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House Hansard - 282

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 282 - Feb/14/24
Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)
  • Feb/14/24 7:34:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago I rose to press the Prime Minister on placing an embargo on military exports to Israel, and tonight I rise again, as the situation has only become more dire. Let me restate where we are. Since October 7, over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 10,000 children. As the siege has continued, back in January the International Court of Justice published a decision calling on the state of Israel to take six steps to prevent genocide in its siege on Gaza. Canada is a signatory to the genocide convention, so we are bound by this ICJ decision. In the meantime, Canada has continued to export military equipment to the state of Israel. When I first asked the question, I shared that in the most recent year we have records for, 2022, Canada permitted sales of more than $20 million of military equipment to Israel, which followed a record high of $26 million in 2021. In the time since, an access to information and privacy request by The Maple to Global Affairs has revealed that the government authorized at least $28.5 million of new permits for military exports to Israel during the first two months of this siege on Gaza. Various ministers have denied in the media that this is the case, so I wonder if it might be the wording they are speaking about. As an example, Israel has used F-35 fighter jets in its bombing of Gaza, and Project Ploughshares, on January 18, warned that some Canadian-made military components, including those found in F-35s, are first shipped to the U.S. and then ultimately supplied to the Israeli military. They are destined for Israel all the same, even if it is through other countries. Now, we have our own laws that forbid these permits. Section 7.3 of our own Export and Import Permits Act forbids these sales if there is a substantial risk they could be used to violate international humanitarian or human rights law, or for serious acts of violence against women and children. In light of this, last month a coalition of legal advocates warned that it may bring a legal challenge against the federal government if it fails to halt military sales to Israel. Last week, a coalition of civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Canada and The United Church of Canada, called on the government to stop military exports to Israel, warning, “There is substantial concern that some of these weapons could be enabling Israel’s operation in Gaza.” As we speak tonight, Netanyahu has vowed an offensive in Rafah, the last refuge for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza. A WHO representative for Gaza and the West Bank said an assault on Rafah would be “an unfathomable catastrophe…and would even further expand the humanitarian disaster beyond imagination”. In the midst of all this, Canada must be clear. Greens have called for the government to unequivocally call for a lasting ceasefire, for a release of all hostages, for funding to be renewed to UNRWA and for an end to all permitting of military equipment destined for Israel. I ask again tonight, at a time when we know Canada has permitted more than $28 million of military equipment destined for Israel in recent months, when the ICJ has ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide and when our own laws forbids these sales if the equipment could be used to break international law, will the government put in place an embargo on military exports destined for Israel?
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