The Canadian government will face questions about its “confusing” stance on the Iran war when the House of Commons hosts a debate on the conflict tonight, according to former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.
“It’s still not clear about where Canada stands on the fundamental issue of the rule of law, which says aggression is an international crime,” Axworthy told CTV Your Morning on Monday. “I think that we should be much clearer and more forthright to say where we stand [on] that.”
Axworthy served as Canada’s top diplomat under former prime minister Jean Chretien between 1996 and 2000. While Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada does “not intend to engage” in attacks against Iran, his government still supports the effort “with regret” and is speaking with Persian Gulf states about providing military assistance to help them defend against retaliatory Iranian strikes.
Describing Canada’s response as “very confusing,” Axworthy says any military engagement would signal Canada’s clear involvement in the conflict.
“I think that that should be a major point of debate in the House of Commons tonight,” Axworthy explained. “You know, it’s the old slippery slope argument – once you’re into it, what’s the next step?”
Instead of providing military assistance, Axworthy says Canada should focus on helping end hostilities while also assisting and potentially getting Canadians out of the Middle East.
“It seems the United States has no clear direction of what it wants to do,” Axworthy said. “As a result, Canada should just do what it does best and help Canadians, which it’s supposed to do, and secondly, support what we can to provide an end to the fighting, because the casualties are growing and the damage is becoming exorbitant, so I think Canada could be playing more of a peacekeeper role.”
Axworthy draws parallels between the latest conflict in the Middle East and the Iraq war, when the Chretien government decided against joining the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
“In that discussion, one of the major factors in making the decision for the Chretien government was a number of Liberal members of Parliament made it very clear that they would not support that kind of involvement,” Axworthy explained. “I think the same opportunity may be happening tonight, but not just Liberal MPs, but MPs from all the parties.”
Axworthy also hopes Carney is treading carefully in his communications with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I think we should have alarm bells because if he gave Trump any indication that Canada was going to take further steps, Trump will just jump on that and begin to expect more and more,” Axworthy said. “And that’s the last thing you want to do with President Trump is give him any sense that he’s being endorsed.”
