Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 4th, 2025

[Alexandre Lévêque]

The short answer is that, yes, Canada has been asked. The flip side of that answer is that this is an absolutely unique moment in time. If it is to be successful, if the ceasefire is to lead to a consolidation, a stabilization, eventually reconstruction and, most important of all, the ability for two peoples to coexist, to cohabit side by side in safety and security, it is going to require sustained dedication, sustained attention and, of course, sustained resources.

Decisions have not yet been made on the level of resources nor the type of assistance that we could provide. The latest assessments I have read on just the reconstruction needs of Gaza are in the $65-billion range. Obviously, this is not something that governments alone.... No development assistance alone is going to be able to deliver on this. It is going to require drawing in the private sector and, of course, sovereign wealth and donations, etc. Where Canada will play a role is, first of all, where the need is greatest, but in the consolidation of these essential institutions—be it particularly on transparency, rule of law and democratic governance—that starts with elections that should happen in next year and a half.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

The Prime Minister attended the peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Can you tell us if the Prime Minister had direct negotiations or talks with the Palestinian Authority, or are the commitments he made and the plan within the international community effort? It's very important to know, in order to have Gaza ruled by the Palestinian Authority. There's complete disagreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on how this is going to be navigated, how this is going to be sorted out in order to allow that to happen. Do you know if Canada had any direct contact or direct negotiations on that, or was everything through the international community?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Give a very brief response. We're out of time.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I can absolutely confirm that the Prime Minister has been in touch directly with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on several occasions, both orally and in writing. Yes, the Prime Minister was involved in those early discussions in Sharm el-Sheikh that determined the early steps of this peace plan.

I can say that we do not engage with Hamas. We have absolutely no contact. That's a strict policy because it is a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code of Canada. We do deal through some of our partners, like Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, that do communicate directly with the Palestinian factions and do try to bring about a resolution of the conflicts between the different factions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

Next, we have MP Bill Blair for five minutes.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much to our witnesses for appearing before us today and for the insights that they have provided. We are grateful.

I'd like to begin with an observation and ask you to comment.

It's been very clear that Canada has never drawn any equivalency between the State of Israel and Hamas—which, as you've just said, Mr. Lévêque, is a terrorist organization—but we do recognize and acknowledge an equivalency between the people of Israel and the people of Palestine. Both share aspirations for peace and security.

I also believe that Canada remains, as you've articulated, firmly committed to Israel's right to exist in peace and security, but we have also acknowledged and recognized that lasting peace requires a viable, stable Palestinian state that fully acknowledges Israel's inalienable right to security and peace.

You've spoken at some length on this already, Mr. Lévêque. You mentioned the UN Security Council resolution that the Americans are bringing forward and a number of significant next steps. Could you give us some insight into what Canada's role could be in supporting those multilateral efforts to stabilize the region, to prevent escalation and to help secure that stable, viable peace and security that both the Palestinian and Israeli people aspire to?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Thank you for the question and the opportunity to comment.

First of all, it is a recognized fact that this is one of the most protracted conflicts in the world. Some would say it is the longest lasting conflict that has ever been.

It is important what you mentioned about there being no equivalency between the Government of Israel, which is democratically elected, and a terrorist organization like Hamas. I would never dispute that, but it is important to zoom out and look at this from a much higher level and look at what Canada has traditionally and fundamentally believed, which is that both these peoples deserve to live in peace and security.

We have seen many efforts in the past and we expend a lot of time and energy finding the voices inside Israel and inside Palestine of those who continue to seek this peaceful cohabitation. There's a lot of extremism. There's a lot of hate and a lot of mistrust right now.

It is part of what we see as our role to be the voice of reason that sees into the future and tries to bring parties to the conflict where we believe their best interests will be served in the future. Enough voices exist in both Israel and Palestine to continue these efforts.

The department is working on options to provide to the ministers and Prime Minister for where we can be most helpful. We have areas of expertise. I mentioned demining before, and I mentioned governance training and a technical transfer of knowledge and democratic development, which means, in this case, the holding of elections in Palestine in a way that will legitimize future leadership for Palestinians. These are all areas that play to Canada's strengths. It's not to say that we couldn't make a contribution elsewhere, but we each need to play to our strengths, and these are, in the first wave, the areas where we would consider making contributions, all subject, of course, to the level of ambition and decisions to be made by the Prime Minister and the minister.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lévêque.

As you said, it has been a long, protracted and extremely complicated and difficult conflict for decades, but it's also occurring within a complicated environment in the neighbourhood.

Canada has some diplomatic relations with some of their neighbours, with Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. I wondered if you might speculate on how, through our diplomatic relationships, we might be able to continue to advance the co-operation of the regional partners.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

Absolutely.

You're correct that nothing in the Middle East can be seen in isolation. We see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the very centre, the nucleus, of what radiates throughout the region. When Palestinians suffer and are internally displaced or become refugees, they go to neighbouring countries, which decreases stability for Jordan and Lebanon, in particular, and, of course, Egypt. There's a reason why these countries are absolutely central to coming up with a plan for a lasting peace in the region, and there's a reason why they are the ones that are the most intimately involved, along with the United States, at the negotiating table.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

In the remaining time, we can have a lightning round of three minutes each for three MPs.

MP Ziad Aboultaif, you are first. You have three minutes.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thanks again, Chair.

Prime Minister Carney was invited to Sharm el-Sheikh, and I think that's important. Canada has always been on the international stage as a peace element and endorser.

Prior to that, the relationship with the U.S. wasn't on the same alignment with regard to this conflict. Am I correct?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I would say we share the same objectives, fundamentally, which is to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As to how we go about it, there have been some differences of views in terms of which foreign policy tools to use, but we share fundamentally the same objectives.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

The United States initiated the invitation, because it was led by President Trump. Is that correct?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

That's correct.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Did the U.S. ask Canada to play a specific role in this whole thing? Do you recall, or are you aware of, any conversation on that?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

As far as I'm aware, the invitation was made in recognition of Canada's long-standing and traditional role of helpful peace broker in the region, but no specific contribution was requested of the Prime Minister as part of that summit participation.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

After the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, has the Palestinian Authority been in contact with Canada more actively than before?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

I would say it hasn't necessarily been more actively. I mean, we do have a diplomatic mission that is based in Ramallah, and a Canadian representative to the Palestinian Authority. These Palestinian Authority officials are the daily contacts that our diplomatic staff based in Ramallah meet with.

There's a particular interest on the next phases of the peace plan right now. That's what a lot of the focus is on. There's a particular interest on our part in discussing the implementation of the commitments the Palestinian Authority has made to the Prime Minister. I would say we have maintained a very good working-level relationship with Palestinian Authority officials. There's been no major difference; it's been maybe just on the topics and the areas of focus in the last few weeks.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

How many people make up our mission in Ramallah? Do you know?

[Alexandre Lévêque]

To give you the specific numbers, I would need to come back to the committee, but the Canada-based staff would be in the range of 15 to 16, I would say, with a few dozen locally engaged staff.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Is there a plan to increase or basically support the mission further because Gaza is now under the authority of the same mission?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Please give a very brief response.

[Alexandre Lévêque]

The current assessment is that we are staffed adequately in our mission based in Ramallah.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

MP Anita Vandenbeld, you have three minutes.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for your expert testimony on this.

I'm interested in what comes next in terms of governance and democracy. There are international examples of places where under UN Security Council resolutions there were international multilateral authorities that had executive and legislative power while alongside building capacity of provisional institutions of self-governance in those places. I'm thinking of East Timor and Kosovo. Canada and Canadians have been very involved in helping to build the peace and governance structures. We have a tremendous amount of expertise amongst Canada, but also of Canadians who are doing this in multilateral institutions.

I wonder if you could tell us what role you think Canadian democracy and governance practitioners might be able to play in a future building of those kinds of democratic structures in Palestine.