Gaza the final nail in ‘Canada as honest broker’ coffin

 

It now seems quaint to call Canada an “honest broker”. Ottawa’s support for Israel’s holocaust in Gaza has made the idea seem absurd.

In a recent speech Avi Lewis repeatedly referenced Canada’s honest broker mythology. He noted, “can this country ever again claim the role of honest broker when Canada continues to sell arms to a country even after it faces trial for genocide.” He concluded, “the myth of Canada as an honest broker in international affairs was laid to rest under the rubble of Gaza.”

But many liberals and self-described leftists were promoting this damaging notion until not too long ago. In 2015 newly appointed foreign affairs minister Stephane Dion declared that Canada would return its traditional role as an “honest broker” internationally and in 2017 Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East head Tom Woodley promoted the mythology. He wrote, “Lester B. Pearson won a Nobel peace prize for his role in mediating the Suez Crisis in 1956, and for many decades afterwards, many perceived Canada as an ‘honest broker’ in the Middle East, trusted by both Israel and the Palestinians.”

My 2010 Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid was partly a response to the honest broker idea. It shows how Liberal and Conservative governments, usually with support from the NDP, have staunchly backed Israel since before its creation.  (more...)

Gaza the final nail in ‘Canada as honest broker’ coffin