Special adviser Ralph Goodale reports on Canada’s response to Iran plane crash

OTTAWA — Canada’s special adviser on Iran’s January shootdown of the Ukrainian Airlines jetliner that killed all 176 people on board is recommending special attention be paid to those who lost loved ones in the tragedy.

That is at the core of a series of recommendations in a lengthy report released today by former Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale, who was appointed by the government following the Jan. 8 downing of the passenger by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The exact cause of the shootdown has not been established, and Canada has lambasted Iran for its months-long delay in releasing the Boeing airliner’s flight recorders in an investigation that Tehran leads due to international aviation rules.

Those killed included 55 Canadian citizens and 30 Canadian permanent residents, and many others with ties to Canadian universities as well as nationals of Britain, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sweden.

A large part of Goodale’s mandate was to reach out to the families and loved ones of those who died in the crash after initial complaints that the government wasn’t taking their concerns seriously enough.

Goodale’s recommendations call for robust, early engagement with families to give them timely information, including a password-protected family web portal as part of an effort to combat fear, uncertainty and misinformation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2020.

The Canadian Press