So, who is to blame for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by the Iranian military on Jan. 8, killing all 176 on board?

Iran and its individuals directly involved in the launch of missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq that fateful night?

The airline and its individuals directly involved in the decision to fly out of Tehran that fateful night?

U.S. President Donald Trump and the individuals involved in the assassination of an Iranian general, which led to the retaliation by Iran?

In a series of Twitter tweets on Jan. 12, the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods in Canada pointed his finger at a “narcissist in Washington” and other U.S. government leaders. Even though he said they were “personal reflections,” Michael McCain used his company’s Twitter account to tweet out his anger.

McCain has a personal account on Twitter, but he chose to use the company’s account that night.

So, if I had a chance to ask the board of Maple Leaf Foods some questions, the first would be: Does the company not have a social media policy?

Followups: Would it be OK for any employee at Maple Leaf Foods to use the company’s Twitter account to air their “personal reflections” about political figures in Washington, Ottawa, Quebec, London etc.? If so, doesn’t it apply to the CEO as well?

In most companies, it could be a firing offence to use their Twitter accounts for any personal tweets. Company Twitter accounts exist for the purpose of promoting their products and other related business. Period.

Most companies have social media policies in place for their employees’ personal accounts as well. People can be suspended or fired for saying hateful things on sites like Twitter because, the belief is, you represent the company both when you are on and off the job.

This should be elementary to everyone by now, but it obviously isn’t: There are still myriad hateful tweets every day, and I can only surmise they are being made by people who are not employed or whose employers haven’t been made aware of their tweets.

But Michael McCain wasn’t flying under the radar. He made a conscious decision to use his company’s Twitter account, not unlike the “narcissist in Washington” who sometimes acts like he can do anything he wants without fear of recrimination.

So much for setting an example for his employees. Or for the employees of all companies. Or for everybody else.

One high-placed corporate type I spoke to about McCain’s tweets said they were totally out of line, and also felt his accusations were misdirected.

Donald Trump did not shoot down the plane. The bumbling military of Iran did. Maybe Iran’s government leaders played a part that night. Maybe the airline should not have chosen to fly at that time, given the numbers of missiles in the air.

But Donald Trump did not kill those passengers.

Dig deeper, and you can trace the blame back a long way — to, say, the person who invented missiles in the first place. Go back further, to the inventors of mankind’s first weapons of conflict and war. Why weren’t they banned from the outset? How is it mankind has allowed such weapons to exist?

There is plenty of culpability to go around.

I would have more questions for the board of Maple Leaf Foods and its CEO: When do you plan to stop killing innocent animals for profit? And can you compare the accidental downing of a passenger jet with the deliberate slaughter of countless animals?

And, finally, would it be OK for your employees to use the company’s Twitter account — or their own personal accounts — to criticize Maple Leaf Foods for killing animals?

— Jillian