OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion is backtracking slightly on the Liberal government's position on the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, admitting in the wake of a new UN report that the group is committing genocide against the region's Yazidis.
Earlier this week, Dion, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and most Liberal MPs voted against a Conservative motion to declare ISIS's attacks a genocide. The motion, sponsored by interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, noted the "crimes against humanity aimed at groups such as Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims," as well as ISIS's use of rape as a weapon of war.
On Thursday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said genocide has occurred and is ongoing against the Yazidis.
In question period, Calgary MP Jason Kenney pointed to the report and asked Dion if he would use the word genocide.
"As I have said many times in this house, we strongly condemn the horrific atrocities committed by the Islamic State," Dion said in French. Given the new report by the UN, "this government believes genocide against the Yazidis is currently ongoing and that is why, as I said a month ago, we call once again for urgent action on the part of the UN Security Council."
Kenney accused Dion of being stubborn and profoundly misinformed, charges Dion didn't directly address.
The foreign affairs minister has had a rough eight months since being named to the post, facing an ongoing controversy over refusing to cancel a $15-billion contract for General Dynamics Land Systems Canada to deliver armoured vehicles to human-rights offender Saudi Arabia. The contract was announced under the previous Conservative government.
Former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy says he has sympathy for Dion, particularly as the Liberal government reviews its foreign policy.
"It's like being a goalie without any defencemen. You just see pucks coming at you every day," Axworthy said in an interview Wednesday with Don Martin, host of CTV's Power Play.
Axworthy, who served in cabinet with Dion under former prime minister Jean Chrétien, said he's a fan and admirer of the current foreign affairs minister, and laid some of the blame at the feet of the civil servants at Global Affairs Canada.
"There's got to be a little bit of come-to-the-table talk with his department. I don't think he's getting particularly good advice on these issues," Axworthy said.
Joseph Pickerill, a spokesman for Dion, disagreed with that assessment.
"We work at a tremendously capable department and are proud to work with a group of people whose goal is to serve and support Canadians at home and abroad every single day," he wrote in an email to CTV News.
