Sending Canadian ship to Cuba was “carefully” planned, says Bill Blair

National Defense Minister Bill Blair’s office said sending a Canadian ship to Cuba, where it docked alongside part of the Russian fleet, was a “carefully” planned move to increase its presence in the region.

Spokesman Daniel Minden issued a statement saying the visit to the Havana port was carefully and meticulously plannedand that the Minister authorized it on the advice of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Joint Operations Command.

We have made the small choice of increasing our naval presence in the region. We believe it was important to show a Canadian presence.

Conservatives criticized the decision on social media after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC during a recent interview that she was unaware that one of the Canadian patrol boats was docked in Havana at the same time as Russian ships.

This is new information for me.declared the minister to host David Cochrane.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released a statement on X, calling the visitreckless, radical and dangerous.

While our troops are under-resourced, Trudeau spends the defense budget and sends a Canadian military ship to Cuba alongside the Russian navy to honor Cuba’s brutal communist governmentwrote Mr. Poilievre.

The Conservative spokesperson for national defense abroad, James Bezan, believes that this measure requires an investigation by the Standing Committee on Defense. He would like Ministers Joly and Blair to appear on this subject.

Canadian fight against the Russian invasion

The visit to Havana is the first by the Canadian navy since 2016 and comes at a time when Canada has sent billions of dollars in aid and military equipment to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself returned to Canada on Sunday following a summit organized in Switzerland for peace in Ukraine.

During his stay, Mr. Trudeau pledged $52 million to aid Ukraine and co-chaired a session in which he discussed the need for the international community to call for the return of nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children forcibly removed from their homes by Russia.

Defense spokesperson Daniel Minden says Canada has done the wise choice to increase its naval presence in the region, adding that one of its warships, the HMCS Ville de Québec, and a patrol plane were monitoring the Russian flotilla.

In a message published this week on the social network long-standing bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba.

HMCS Margaret Brooke’s visit is scheduled to last June 14-17.