Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2023

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you.

I'm going to cut that, because I have a third thing I want to get in.

I feel a little naive, but a month ago, I was at the UN speaking about “the day after” and looking at incentivizing a two-state solution of peace with justice so that Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side. It was drawn together by the EU, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and a number of countries. I feel naive now, because none of us predicted this mess.

Obviously, Canadians want peace with justice for both Palestinians and Israelis. Do you have any thoughts about the day after? How can we move Canada into a position...?

We have solved crises before. I'm not saying we can do that with this one. Is there a role for Canada in this next phase?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

Thank you.

Certainly we're interested in being part of those conversations about how we can incentivize a two-state solution. Canada has engaged deeply on the Middle East peace process over the years. We've built up an excellent reputation and expertise on some of the final status issues between Israelis and Palestinians, including the refugee file and Jerusalem. We've been outspoken on settlements and a variety of other issues that serve as barriers to peace between the two parties.

We want to be there. We want to be helpful. We are engaging in conversations now to better understand. I would say that it's very premature at this point to think about what the day after looks like in any granularity. This is very raw on all sides and it is ongoing, as well all know, but we want to be part of those conversations, and what that means right now is making sure that we're understanding the preoccupations of each side and the constructive engagement that other players in the region can have, because normalization ultimately needs to be a part of this as well. Israel needs to be secure in its region.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We next go to MP Hoback. You have five minutes.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Thank you, Chair.

I want to join Mr. Oliphant in thanking the department and the officials for all the work you've been doing over the last few weeks and what you're going to go through going forward. We really appreciate your efforts and your concern for Canadians abroad and how you are taking care of them and getting them home or into a safe location at least. We know it may be even tougher going forward, so we just want to thank you for that work.

That leads into my next question. We see what's going on with Lebanon, and I want to look at the purely humanitarian aspect. There's a time and a place for judging who's right and who's wrong and what was done right and what was done wrong. Right now we have families being ripped apart. We have kids being killed. What can we do to help that?

I understand the unique situation in Gaza, where it's very restricted, but in Lebanon, are there things we could proactively be doing to make sure that if we did see that situation escalate, we'd actually have supplies on the ground and we'd be able to meet the humanitarian needs in that area at that point in time?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

I think our focus right now in terms of preparations is mainly on the side of my colleague, who's looking at Canadians in the region and how to support their needs if there should be an escalation in the region.

That said, we have long-standing relationships with Lebanon. We have a Middle East strategy that has been in effect for the last several years, and a good amount of development assistance is being delivered.

Lebanon has been in a state of economic and political crisis for years. The situation before this conflict was not promising; the situation after any escalation would be worse. I won't get into those hypotheticals, but I am quite certain that on the consular side, our current focus is being closely looked at. We are planning for that and we are continuing to gather our analysis, our information and our intelligence to better understand circumstances on the ground and to better understand how we might be able to engage, should there be an escalation.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Wouldn't it make sense to start stockpiling medical assistance and basic food in some of those regions, just anticipating that the worst could possibly happen?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

This is not a conversation that has been ongoing at this point, but I will certainly take your comments back to our team, and we will—

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

So the government hasn't considered the scenarios if we see an escalation and considered what we can do to be proactive to offset the civilian damage or casualties?

[Julie Sunday]

At this time, obviously we're very focused on getting information out to Canadians who are in Lebanon as well as to permanent residents and their family members. There are a good number of them. Our best advice, of course, is always to follow our travel advice, which is telling people to leave—

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Ms. Sunday, I'm just going to interrupt you. You mentioned that there is a phone number that Canadians can call to register. Do you know the number off the top of your head? If so, can you just tell it to us? We have some reporters here who can—

[Julie Sunday]

For Lebanon, I can let you know that we have 16,700 Canadians who are registered on our ROCA, the registration of Canadians abroad, so—

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Okay.

When the war on Ukraine happened, the Ukrainian community here was able to send blankets, food aid and medical aid into Ukraine. Has anything been coordinated in Canada to help families send aid into Israel, into Gaza?

I understand that Gaza has its own set of problems today, but two weeks from now, it could be a different scenario. What are we doing to assist people to at least feel that they're contributing to helping out? We see protesters, and they're frustrated because they feel they can do nothing to help their families. Are we putting together a program there? Have you looked at that?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

Certainly we have put out our information about the Canadian humanitarian assistance that is being provided, the $60 million to date. There will be further appeals, and there are certainly—

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

There's nothing for civilians to participate in, though. There's no guidance to say that if you donate money to the Red Cross, let's say, for lack of a better name.... Is there anything whereby the government is going to match the contribution for assistance to civilians? The families and the kids are the people I'm looking at right now. I want to make sure that they're kept as safe as possible and are reunited somewhere down the road.

Again, if we're proactively looking ahead, there's going to be a day when people in Gaza are going to return to an area that's totally bombed out, that has nothing. What process can we put in to assist them just to make a living, just to survive? Are we proactively looking at anything there?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

There are a couple of questions there.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Yes.

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

On the assistance from Canadians, we are aware that individual Canadians have been making contributions through the Red Cross and through others that have appealed. We know that in the Jewish stakeholder community in Canada, a variety of different appeals have moved forward. I saw a report this morning that there's $100 million in assistance that has been gathered by Canadians who feel an affinity with Israel.

Individual Canadians are making those determinations and beginning to step forward. The question of the matching funds has not been broached at this point, but certainly Canada has been front and centre in terms of government-level contributions to make sure that the assistance gets to those who need it most, especially in Gaza.

The longer-term question you raise about livelihoods is one that in the Palestinian territories we've been deeply engaged in. We do work with trusted partners on livelihoods, including for women in particular. We have been deeply engaged in that. I envisage that we will continue to be engaged in that. We have a very good baseline of development support that Canada provides to Palestinians each year. It is $55 million, which is the envelope we typically work with each year.

Apart from this immediate crisis and the immediate catastrophe that we're trying to deal with right now, we do have a longer-term commitment to working with the Palestinian people, including on questions related to livelihood and economic opportunity.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

I assume I'm out of time, but if the chair is going to let me keep going, I'm going to keep going.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I'm afraid you're out of time.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

We now go to MP Alghabra. You have five minutes.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good morning to the officials.

I also want to add my personal gratitude to everyone here and to all at their offices who are working around the clock diligently to assist Canadians who are in need and to figure out the best that Canada can do to offer peace and stability in the region.

I'm going to start with a question that I'm curious about. In the opening remarks, I heard reference to “the West Bank” and “Gaza” repeatedly. Are we no longer referring to them as “Palestinian territories”?

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

We've separated out the way we talk about the West Bank and Gaza in this because the situations are so different in the immediate conflict. My colleague was speaking, for instance, about evacuating Canadians from the West Bank, where the set of circumstances differs appreciably from Gaza's, but we do not, as a political entity, differentiate between the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian territories.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

That's a question I've been asked. There is no aversion to referring to them as “Palestinian territories”.

[Ann Flanagan Whalen]

No.