Ahmadinejad's 'repugnant' remarks behind boycott: PM

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “absolutely repugnant remarks” about the Holocaust are reason enough for Canadian officials to boycott the Iranian president’s address to the UN General Assembly.

“There are times when things are being said in this world that it is important that countries that have a moral compass stand up, make their views known,” Harper said Wednesday in Oakville, Ont.

“And our absence there will speak volumes about how Canada feels about the declarations of President Ahmadinejad.”

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly made comments denying that six million Jews were killed during the Second World War.

Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad claimed again that the Holocaust was a lie and a pretext for occupying Palestinian lands.

Numerous countries, including Canada, are expected to walk out of the assembly ahead of Ahmadinejad’s speech to protest the lack of human rights in Iran. Other countries have said they will walk out if he denies the Holocaust.

“President Ahmadinejad has said things, particularly about the state of Israel, the Jewish people, and the Holocaust that are absolutely repugnant,” Harper said.

“It is unfitting that somebody like that would be giving those kinds of remarks before the United Nations General Assembly. Canada does not want to be equivocal at all in terms of our view on that. We find it disgraceful, unacceptable, and we’re going to be absolutely clear on that,” Harper said.

United States delegates had no plans to boycott Ahmadinejad’s address.

“That’s a decision that the United States and every other country has a right to make but Canada makes its own decisions on these matters,” Harper told a news conference.

Harper said the government is also bothered by Iran’s crackdown on legitimate dissent, “the fiasco” surrounding this summer’s elections and the continued detention of a Canadian journalist without charges.

Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian reporter, was imprisoned while covering the election unrest for Newsweek.

Harper, who spoke from Oakville, Ont., to announce the return of Tim Hortons to the Canadian corporate family, defended his decision not to attend the UN General Assembly.

He said it’s standard for the Canadian foreign affairs minister to be the representative.

“My speaking slot this year was scheduled the same time as the G-20 in Pittsburgh and we chose the G-20, which is what all other world leaders are doing,” Harper said.

With files from The Canadian Press