Trudeau: Canadian attendance at Russian embassy event ‘unacceptable’
Article content material
OTTAWA — It was “completely unacceptable” that any Canadian consultant attended a celebration on the Russian Embassy in Ottawa final week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated Tuesday.
Article content material
“It by no means ought to have occurred, and we denounce it completely,” Trudeau stated throughout query interval within the Home of Commons when pressed by interim Conservative chief Candice Bergen.
The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday that Yasemin Heinbecker, the deputy chief of protocol at World Affairs Canada, had attended a celebration on the embassy final Friday to rejoice Russia Day.
Russia Day, which is widely known on June 12 yearly, is the nationwide vacation of the Russian Federation. It marks the adoption of a 1990 declaration that sparked constitutional reforms and in the end, the top of the Soviet period.
Bergen requested the prime minister Tuesday why a authorities that helps Ukraine would ship a consultant “to their enemy’s home to get pleasure from champagne and caviar.”
Article content material
Bergen stated she hoped Trudeau apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trudeau stated he spoke by phone with Zelenskyy for 45 minutes on Tuesday about Canada’s assist for the embattled nation that Russia invaded in February.
“President Zelenskyy and I had an especially constructive dialog the place this challenge didn’t come up, as a result of clearly there are way more vital points,” he stated.
On Monday, International Affairs Minister Melanie Joly informed the Home of Commons that she is offended in regards to the social gathering, and her division has apologized.
She informed reporters on Tuesday that she didn’t know Heinbecker was attending the social gathering upfront and that she didn’t search a proof from her workplace about why it was authorized, as a result of “I’d by no means have authorized it, so there’s no rationalization.”
Joly stated she had a “powerful dialog” along with her workers and deputy minister Monday, and that she has additionally spoken along with her Ukrainian counterpart.
In a tweet posted Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Canada stated the occasion was attended by Russian and Canadian media, “representatives of Canadian society” and World Affairs Canada.
It additionally stated Oleg Stepanov, Russia’s ambassador to Canada, gave a speech noting that June 12 additionally marks the eightieth anniversary of Russian-Canadian diplomatic relations.
