognizes that the ministers are not aware of “everything”, Mr. Villemure said he believes that “there is a ministerial responsibility in this simply because the example has not been given”.
When he entered parliament, the deputy leader of the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice, mentioned that the fact that Canada has not severed its diplomatic ties with Russia does not justify such a presence at the festivities.
“The dialogue is still there,” he said. Was it necessary to go to a party? I think it’s quite insensitive in the current situation, when you look at the fate of Ukrainians and Ukrainians. »
Again on Friday, Global Affairs Canada repeated that it condemns “Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its sovereign and democratic neighbor, in violation of international law”.