Canadian Member of Parliament Melissa Lantsman criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney for retracting his support for the US and Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Speaking to JNS, Lantsman, the co-deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, pointed to Iran’s role in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in January 2020.
She noted that Iran “killed 55 Canadians in flight PS752," referring to the Ukrainian passenger plane that was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport.
A total of 176 people were killed in the incident, including 55 Canadian citizens.
“And there are people in our country questioning whether, you know, to line up with the bad guys in history," Lantsman said.
She noted she was initially encouraged by Carney’s earlier remarks supporting the removal of Iran’s ruling regime, but “then quickly, I don’t know, maybe they got some polling, maybe they got some pressure internally from their own cabal of, you know, insane actors that see the world in a very different way than you and I - and he’s decided to move away from that position."
Lantsman, who represents the Thornhill federal electoral district in Ontario, said the Conservative Party has maintained a consistent position since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“We support our allies in eradicating one of the world’s greatest threats to democracies, to [bring] order in the Middle East …, to stop the building of an arsenal of nuclear weapons," said Lantsman, who also reiterated a remark by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre that “If Israel was to destroy the nuclear capacity of Iran, it would be a gift."
She added that Canada has “elements within the Liberal Party who are very much in line with the US Democrats, probably in fact, you know, worse on the difference of right and wrong and moral clarity."
Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and as Prime Minister, has been criticized for some of his anti-Israel comments.
During an election campaign in Calgary last year, Carney was documented responding to a protester in the crowd who yelled, “Mr. Carney, there is a genocide happening in Palestine," by pausing and saying, “Thank you…I’m aware. Which is why we have an arms embargo."
Carney was later asked by reporters about the remark and walked it back, claiming that he had not heard the specific term “genocide" and was simply referencing existing arms restrictions imposed by the Canadian government.
“I didn’t hear that word," Carney said. “It’s noisy. If you’re up there you hear snippets of what people say and I heard Gaza, and my point was I’m aware of the situation in Gaza."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at Carney, saying, “Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney. But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state. Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible statement!"
Last summer, Carney announced that his government intends to recognize the “State of Palestine".
B'nai Brith Canada and a coalition of multicultural leaders later wrote a letter to Carney sounding the alarm over the move. The letter warned that such a move “could embarrass Canada, compound the crisis in the Middle East, and further push Israelis and Palestinians away from establishing a two-state solution."