— With files from Dylan Short
Editorial: Edmonton mourns with Iranian community
Updated: January 9, 2020
Members of Edmonton's Iranian community held a candlelight vigil on the steps outside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Wednesday January 8, 2020 in memory of the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines crash near Tehran, Iran. LARRY WONG / POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Canadians have learned to hold their breath for word of a loved one’s well-being whenever news breaks of a natural disaster or a calamitous accident in faraway parts of the world.
That’s because our citizens are fond of travel and are often to be found in far-flung places in disproportionate numbers when misfortune strikes. But it’s also because Canada is among the world’s most culturally diverse countries, with so many of us visiting our old homelands that Canada is too often touched by tragedy far beyond its borders.
So it was that a contingent of 63 Canadians happened to be on board a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet that crashed shortly after take off from Tehran International Airport on Wednesday, killing all 167 passengers and nine crew members.
It didn’t take long for the catastrophe to hit home across Canada among the nation’s Iranian diaspora. Shortly after the crash, there was word that at least 12 B.C. residents were among the 63 Canadians killed. Eight victims were from Ontario, with casualties at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.
But no place has been more touched by this tragedy than Edmonton where at least 30 of the victims called home. Edmontonians will be hard pressed to remember another single calamity that has claimed the lives of so many of their own.
Most of those who perished appear to be part of the city’s small but proud Iranian-Canadian community of about 4,000 people — which was already dealing with troubling news from their homeland this week when an Iranian general was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
It’s clear that the aftermath of the accident reverberates well beyond the victims’ families, the Iranian-Canadian community and the university where many of the dead worked or studied. Our city has been robbed of some of its best and brightest citizens.
“We lost amazing, young, brilliant members of our community and this absolutely not just a shock to the Iranian community, it’s absolutely a shock to the whole of Canada,” said Reza Akbari, president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton.
The names of the dead continue to trickle in but the early toll includes students, professors and doctors — among them Arash Pourzarabi and Pouneh Gorji, both graduate students in computer science at the University of Alberta. The two newlyweds were returning home from their nuptials along with their wedding party when the plane crashed.
A young family was wiped out when Pedram Mousavi and Mojgan Daneshmand — both professors of engineering at the U of A — perished along with their two young daughters, Daria, and Dorina. U of A grad students Nasim Rahmanifar and Amir Hossein Saeedinia were also killed. Shekoufeh Choupannejad, an obstetrician, gynaecologist at Northgate Mall, died along with her two daughters, Saba and Sara Saadat.
Other heartbreaking stories are sure to follow as the names of other victims come to light in the days ahead. All Edmontonians, and Canadians, join with the Iranian community in celebrating their lives and mourning their loss.
An Edmonton memorial for all victims is being planned for Friday. If the turnout for the city’s past communal tragedies are any indication, Edmontonians will turn out in force to show their support for the victims’ families, co-workers and friends.
As a shocked Mayor Don Iveson said Wednesday, “Edmonton is in mourning today, our community has suffered a terrible loss.”
Local editorials are the consensus opinion of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Colin McGarrigle, Dave Breakenridge and Bill Mah.
'We love them': Edmontonians who perished in Iran plane crash mourned at vigil
Contact Published Wednesday, January 8, 2020
A vigil was held Wednesday night for the Edmonton victims of the Iran plane crash. Jan. 8, 2020. (CTV News Edmonton)
EDMONTON -- Candles were lit, prayers were said and people held each other while weeping at the Alberta Legislature Wednesday night, as about 75 people gathered to mourn Edmonton residents killed in a plane crash in Iran.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight was en route to Kyiv from Tehran when it crashed minutes after takeoff.
The Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton says at least 27 Edmontonians were on board the flight.
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“We are here for the memory of our friends who we lost in this tragedy. It’s super cold, but still the people came here because we love them,” Iranian-Edmontonian Aidin Pour said.
“When I came here [to the vigil] I felt better. We are a small community, but we should support each other.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Jason Kenney and Mayor Don Iveson all offered condolences Wednesday.
MLAs from both the governing UCP and the opposition NDP were at the vigil to make statements of sympathy from a podium on the steps of the legislature.
“We want you to know that we are with you. We walk with you. You are not alone,” said Kaycee Madu, MLA for Edmonton-South West.
The tragedy has hit the city’s academic community particularly hard, as at least 10 of the victims have been identified as faculty, students or alumni at the University of Alberta.
Edmonton is home to 4,165 people of Iranian origin, according to the 2016 federal census.
“We know the Iranian community has made great contributions here to our city and our province,” Edmonton- City Centre MLA David Shepherd said.
“It has been our honour, as a province, to continue to welcome so many who have come here to learn, to study and to make their home.”
Plans for more vigils are being made, with one likely to happen at U of A campus on Friday and the IHIS Edmonton Mosque on Saturday.
“We may have lost some friends yesterday, but they’ll never be forgotten,” said Payman Parseyan, a member of Edmonton’s Iranian community, said.
With files from CTV’s Matthew Black, Karyn Mulcahy, Dan Grummett and Rachel Gilmore
Jan. 8, a day of unspeakable tragedy for Edmontonians. Never forget it
Updated: January 8, 2020
The arrival of a new year, it is said, brings both change and challenge.
But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
For me, and I suspect many of my fellow residents, this was one of those “where were you” moments, learning about the crash of Ukrainian Airlines International Flight PS752 near Tehran.
My plan for the day was to write a column looking ahead to some of the developments Edmonton can expect to see in 2020. It was to include mentions of a new bus system coming this summer, the arrival of green bins for organics and a decision on residential speed limits.
All of it now seems beyond trivial, in light of the news that our city has begun the new year while losing as many as 30 of our residents in a single moment.
Jan. 8 will be a day long lamented in Alberta’s capital.
In trying to come to grips with a catastrophe of this scale, many questions come to mind.
Was it a mechanical failure that led to an engine fire, as early reports suggest? Could pilot error have been involved, or an issue that can be tied back to troubled airline manufacturer Boeing?
Or was there some connection to the violent hostilities that have started between the United States and Iran?
The timing of the crash, just hours after Iran fired missiles at two U.S.-staffed bases in Iraq in retaliation for the targeted killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, is hard to dismiss.
The families of the victims deserve answers to these questions, but when, or if, those answers will come remains in limbo, especially if Iran makes good on its reported vow not to turn over the plane’s black boxes for independent investigation. The Canadian government must use every means at its disposal to get to the bottom of this.
But those are problems for the days and weeks ahead. For today, the focus must be on the human tragedy, which is enormous: 176 people dead, including 63 Canadians.
As of the final version this column, Postmedia had confirmed names of 13 Edmontonians who died. According to local Iranian-Canadian leaders, that may not represent even half the list.
The victims who have so far been revealed engender tremendous heartbreak, perhaps none moreso than Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gorji, 25, a young couple who were at the height of their lives after being married in Iran last Friday. They were both graduate students in the University of Alberta’s computer science program, returning for the winter semester.
An unknown number of friends of the couple, who had travelled to Iran to take part in the celebrations, also perished.
As much as Edmonton bears a disproportionate burden of this tragedy, so, too, does the University of Alberta, which has a connection to at least 10 of the victims.
Besides Pourzarabi and Gorji, the list includes engineering professors Pedram Mousavi and Mojgan Daneshmand, along with their two daughters, Daria, 14, and Dorina, 9. Daneshmand had the honour of being a Canada Research Chair, and won an award in 2016 in part for being a role model to women in engineering.
Sisters Sara Saadat and Saba Saadat were students at the U of A, both, apparently, in the medical field like their mother Shekoufeh Choupannejad, a respected and charitable obstetrician-gynecologist at Northgate Mall. All three died in the crash.
According to his U of A webpage, Nasim Rahmanifar was a grad student looking at shoulder strain among wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries, while Amir Hossein Saeedinia‘s area of study was on the dynamics of predicting risks to ceramic-metal materials.
Other names with U of A links are Mohammad Mahdi Elyasi and Elnaz Nabiyi, who we will hopefully learn more about in short order.
As their stories start to be told, we must recognize how devastating a blow this is to Edmonton’s 4,300-member community of Iranian-Canadians, and to the city as a whole.
You can imagine the mindset of many of the victims as they boarded the plane early Wednesday, likely relieved to be leaving Iran at a time when the country may be on the verge of war with the United States. Many of their relatives were likely also anxious to see the passengers land safely back in Canada, only to hear that their plane went down shortly after takeoff.
Iranian-Canadians form a community that has given much to our city, contributing not just to our cultural enrichment but also helping to strengthen so many of the public institutions we all depend on, from law, medicine and government to public services, education and business.
They are our colleagues, our neighbours, our friends and family.
They have given to all of us. And we must now recognize our obligation to give back to them when they need us most.
We must react with compassion and support, ensuring that their needs are met through this time of mourning, and recognizing that further tragedy may lie ahead as tensions escalate between Iran and the U.S. government of Donald Trump.
I know Edmontonians will do their part, as we never forget Jan. 8.
With the end of winter break for schools and limited travel options between Iran and Canada, 63 Canadians ended up on a Ukraine International Airlines flight to ...
A family of four, a local doctor and a newlywed husband and wife were among the at least 27 Edmontonians on board a plane that crashed in Iran on ...
