Sending Canadian ship to Cuba near Russian fleet was ‘carefully’ planned: minister

National Defence Minister Bill Blair’s office is defending the decision to send a Canadian ship to Cuba where it docked alongside some of Russia’s fleet, calling it a “carefully” planned move to increase its presence in the region.

Spokesman Daniel Minden issued a statement on Sunday saying the visit to Havana’s port “was carefully and fulsomely planned,” and the minister authorized it on the advice of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Joint Operations Command.

“We’ve made the smart choice to boost our naval presence in the region this week,” the statement reads.

“We believe that this marked an especially important time to show a Canadian presence.”

The Opposition Conservatives took to social media to criticize the move after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC News during a recent interview she was unaware that one of Canada’s patrol vessels was docked in Havana at the same time as Russian warships.

“This is information that is news to me,” the minister told host David Cochrane.

Michael Chong, the Conservatives’ foreign affairs critic, questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government sent a Canadian ship to “celebrate” relations “with a communist dictatorship at all,” referring to Cuba.

“Let alone while Russian warships are docked there?” Chong posted on X.

James Bezan, the partys critic for national defence, said the decision  warrants a probe by the parliamentary committee on defence, saying he wants to hear Joly and Blair testify.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, describing the visit as “reckless, radical and dangerous.”

“While our troops are starved of resources, Trudeau spends defence budget sending a Canadian naval ship to Cuba alongside the Russian navy