(Ottawa) A federal senator, Yuen Pau Woo, urges the Canadian government to be more transparent about the restrictions imposed on the export of arms to Israel.
It seems to reign some confusion on what companies can sell in the Middle East. Israeli customs data suggests that lethal Canadian weapons continue to be exported regularly to Israel, even if Ottawa said it had ended these expeditions.
The federal government maintains that it prohibits any export of lethal weapons to Israel and that it blocks the sale of all military equipment that can be used in the Gaza Strip.
According to him, this is the best way to ensure that Canadian spare parts are not used in operations that can contravene international law without disturbing the military supply chain to the country.
“Canada has adopted, and will continue to adopt, a hard line,” Foreign Minister Anita Anand said on Friday. We will not allow weapons made in Canada to supply this conflict in any way. »»
Yuen Pau Woo is one of the 32 senators who urge the government to impose a full embargo.
Mr. Woo criticizes Mme Anand to be clear about what can be exported to Israel.
PHOTO JEENAH MOON, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Foreign Minister Anita Anand
According to a coalition of defense of the rights of the Palestinians, data from Israeli customs indicate that the Hebrew state has notably received ammunition and spare parts for tanks from Canada.
Mme Anand argues that the report of Israeli data is wrong. According to her, no Canadian military equipment is used by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Woo deplores that Mme Anand has been defensive in her answer to questions to journalists on this subject. He also criticized him for having lacked clarity, given the dangers and the misery that the Palestinians have faced since the start of the war.
Parliament voted in favor of a non -binding motion in March 2024 to suspend the granting of new arms export permits to Israel, and the government later announced an examination of existing export permits.
The federal government said, however, that other arms export permits to Israel remained valid. In 2024, there have been 164 permits, some of which for several years.
Some of the 30 suspended permits have expired, said Global Affairs Canada.
In March 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Mélanie Joly, said that none of the operating permits allowed the export of lethal weapons to Israel. His cabinet had indicated that no new license had been approved since January 8, 2024.
If the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister had suggested that this decision was undergoing the Hebrew State’s capacities to protect himself, the ambassador of Israel to Canada, Iddo Moed, insisted that his country could continue to defend himself
If Mark Carney’s new government notes that he has not changed Canadian foreign policy, his speech has changed.
So, if mme Joly and his cabinet were happy to speak of non -lethal use of arms, Mme Anand avoids using this language.
“We have been clear for a year and a half. If you want to export equipment to protect civilians, the permit will be authorized, wrote the firm of Mme Anand, this week. Canada has not approached the export of lethal weapons or ammunition to Israel since January 2024. All the permits that allowed it have been suspended and they remain today. »»
M. Woo accuse Mme Anand to procrastinate. “She changes language in an effort to try to be legalistic about the government’s respect for her own promises. »»
James Fitz-Morris, a spokesperson for Mme Anand, says that it is “dishonest at best” to claim that the Canadian government has adopted a new speech. “The government’s position has not changed. Mme Anand did not read a scenario. She sometimes used different words to launch an identical message or to clarify it, dependent on the circumstances and what she reacted. »»
Mr. Fitz-Morris said that the Canadian government regularly lodged reports about arms exports. “He handed over thousands of pages of documents to the Standing Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons that published them on the Parliament’s website,” he said.
Mr. Woo judges that this is not enough. “Playing with words when a genocide is committed before our own eyes is scandalous,” he comments.
