Foreign Affairs Committee on March 18th, 2024

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Mr. Chair, this is obviously a policy decision that will need to be made by the minister and the Prime Minister speaking as representatives of the government.

What I can tell you, from the department's side, is that the position has been, and remains, that the only way forward out of this conflict, ultimately, is having two states living side by side. Recognition of a Palestinian state at some point in the continuum, we believe, should happen. If you look at the Oslo accords, the final stage was supposed to be the recognition of the Palestinian state.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Right. Therefore, “at some point in the continuum” presumably excludes the beginning of the continuum.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

It can be anywhere in the continuum. I think what is important is—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Should the process start with the recognition of a Palestinian state?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Not necessarily, but there is a continuum there.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Yes.

However, the advice from the department, I assume, is not to begin with the recognition of a Palestinian state but rather to have the two parties sit through the difficult process of negotiations and perhaps, at some point along that continuum—as you call it—potentially recognize a Palestinian state.

Is that the advice, as I understand it?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

The advice of the department is, of course, protected and has to go to the minister, so I cannot disclose it to this committee here.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Fair enough.

I have a question related to humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

Recently, the Amalthea initiative was announced. Canada isn't part of that initiative to use maritime transport to carry aid from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip.

Why isn't Canada part of this initiative?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Canada has announced that it will be part of this initiative and will contribute. It is in talks right now with—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Why weren't we part of the joint statement?

If we are going to be, at some point, part of the initiative, what assets are we bringing to bear?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Well, that's exactly what is being discussed right now.

In the first instance, it will be supplying actual humanitarian goods to be loaded onto ships leaving from Cyprus. We're in discussion with the key actors—Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the Israeli government and the Americans—to see how we can best insert ourselves in that supply.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We'll next go to MP Chatel.

You have three minutes.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the Global Affairs Canada officials for being with us today.

We all understand that this is a war and that it's difficult. No war is easy, of course, but wars do have rules. One of the rules under the international conventions Canada is a signatory to stipulates that we must always protect civilians, innocent people. As you described so well, the current situation is inhumane. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of innocent people are dying every day in Gaza. That is unacceptable. Regardless of the situation, we all have an obligation to protect civilians.

Part of that means making sure that humanitarian aid is provided. That's what I want to ask you about. The U.S., along with the U.K. and other allies, announced its plans to set up a maritime corridor, but as you pointed out, the UN has said clearly that the best way to deliver humanitarian assistance is by truck. We know that the Netanyahu government is doing things that are blocking the delivery of the aid. Doesn't opening a maritime corridor overshadow the urgent need to push for the aid to be delivered by land?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you.

I wouldn't say the two are mutually exclusive. I can assure you that, in all our discussions with the Israeli government, at every level, we never miss an opportunity to underscore our collective responsibility and the Israeli government's direct responsibility to ensure people's welfare. That means making sure they receive basic services, food and medicine.

The extraordinary needs of Gazans are the reason why we are contributing to the maritime convoy and airdrops. That said, we completely agree that the most efficient, impactful and cost-effective way to deliver the aid is by land, using trucks, and we are stressing that again and again. The Gaza Strip has more than enough entry points. Rafah is currently the most used entry point, but there are at least three or four others. That is an idea we keep pressing with the Government of Israel directly as well as through partners with close ties to the most senior Israeli officials.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

I want to make sure that we keep putting pressure on the Israeli government to open those entry points.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Madam Chatel, I'm afraid we're over three minutes.

We will now go to Madame Normandin.

You have a minute and a half.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

I would like the department officials to talk about the export permits for military equipment. We know that, since October 7, permits have been issued for the export of non-lethal equipment only. More recently, we found out that the processing of export permit requests has been put on hold. Has Canada refused any permit requests, and if so, what were the reasons?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Unfortunately, I can't get into the specifics of each permit request, and I'm going to ask my colleague to give you the exact term that explains why.

[Louis-Martin Aumais, Director General and Deputy Legal Advisor, Public International Law Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

The reason is an application for judicial review.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you.

Yes, an application for judicial review was filed, and I wouldn't want to undermine that process. For that reason, I can't say too much about the specifics of each request. You are right that no permits have been issued since January 8.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We will now go to Mr. MacGregor.

You have a minute and a half as well.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

I appreciate that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mr. Lévêque, the President of the United States has publicly referred to the intolerable levels “of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction” in the West Bank.

Our own Minister of Foreign Affairs has announced that she would like to follow the United States' example on sanctions.

Can you please update this committee on whether those sanctions are going ahead? What criteria and methods of investigation is the government using to identify extremist settlers and the violence being perpetrated on Palestinians in the West Bank?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you.

Again, without wanting to pre-empt decisions that the government might take, I can say that sanctions on extremist settlers are under active consideration. It is an option that is being pursued at this time.

As you probably know, our sanctions regime demands that we use open-source information in order to identify which individuals or entities to list under our sanctions regime. It's something that we have pursued in this case.

I should note that a number of extremist settlers have actually been found guilty of such aggressions by the Israeli government itself. At the very least, there is a base of information there that we can use in addition to wider sources that remain open.

Having been in the West Bank just a few days ago, where I was surrounded by those illegal settlements, I would say that there's enough of a body of evidence to be able to link the most extreme members in a relatively easy way.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much.

That concludes our questions.

At this point, I'd like to thank Mr. Lévêque, Monsieur Aumais and Monsieur Beaulieu. We're very grateful for your time, expertise and perspectives.

We will now suspend the meeting for a few minutes and then come back for in camera committee business for approximately 15 minutes.

Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]