Environment Minister Catherine McKenna blamed staff for a tweet issued from her ministerial account praising Syria for joining the Paris Climate Accord.
The tweet, which was later deleted, read “Canada Salutes Nicaragua and Syria for joining on to the Paris Agreement!” Global #Climateaction #Cop23
Many Twitter users were upset about McKennna’s tweet including Conservative MP Lisa Raitt, who suggested an appropriate response while telling the climate minister, “Your public praise is misplaced.”
McKenna blamed staff for the error when she responded to Raitt’s tweet.
“Clearly a mistake was made from my Dept twitter. We’ve been clear that the murderous Assad regime must end attacks against its people.”
The Syrian government has come under fire for using chemical weapons on its own citizens.
In April, an attack using a sarin or sarin-like substance on a Syrian town left more than 90 people dead, a UN report said.
Syrian President Bashar Assad denied responsibility for the attack.
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Syria, racked by civil war, and Nicaragua were the only two nations outside the 195-nation pact when it was agreed in 2015.
The two nation’s membership in the accord will leave the U.S. as the only country opposed to the accord.
While Syria has stated it will join the accord, it has yet to file any official documents to do so.
— With files from Reuters
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