Defense Minister David McGuinty said Monday that Canada “will not be involved” in a war with Iran after Prime Minister Mark Carney last week did not rule out the possibility of Canadian military involvement.
Speaking at an unrelated press event in Ottawa, McGuinty added that Canada has not yet decided to join its NATO allies in providing aid to the Persian Gulf countries attacked by Iran.
“Obviously the situation in Iran is very bad,” McGuinty told reporters. “It’s one we’ve been looking at from the beginning.
“It is important that Canadians know that Canada was not affected before the action taken by Israel and the United States.
McGuinty’s comments echoed the Prime Minister’s Office’s summary of a recent Sunday meeting of the government’s incident response group to discuss the situation in the Middle East, which McGuinty said he participated in on Monday.
“Canada has not been involved in, has not participated in, and has no plans to participate in the actions against Iran by the US and Israel,” the PMO said.
In Australia on March 4, Carney said the idea of Canada’s participation was a “basic idea” but said he would not “rule out participation” – especially if allies need to defend themselves.
Canada’s defense chief, Gen. Jennie Carignan told reporters at a defense and security conference in Ottawa last week that she and her NATO allies will meet to consider helping Gulf countries defend themselves against Iran’s bombings.
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He said the Canadian Armed Forces will present recommendations to the government after the meeting, which was held on Friday.
McGuinty said Monday that “a number of NATO members have decided to provide assistance to Iran’s closest neighbors.”
“Canada has not made such a decision,” he added. “It’s something we’re monitoring very carefully.”
A number of European countries including France and the United Kingdom have sent additional military assets to the region, including air defenses and warships.
McGuinty said Carignan and other NATO military leaders are monitoring the impact of the Iran war on the alliance’s military readiness and munitions, including how that might affect its ability to help the war in Ukraine.
The House of Commons was scheduled to hold a debate Monday evening on Canada’s response to the Iran war and its impact on Canadians abroad. Carney will not participate.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre earlier on Monday accused Carney of opposing Canada’s position, which Poilievre said no one understands.
Carney last week withdrew his first statement of support for Israeli and US strikes on Iran, saying the position was taken with “regret” for violations of international law.
Asked if he supported the US and Israeli strikes, Poilievre said the Conservatives supported returning “the terrorist regime of Iran to a democratically elected and peaceful regime,” despite conflicting statements from US officials about whether regime change was a war objective.
“Regarding Canada’s role in it, we are not aware of the specific requests received by the prime minister,” Poilievre added.
“If he has, we would encourage him to share that information with all Canadians so we can have a debate about what we should do.”
Poilievre said Canada should focus on what it can control at home, especially energy. He said the Conservatives want an urgent debate on how the conflict affects global power and how Canada can help resolve the issue.
McGuinty said the federal government, for now, remains focused on the safety of Canadians in the Middle East and facilitating transportation out of the region for those who wish to travel.
“The situation is bad,” he said. “It’s one that’s evolving, one that’s repetitive, one that’s hard to predict. So, as DND (Department of National Defence) and the Canadian Armed Forces, we’re looking at it very closely, and in fact, we met with the Incident Response Team yesterday with the prime minister and five or six ministers to review the situation.”
Global Affairs Canada said on Sunday, of the nearly 110,000 Canadians registered with the government in the Middle East, 9,185 have applied for aid and 5,185 have asked for help to leave the region.
The government has been using multiple means of transportation, including booking commercial airline seats and ground transportation, to evacuate people. Iranians are forced to go to neighboring countries where they can get diplomatic help.
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