Canadian colonel's medal raises questions about Canada's role in U.S. war with Iran

A medal awarded to a high-ranking Royal Canadian Air Force officer is raising questions about this country’s involvement in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Late last month, the Government of Canada announced that Col. David K. Turenne, a former CF-18 fighter pilot, had been approved for the Meritorious Service Cross. That medal recognizes military deeds “performed in an outstandingly professional manner, according to a rare high standard that brings considerable benefit or great honour to the Canadian Forces,” according to its official description.

Turenne won it “for extraordinary leadership and diplomatic skill as director of the Combined Air Operations Center during the Israel-Iran conflict, synchronizing multinational air operations and enabling the safe evacuation of 10,000 personnel from the Al Udeid Air Base, Doha, Qatar, June 2025,” according to the official July 26 citation.

Turenne’s actions came during the Twelve Day War in June 2025 involving Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, backed by U.S. political and operational support.

Kened Sadiku, who speaks for National Defence, said Monday that an interview with Turenne “won’t be feasible.” Sadiku promised more information Monday about what the air force colonel did to win the medal, but didn’t respond before publication deadline.

This is the first time Canadians are hearing about Turenne’s involvement in the conflict, which raises questions about what Canada may have been doing since war broke out again in the region in February.

When asked this past spring, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Canadian military was not taking part in U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran.

“We are not a party to those actions,” Carney told reporters this past March during a news conference in Australia.

When asked in March if Canada might reconsider if the conflict spreads, Carney said, “one can never, categorically, rule out, participation. We will stand by our allies if it makes sense.”

Around the same time, the Department of National Defence said Canadian military members serving on exchange with U.S. forces in the Middle East remained in their posts but had been assigned other duties outside of the campaign against Iran.

During the March news conference in Australia, Carney described the Iranian regime as one that had “oppressed its people” for almost five decades, killed its own “in large numbers, even in recent weeks,” “exported terrorism for decades across the Middle East for decades,” and killed “scores of Canadians” when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kyiv on Jan. 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 occupants on board.

Canada has seen a “decline in transparency about a number of different aspects of defence” in recent months, said David Perry, who heads the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.