Liberals propose House of Commons debate on Iran conflict and implications for Canadians abroad

The federal Liberal government has proposed holding a House of Commons debate Monday evening on the ongoing conflict involving Iran and the potential impact on Canadians in the region, according to government House leader Steven MacKinnon.

MacKinnon, who also serves as transport minister, said in a Sunday post on the social platform X that the government had put forward the proposal to opposition parties. The debate would focus on hostilities involving Iran and the implications for Canadians abroad.

Media representatives for the New Democratic Party and the Conservative Party of Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. The office of Prime Minister Mark Carney also did not respond when asked whether he would attend the proposed debate.

The proposal comes after some Liberal caucus members publicly expressed concern last week about Carney’s comments supporting a joint U.S.–Israeli strike on Iran on Feb. 28. During a news conference in Australia days after the attack, Carney said the airstrikes likely violated international law but also voiced support for the mission “with regret.”

Interim NDP leader Don Davies criticized the government’s position in a social media post last week, calling it “unprincipled, incoherent and contradictory.”

Iranian state television reported Sunday that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country’s late supreme leader who was killed in the February attack, has been named his successor. The situation in the Middle East has remained volatile since the strike.