OTTAWA — Canada defended the right of Alberta oil giant Suncor to continue operations in Syria even though Ottawa has imposed economic sanctions on a regime that has killed 3,000 protesters in their Arab Spring uprising.
For the first time Tuesday, the Harper government directly addressed an apparent contradiction in its tough stance against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad — the fact that Suncor continues a $1.2-billion natural-gas project.
“The natural gas that is extracted is used exclusively, to the best of my information, for civilian electricity generation,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird explained from Kuwait, where he was wrapping up a two-country tour of the Persian Gulf.
“Cutting off families from the electricity grid would have a significant detrimental consequence on the popular support for reform, and at this time we’ve decided it would be negative, not positive to cut hospitals, places of work, families’ homes from electricity.”
Baird said the rationale is similar to how the tactical bombing of Libya was carried out by NATO: the alliance’s fighter jets studiously avoided targets that would affect access to electricity or clean drinking water.
“If there is a time when I feel and the government feels there is a benefit to taking that action, we will immediately take it, without hesitation,” the minister added.
As for shutting down Suncor operations in Libya through sanctions, Baird said: “In Libya, their oil production was for exports and we didn’t have any inhibition whatsoever for having the sanctions fully apply to them in that circumstance.”
Baird’s explanation came a day after his parliamentary secretary obfuscated attempts by the NDP to get an answer to the question in the House of Commons.
“Will the government make sure that the new sanctions against Syria will stop their friends from doing business . . . while thousands of civilians are being killed?” asked NDP foreign affairs critic Helene Laverdiere.
Bob Dechert, Baird’s parliamentary secretary, brushed off the question.
“Canada has taken decisive action by imposing sanctions that directly target members of the current Syrian regime and those who provide it with support,” he said. “We will be bringing forth further stronger economic sanctions.”
However Baird bemoaned the fact that the current round of sanctions against Iran and Syria can’t be toughened because of opposition from China and Russia. Both countries have vetoes on the United Nations Security Council.
“There is no ability at this stage to get a resolution passed on this issue through the UN Security Council,” said Baird. “We can’t even get a resolution of condemnation, let alone sanctions, let alone what we saw in Libya, through the UN Security Council. That’s regrettable.”
Baird said he believed the Syrian opposition movement was gaining ground. He also praised the efforts of the Arab League in “upping the ante in terms of the situation in Syria” in recent days.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Assad to step down Tuesday, echoing an earlier call by Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
“For the welfare of your own people and the region, just leave that seat,” Erdogan said in a televised speech.
“If you want to see someone who has fought until death against his own people, just look at Nazi Germany, just look at Hitler, at Mussolini, at Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania,” he said.
“If you cannot draw any lessons from these, then look at the Libyan leader who was killed just 32 days ago.”
Baird said: “The strong comments by the prime minister of Turkey and the powerful comments by the King of Jordan are welcome.”
Canada toughened its sanctions on Iran earlier this week after a report by the UN’s atomic energy watchdog concluded that Tehran was more than likely on the way to acquiring nuclear weapons.
Baird also expressed Canada’s “great concern” to Egypt over its deteriorating political situation in which dozens have been killed.
Baird says he spoke to his Egyptian counterpart in Kuwait on Monday night on the margins of an Arab summit.
Baird held lengthy discussions with Arab counterparts on the North African pro-democracy uprisings and the way forward during a four-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
The minister cited the elections last month in Tunisia as a good example for other Arab Spring countries.
Protesters filled Tahrir Square in Cairo for a fourth straight day to pressure Egypt’s military leaders to hand over power to a civilian government.
Egypt’s provisional military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi also told his country in a televised address Tuesday that presidential elections will be held before June 30, but did not specifically mention a date for the transfer of power.
The new wave of protests and violence has cost 29 lives and sown chaos in Egypt less than a week before the start of key parliamentary elections.