Canada does not believe Hamas would respect a ceasefire in its conflict with Israel, Defence Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday as he provided the most clarity to date on why the Liberal government has not called for one.
“I have no expectation that a terrorist organization would respect international law or any call for a ceasefire,” Blair told reporters in Ottawa before headed into the Liberal cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Calls for a ceasefire in the latest Israel-Hamas war — including a temporary one, referred to by some as a “pause,” to allow in more aid — have grown in recent days as humanitarian organizations warn of a major crisis in the Gaza Strip.
More than a million people have been displaced in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory, where they face shortages of food, water and fuel after Israel cut off access to supplies and launched airstrikes in response to deadly attacks by Hamas militants.
Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2002 and has no dealings with any of its leaders. The Liberal government has said that Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks by Hamas while respecting international law.
Hundreds of Hamas militants staged an attack by land and air in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people, including hundreds at an outdoor music festival, as well as injuring more than 4,500 and taking over 200 people hostage. Palestinian authorities say more than 5,000 people have since died in Gaza during Israel’s response.
On Tuesday, the secretary-general of the United Nations called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to deliver desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel. During the UN Security Council’s monthly meeting on the wider, decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Antonio Guterres appealed “to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.”
Aid convoys began flowing on the weekend but they are very small and the supplies of food and fuel they carry limited. The federal government says there about 400 people with a connection to Canada, including citizens, permanent residents and close relatives, currently in Gaza.
Canadian ministers had avoided using the word ceasefire to date, though Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Monday there should be a “de-escalation,” particularly because of fears the conflict is growing beyond just Gaza.
But on Tuesday morning, Blair went further than that, saying that as long as Hamas exists, it is a threat to Israel.
“I think (Israel has) a right to defend themselves against that terror threat,” he told reporters on his way into the cabinet meeting. “And quite frankly, Hamas has to be eliminated as a threat, not just to Israel but to the world.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the battle until Hamas has been destroyed.
Hamas, which has always embraced violence as a way to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories, contributed to the collapse of the attempted peace deal in the mid-1990s that would have seen an independent Palestine and Israel share the land they both lay claim to in what is known as a “two-state solution.”
Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007, two years after Israel withdrew its military and settlements from the territory. Since then, Israel and Egypt have restricted the flow of goods and people, citing Hamas importing weapons. Palestinians have argued the blockade is collective punishment by Israel.
Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, has also called for the destruction of Hamas.
“Any organization like this has to be destroyed,” Rae wrote on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, last Thursday.
His post was in response to a video of Israeli officials becoming emotional as they described a family found killed in their home during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, their bodies showing signs of torture.
“And no one should condone or excuse or underplay or deny. Dealing with it will require determination and strategy,” Rae continued.
But Blair is the first Liberal cabinet minister to suggest Hamas must be “eliminated.”
On Friday, Trudeau would not say whether his Liberal government shares that specific goal, as stated by Rae, of destroying Hamas.
Instead, Trudeau noted Canada has long deemed Hamas to be a terrorist organization and called for civilians to be protected and hostages returned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2023.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
