OTTAWA-
Newly released documents show Ottawa considered the impact on Canadian jobs and global inflation in its decision to return a turbine for repair in Montreal to a Russian energy giant.
The “memorandum of action” prepared by Global Affairs recommended that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly grant a permit exempting Siemens Canada from sanctions against Russia and allowing it to return the equipment for use in a pipeline carrying gas to Germany.
The document, submitted to the Federal Court in response to a challenge to the turbine decision filed by the Ukrainian World Congress, notes that Siemens’ specialized plant in Montreal employs more than 400 highly skilled employees.
In a heavily redacted section, the memo warns of potential job losses or the closure of the facility, though the scenario that would cause that outcome has been removed because it contains “commercially sensitive information.”
The document also warns that failure to return the turbine could ultimately weaken support for the Western allies’ tough stance on Russia and that returning the equipment would allow Canada to “manage the narrative.”
He says that without the turbine, Russia could maintain the narrative that Western sanctions are limiting the pipeline’s ability to operate, which would likely further increase global energy prices and global inflation.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 12, 2022.