The office of Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly knew that a senior ministry official would attend a party at the Russian embassy in Ottawa last Friday and was forced to apologize by the Prime Minister’s Office. Two senior government sources said Ms. Jolie’s office had been informed before the party that Jasmine Heinbecker, the deputy chief of World Political Protocol, would be attending the Russia Day celebrations. However, a spokesman for the minister said Ms Jolie herself did not know and only learned after The Globe story was made public. The federal government has been under fire for having a spokesman for the Russian embassy since Ottawa has repeatedly spoken of the need for political and diplomatic isolation of Moscow following the start of its military offensive in Ukraine in February. The Globe did not identify the two sources as they were not authorized to discuss the matter in public. One source said that only after senior officials at the Privy Council and the Prime Minister’s Office intervened did they tell Ms Joly and Global Affairs to apologize and not to attend another Russian event as the war in Ukraine continues. Prime Minister Justin Trinto and his top group of political and bureaucratic advisers were in Los Angeles for the US Summit and were surprised by the decision of the World Affairs Committee to send an official to the event, the Russian embassy said. Canada apologizes for sending an official to the Russian embassy National Security and Intelligence Adviser Jodi Thomas, Foreign and Defense Policy Adviser Dan Costello and PMO Senior Adviser Patrick Travers became involved in the issue on Sunday following condemnation by the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress and its main opposition parties. Global Affairs in a statement on Friday defended Ms. Heinbecker’s mission at the event hosted by Russian Ambassador Oleg Stepanov. Hours after The Globe first published the story on Sunday, Ms. Jolie’s section issued an apology for sending a spokeswoman to the party to celebrate a country accused of war crimes in Ukraine. Later Sunday afternoon, Ms. Joly said on Twitter that the department should not have sent anyone to the event and that “no representative of Canada will attend this kind of event again.” Jolie’s office said the minister herself was unaware of Canada’s participation in the Russian embassy party. “I can guarantee you did not know and did not sign,” said Maéva Proteau, Joly’s communications director, on Monday. Retired Canadian diplomat Dennis Horak has said that during his tenure in government, Canadian expatriates abroad will receive a list of events for foreigners’ days that they should not attend. He said this was usually developed in consultation with the Foreign Ministry’s office. He said, in the end, Ms. Jolie as a minister is responsible for the actions of her ministry and what happened “should not be distracted by world affairs”. During a question-and-answer session on Monday, Ms. Jolie claimed responsibility for the crash by answering a question from NDP foreign critic Heather MacPherson. “I’m as crazy as she is, because that should never have happened, and of course it will not happen again,” she told McPherson. “Of course, I’m a minister and the money stops here, but what I can say to the members is; we must make sure to send a strong message to the Vladimir Putin regime. “We must stifle it diplomatically, economically and politically,” he said. Ms McPherson said Ms. Jolie should have warned her department officials not to attend a party at the Russian embassy. “Instead of apologizing after the incident, why did the minister not tell her staff not to attend events at the Russian embassy?” asked the NDP MP. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said the incident revealed a gap between what the Liberal government says and does. “Russia has attacked a European democracy and killed thousands of Ukrainians in recent months,” Chong said. “The minister has clearly failed in her responsibility to ensure that department officials did not go to National Day celebrations at embassies working against Canada’s interests. “The government says it stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, but fails to act like it.” The Russian embassy in Ottawa said in a statement Monday that its Russia Day reception attracted ambassadors and diplomats from around the world, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe, Africa, the South and South. Middle East, Latin America, as well as Russian compatriots and as he called representatives of civil society in Canada. For subscribers: Receive exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
