Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Clearly, the recognition of statehood is an inherently political decision for the political executive to make, and I would add that this decision is not made in isolation from what our closest allies are doing.
I note that when the Government of Canada recognized the statehood of Kosovo in 2008, it did so after Canada's closest allies, and our G7 colleagues, did the same. Currently, none of Canada's closest allies and none of our G7 partners have recognized Palestinian statehood.
I'll make a statement, which I assume you agree with. It is that Canada's closest and most important ally is the United States that and our most important bilateral relationship in the world is with the United States. Almost equally important are close allies like the United Kingdom and France, with whom we are bound by treaties such as the NATO treaty, and the Five Eyes agreements with the United States and the United Kingdom, with whom we also have close military co-operation in training of each other's forces and the like.
What would be the implications or the fallout if Canada were to recognize Palestinian statehood ahead of any one of our partners in the G7, or ahead of our closest military allies in the Euro-Atlantic alliance?