(Ottawa) Prime Minister Mark Carney summoned his Council of Ministers for a virtual meeting on Wednesday, which will be discussed commercial negotiations with the United States and the situation in the Middle East.
The meeting must take place at 2 p.m.
Carney said on Monday that negotiations between Canada and the United States were in an “intense phase” after US President Donald Trump concluded a crucial agreement with the European Union.
The Minister responsible for Commerce Canada-United States, Dominic Leblanc, is also in Washington on Wednesday to meet US officials.
Photo Patrick Doyle, Canadian Press Archives
Dominic Leblanc, Minister responsible for Commerce Canada-United States
Last week, Trump said in a press scrum that Canada was not a priority for its administration as the deadline approaches to conclude trade agreements, set for Friday.
Federal ministers must also discuss the situation in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Carney spoke on Tuesday with his British counterpart Keir Starmer after the latter announced that the United Kingdom would officially recognize a Palestinian state if Israel did not apply a cease-fire and did not considerably increase its aid to Gaza, where many humanitarian organizations denounce famine.
Photo Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press Archives
Prime Minister Mark Carney
France, Australia and New Zealand also participated in this declaration; France has already announced last week that it would recognize a Palestinian state. This statement was published after a major United Nations Conference on the two-state solution, boycotted by Israel and the United States.
The Jewish rights group B’Nai Brith Canada criticized Canada’s position at this conference, which, according to him, “promoted a biased speech that excused terrorism, legitimized authoritarian regimes and blocked any serious path to peace.”
The group added that the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, according to which the conflict would be anchored in contradictory stories, were “deeply disturbing”.
PHOTO RICHARD DREW, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The defenders of a Palestinian state claim that Israel is trying to block any path towards self -determination, stressing that Israeli ministers have openly spoken of ethnic cleaning of the territories occupied by Israel.
“We fail in the test that we have established to prevent mass humanitarian tragedies,” said Liberal MP Will Greaves Sunday in a video published on social networks, in which he supported the creation of a Palestinian state.
“Crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and acts of genocide are never justified, any more than criminal impunity for leaders who order or allow such acts to occur. »»
Canada says he wants the Palestinian authority governing the West Bank and Gaza, but only when the organization has made depth reforms. The Palestinian authority has been largely accused of corruption and has not organized elections since 2006.
On Monday, the government announced that it added 30 million to its humanitarian aid to the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and 10 million to “accelerate reforms and capacity building of the Palestinian Authority”.
