“This is very unfortunate to hear that the government has not committed to suspending existing permits.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly won’t revoke existing permits for exports of military goods to Israel despite this week’s motion in Parliament calling on the government to “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel.”
Joly will only take the non-binding motion’s language to apply to future applications for permits to export military goods to Israel, which was effectively the government’s position before the motion passed.
The language in the motion, which passed on Monday evening, was heavily amended from the original. Other major concessions included removing a call to recognize the State of Palestine.
The NDP’s original motion also called on the government to “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel.” This would have effectively imposed a complete two-way embargo.
Despite the watered-down language of the amended motion, Joly told the Toronto Star this week that she planned to impose a ban on arms exports to Israel that would amount to “the real thing.”
This news spread quickly around the world, with Israeli politicians reacting angrily to Joly’s comments, and some Democratic Party lawmakers in the United States celebrating the announcement.
But according to NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson, existing permits — which authorize potentially tens of millions of dollars worth of military exports to Israel — will not be subject to any changes.
“We did not secure the suspension of permits already approved and will continue to push for that,” McPherson told The Maple in an email.
In a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) confirmed that existing military export permits would remain in effect. (more...)
Trudeau Government Will Not Revoke Existing Permits For Israel Military Exports
Related:
Parliament Votes to End Arms Exports to Israel in Watered-down Motion: CJPME
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