Calls for arms embargo against Israel met with silence from Minister Petitpas Taylor [video]

On Thursday, activists called for a full and immediate arms embargo against Israel at a protest outside the office of Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Liberal MP for Moncton-Dieppe-Riverview. She’s also Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. 

By Sunday, the Minister hadn’t responded to the group Citizens for Peace or to a media query from the NB Media Co-op. Meanwhile in the House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly expressed support for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, as Prime Minister Trudeau headed to Italy for the G7 summit.

The demonstration was part of a national day of action organized by a coalition of groups representing organized labour and peace activists. Protests were planned at the offices of more than 30 MPs, according to ArmsEmbargoNow.ca.

In Moncton, Steve Berube, a member of the group Citizens for Peace Moncton, delivered a letter to staff at the constituency office of Petitpas Taylor, calling on the federal government to “suspend all trade in arms and military technology with Israel.” A staff member said he would pass the message along to Petitpas Taylor. 

By Friday, the letter had been signed by dozens of MPs, including the Leaders of both the NDP and Green Party, along with 20 Liberal backbenchers, including Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin, but no members of Cabinet.

Minister Petitpas Taylor was in Ottawa on Thursday for the last few days of Parliament before the summer recess. Her office didn’t respond to an interview request. The NB Media Co-op also reached out to media relations at the Department of Defence and Global Affairs Canada, but they didn’t provide any statement by deadline.

Activists say that Canadian law, based on the Arms Trade Treaty, requires that “it stop permitting the export of military technology when there’s a substantial risk those exports could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, or commit serious acts of violence against women and children.”

The open letter calls on the federal government to work with trade unions to help workers transition away from the arms trade, saying this would allow them to “work without the fear of being complicit with Israel’s war crimes and possible genocide in Gaza.” Protesters on Thursday included Daniel Légère of the NB Federation of Labour. 

Canada exported $30.6 million in military goods and technology to Israel last year, a record figure, according to the research group Project Ploughshares, which promotes peace and disarmament.

But the group said that figure doesn’t include exports that go through the U.S., including components for F-35s. The Israeli Defence Forces are reportedly using those fighter jets as part of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Activists in New Brunswick have protested the Moncton-based company Apex Industries, which supplies F-35 components to American military contractor Lockheed Martin. That company, in turn, sells fighter jets and other military supplies to Israel. 

House of Commons

In Ottawa, calls for sanctions against Israel came up during Question Period on Thursday.

Heather McPherson, NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona, cited a new UN report examining violence against children in armed conflicts. It found that, in 2023, children were “killed and maimed in unprecedented numbers in places such as Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, notably Gaza.”

“When, on what date, will the government finally impose sanctions on those responsible for the violence against children, including Netanyahu’s war cabinet?” McPherson asked. 

In her response, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly called the situation in Gaza “catastrophic,” saying “too many children and too many women have died.”

She continued: “That is why the violence must stop. That is why we need a ceasefire now. That is why hostages must be released. That is why civilians must be protected. That is why humanitarian aid needs to get into Gaza.”

She called for both Israel and Hamas to support a ceasefire proposal led by the U.S. — the world’s biggest exporter of arms to Israel — noting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Italy to meet with the leaders of the so-called Group of Seven.

The G7 includes the world’s richest countries, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. The European Union is also involved as a “non-enumerated” member.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).