Why was a Canadian colonel awarded a medal but the government kept quiet about it?
Because most Canadians don’t want to assist a genocidal apartheid state’s aggression or an empire led by a president threatening annexation of their country. Strangely, the journalist asking the question ignored this obvious answer.
In “Why were a Canadian colonel’s ‘pivotal’ actions during the ‘Twelve-Day War’ in Iran kept under wraps?” CTV’s Judy Trinh reported on Canadian Colonel David K. Turenne overseeing core air operations at the massive US military base in Qatar during last summer’s US/Israeli attacks on Iran. Initially revealed by Christy Somos, Turenne was awarded the Canadian Force’s Meritorious Service Cross for his role as director of the Combined Air Operations Centre during a 12-day assault that saw massive Israeli bombing backed by the US, including a series of large strikes.
While it’s good she publicized Turenne’s role in attacking Iran, Trinh ignores the principle reasons the government didn’t trumpet the award: Canada’s complicity in war crimes and assistance for the US empire. Instead, Trinh takes the angle that we should have given more publicity to a Canadian’s heroic contribution to our allies’ fight. The article quotes Peter McKay, husband of a prominent monarchist whose father ran the Tehran Sheraton hotel until the end of the Shah’s rule, complaining, “I think it’s quite ludicrous that we wouldn’t be celebrating this in in an open way — transparent way.” The former defence minister said the downplaying of Turenne’s award was due to “domestic political calculus. The narrative that has been created for some time since the last election is that we are playing hardball with the United States and a story such as this, I guess, kind of undermines that narrative.”
While collapsing a structural relationship to the US military into a partisan electoral critique, McKay is not wrong to note the contradiction between Carney’s ‘elbows up’ rhetoric and reality, which is highlighted by Turenne’s role in the aggression against Iran. It’s stunning that Canada hasn’t paused officer exchanges with a US military led by a president threatening annexation. Most Canadians don’t want Canadian soldiers to participate in US belligerence around the world.
Polling demonstrates that Canadians want to get tough on the US and the 215,000 Canadians who’ve recently signed a parliamentary petition calling for the expulsion of the US ambassador confirms that.
If you want to throw out the US ambassador you probably want to pause officer exchanges with the military led by an annexationist president. If you know about them, that is. But few know a Canadian soldier, Col. Alain Lafrenière, was just Deputy Mission Commander of US Navy exercise Pacific Partnership 2026 and that every single day hundreds, maybe thousands, of Canadian troops directly assist US military operations around the world.
Structured to serve the US empire and Zionism in the region, Canada’s military/foreign policy is deeply anti-Iranian. On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand sanctioned five Iranian officials, including the head of Iran’s foreign policy committee and chair of its energy exporters union, for undermining “international peace, security and stability” by blockading the Strait of Hormuz.
But the US/Israel launched a war of aggression and Washington maintains an ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, the same day Canada sanctioned Iranians for blockading a waterway that abuts its country, Trump declared, “after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”
No word from Ottawa about Trump’s statement, US blockade or aggression.
In response to Ottawa’s sanctions journalist Dimitri Lascaris wrote, “Has Canada sanctioned the U.S. for imposing an illegal and sadistic blockade on Cuba? No, not one sanction. Not even a peep of criticism.”
In fact, Canada directly assists US belligerence through Operation Caribbe and a base in Jamaica, as well as by spying on Cuba and sanctioning Russian oil vessels.
Ottawa’s support for aggression against Iran takes many other forms. Five days ago, Canada condemned the Iranian government for imposing the death penalty on several individuals found guilty of murder and other significant crimes during the January protests backed by Israel/US.
As part of its near unique isolation of that country, Ottawa has hadn’t had diplomatic relations with Tehran for 14 years. The Iranian Canadian Congress is seeking to change that. Last week its President, Mona Ghassemi, sent a letter to Carney and foreign affairs minister Anita Anand asking them to restore consular and diplomatic relations with Iran.
Ottawa should heed the Iranian Canadian Congress’ call and come clean on the Canadian military’s role in war crimes against Iran.
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