Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly called “completely unacceptable” the fact that Global Affairs Canada sent an official to a reception at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa on Friday.
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“Completely unacceptable. No Canadian representative should have attended the event organized at the Russian Embassy and no Canadian representative will attend this kind of event in the future,” Ms. Joly said on Twitter on Sunday evening.
Asked about the subject during a press scrum on Monday, the minister said “[share] the frustration and anger of Canadians in the face of this subject”.
“Our intention from the start has been to stifle the Putin regime and isolate it – diplomatically, economically and politically. So we will continue to do this because meanwhile Ukrainians are fighting and dying in Ukraine,” she added.
The minister, however, did not specify whether she was aware of the presence of the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Global Affairs of Canada, Yasemin Heinbecker, at the reception organized by the Russian Embassy, and whether directives had been sent within of his department concerning the presence of a person in charge at this type of event.
Recall that on Sunday, “The Globe and Mail” reported that Ms. Heinbecker attended a ceremony on Friday to celebrate the start of Russian constitutional reform that ended Soviet rule on June 12, 1992.
Following these revelations, the Canadian government made its mea culpa and promised that its officials would no longer attend parties with Moscow diplomats.
