Canadian Press and Damascus Tehran

Iran: Both are former employees of Canadian embassies --in Damascus and Tehran -- closed in 2012 in the midst of social and political upheaval, according to CTV. But documents obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information legislation show a stark contrast between the way Canada treated its former employees in Syria and those in Iran. An Iranian woman sits in her country capital, wondering why her Canadian family abandoned her there. In Syria, a civil war prompted Canada to pull up stakes, while in Iran, a decision by Canada to cut off diplomatic ties with the government was behind the move. A week after, then-ambassador Glenn Davidson wrote a memo on how it was handled, offering advice for future such closures. In Syria, layoffs of local staff began in January 2012 and ended with the full closure of the embassy in March of that year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.