Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has evaluated each of the Canadian parties, on each of the target topics, according to certain criteria. These criteria involve, foremost, CJPME’s core policy pillars: 1) support for international law; 2) an equal legal standard for all; and 3) a belief that violence doesn’t lead to solutions. In addition to the above three criteria, there are a few other criteria which have been brought to bear where appropriate in this analysis, including: 4) humanitarian concern; 5) support for representative governance; and 6) sense of urgency in responding to crises. There is also the underlying assumption in this Guide that Canada is a wealthy and privileged nation, and that Canada has a responsibility to contribute constructively (and financially) to humanitarian, political and diplomatic crises around the world.

This Guide has its limitations. CJPME has limited resources to conduct such analysis. As such, CJPME asks for indulgence with regards to 1) potential oversights in its analysis; and 2) the limited number of topics we were able to address.

While certain trends are clear, CJPME does not offer this Guide as a recipe book for voting. Individual Canadian voters must decide how to vote based on many factors, especially including the specifics of their local riding and candidates. Nevertheless, CJPME hopes that this Guide will provide strong overall guidance on how parties have responded to key Middle East crises of the past few years, and how these same parties might respond in the future. And this Guide should be a handbook to help voters challenge their representatives in the months and years ahead, to help ensure that the Middle East is not forever a region of strife and bloodshed.