OTTAWA - The consequences of a symbolic House of Commons vote Monday that called on Canada to cease future arms exports to Israel are still reverberating as Liberals face criticism from Israel and within their own caucus.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly held a closed-door meeting with some Liberals late Tuesday after three MPs voted against the motion, saying they were blindsided by the details of the last-minute amendments.
New Democrats say they negotiated those changes with the Liberals for days before the vote, and Joly herself was working with them late Monday to hammer out the details.
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson says Joly was pushing to further soften the language on arms exports with just half an hour to spare before a scheduled vote.
The final version of the non-binding motion as approved by most Liberals says Canada should cease further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel, drawing condemnation from the Israeli government.
Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said Tuesday he was rethinking his future with the party over the motion and skipped the weekly caucus meeting.
He said he would not have any updates to provide on Wednesday.
Liberal ministers who stopped outside caucus on Wednesday morning tried to show a united front and said they hoped Housefather would stay.
As they try to heal internal fractures, the international implications are also unfolding, with Immigration Minister Marc Miller admitting that the motion will “not help” Canada's efforts to get family members of Canadians out of the Gaza Strip.
Israel's foreign minister said Tuesday in reaction to the final version of the motion that Canada was taking a step that would undermine Israel's ability to defend itself.
“History will judge Canada's current action harshly,” Israel Katz posted on X.
The original version of the motion said Canada should “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel,” which would have nixed any existing permits.
Global Affairs Canada said there are currently no open permits for exports of lethal goods to Israel.
“Since Jan. 8, the government has not approved new arms export permits to Israel and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime,” the department said in a statement.
Export permits issued before Jan. 8 are still in effect. “Given the nature of the supply chain, suspending all open permits would have important implications for both Canada and its allies.”
McPherson said the NDP was willing to walk away over the arms export language.
She said Joly approached her in the opposition lobby of the House of Commons at around 7 p.m. on Monday evening, just 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled vote.
Joly tried to push for even softer language than what appeared in the final motion, McPherson said.
“They didn't want the liability of cancelling arms contracts,” she said. “We said no. We walked away.”
The negotiations ultimately hinged on what the Liberals would be willing to do to help people in Gaza “right now,” she said.
That came down to three red lines, she said: stopping the sale of arms to the Israeli government, supporting the International Court of Justice and putting sanctions on extremist settlers in the West Bank.
The language around supporting the work of the court did not specify how Canada should do so. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously said his government supports the institution.
The government had also earlier signalled it was considering sanctioning Israelis accused of violence in the West Bank.
“Every single time we worked with the Liberals, every time we looked at something they were proposing, we took it back to members of the community, we took it back to progressive Jewish individuals, we took it back to folks that have experience on the ground in Gaza,” McPherson said.
“It wasn't easy work.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.
