Ralph Goodale, the veteran Liberal cabinet minister defeated in last year’s election, has been appointed as a special adviser to the government on the Tehran air crash that killed 57 Canadians and 30 permanent residents in January.

That air crash put Justin Trudeau and his government into a crisis-management mode that has only escalated since the beginning of this year.

Goodale’s appointment is being made now to assure the families of those Canadian victims that they haven’t been forgotten in the midst of a much more global crisis over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only three weeks ago, just before the COVID-19 virus was declared a worldwide pandemic, Transport Minister Marc Garneau was turning up the pressure on Iran to do a proper investigation into the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752.

That investigation, like so much else in the world right now, likely awaits the abatement of the pandemic. Iran has agreed to send the flight’s back boxes back to Kiev, but both those countries are also battling the virus. More than 44,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Iran this week, while the Ukraine continues to see its caseload rise as well, with more than 400 reported earlier this week and 19 deaths.

Goodale’s role will be to keep up the pressure for rightful compensation for families of the victims, as well as to look at larger questions on how the government should respond to air crashes of this magnitude in future. Trudeau’s government generally received favourable reviews for how it handled the crisis in the early days, but the pandemic is now consuming the majority of the government’s attention.

In the announcement of his appointment, Goodale’s new role is described this way: “He will develop a framework to guide Canada’s responses to international air disasters and provide recommendations on best practices, including advice on tools and mechanisms needed to prevent future events.”

In that capacity, Goodale will look at some of the same issues that another veteran Liberal, Bob Rae, examined when the former Ontario premier headed up an inquiry into the Air India crash of 1985 that killed more than 300 people, most of them Canadian.

Trudeau had sought out Rae’s advice when the Tehran crash took place in January, and Rae reportedly impressed upon the PM the importance of staying in touch with the families of the victims.

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