The CEO of Canada’s largest food processor is blasting President Donald Trump and other U.S. political leaders for the downing of a Ukrainian International Airlines passenger jet in Iran that killed 176 people, including dozens of Canadians.
Maple Leaf Foods chief executive Michael McCain said in a tweet on Sunday that the wife and family of a colleague at the company were among those killed in the attack. In a scathing series of tweets, he also said the U.S. “concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes.”
“A narcissist in Washington tears world accomplishments apart; destabilizes region. US now unwelcomed everywhere in the area including Iraq; tensions escalated to feverish pitch,” McCain added.
The jetliner crashed early Wednesday in the hours after Iran launched missile attacks on two Iraqi military bases housing American troops. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard admitted it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jet. The attacks were a response to the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani days earlier.
Numerous Canadians were on the downed jet, partly because the country is home to a large community of people of Iranian descent as well as Iranian graduate and postdoctoral students, according to the BBC.
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“63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid,” McCain wrote.
McCain’s tweets went viral on social media, with more than 42,000 likes and almost 13,000 retreats as of Monday morning. Some respondents vowed to avoid purchasing products made by Maple Leaf Foods, while others said they would support the company.
Maple Leaf Foods employs more than 12,000 workers and produces bacon, sausage and other meat products under the Maple Leaf brand.
