Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time today with the member for Flamborough—Glanbrook.
I am standing in this House today to stand with Israel, a free and democratic country that is besieged by the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement.
Fundamental to the discussion today is my belief that our charter of rights, our long history with Israel, and the many signed agreements we have with Israel demand that we disallow the operation of the BDS movement in Canada on the basis of discrimination.
Israel was established as a free nation in 1948. Canada has had a long-standing friendship with Israel from the beginning. Both nations were founded by those seeking political and religious freedom. Both have absorbed waves of immigrants seeking political freedom and economic well-being, and both have evolved into democracies that respect the rule of law, the will of voters, and the rights of minorities.
One of the underlying strengths of the Canada-Israel bilateral relationship lies in the extensive people-to-people ties. There are approximately 20,000 Canadian citizens living in Israel, and many Canadians have family in Israel.
The Canadian Jewish community, which stands at around 350,000 people, acts as an important bridge between Canada and Israel. These informal ties give rise to significant co-operation between our two countries in business, philanthropy, and tourism.
We clearly have the Israeli embassy right here in Ottawa and consulates in Montreal and Toronto. Support for Israel, especially its right to live in peace and security with its neighbours, has been at the core of Canada's Middle East policy since 1948.
We have signed multiple letters of declaration of intent to trade with Israel, including the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1997 and eliminated tariffs on all industrial products manufactured in Canada and Israel as well as a limited number of agricultural and fisheries products.
Between 1999 and 2003, additional agriculture and agri-food tariff reductions on goods previously excluded from those agreements were successfully negotiated. This included preferences for a number of Canada's top agriculture and agri-food exports to Israel.
In addition to this agreement, we have signed multiple other contracts for aviation, transportation, science and technology, and the space industry. From a science perspective, Israel's ability to innovate is best in class in the world, and we as Canadians need to learn from Israelis and leverage our research together.
We have been engaging in mutual collaboration when and where possible on energy and other sectors such as information and communications technology, life sciences, as well as ocean and sustainable technology, which are critical to Canada's economic development.
The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation has enabled technologies that have generated a minimum of hundreds of millions in economic value for Canadian and Israeli companies alone over the past decade.
In addition to our economic agreements, we have also signed broader agreements. Let me read an excerpt from the memorandum of understanding that Canada signed with Israel as part of the Canada-Israel strategic partnership:
Understanding that the security of Israel and the wider regions directly affects the security of Canada
Recognizing that Israel, Canada, and all nations of the world, under the UN Charter, have the right to live in peace and security and the right of self defence;
Considering that we have a long history of diplomatic cooperation, bilaterally and in a variety of multilateral fora,
Wishing to deepen our relationship by enhancing our bilateral engagement and cooperation across the widest possible spectrum to promote and enhance these values, commitments and interests, resting on the four central pillars of diplomatic partnership: security, economic prosperity and culture and education,...
Having promised this to Israel, why are we allowing the BDS movement to encourage boycotting Israeli artists and Israeli businesses and calling for the destruction of Israel as a state? Why are we allowing BDS to influence our academic institutions? We need to take action to address this hateful behaviour that goes against our Canadian values and policies.
I would suggest we follow the actions of some of our allies. The British government is currently preparing to unveil rules that would prohibit public institutions from adopting boycotts against Israel. Under the new legislation, all publicly funded institutions such as local town halls, universities, and student unions could face prosecution should they pursue and enforce the boycott of goods and services from the Jewish state.
Another bill was sponsored by the French republican party. In a statement issued, the party said that BDS efforts are divisive and hateful and have no place in Paris. The Paris municipality approved a bill barring city departments and city-affiliated organizations from hosting events or fostering ties with the BDS movement or any other group urging divestment from Israel or boycotting Israeli products.
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement has goals to reverse all of the things that our government has been supporting for years. Let me quote from its web page:
Boycotts... Anyone can boycott Israeli goods, simply by making sure that they don't buy produce made in Israel or by Israeli companies. Campaigners and groups call on consumers not to buy Israeli goods and on businesses not to buy or sell them.
Let us examine how the BDS movement is demonizing Israel, the lone democracy in the Middle East.
BDS claims that Israel is uniquely responsible for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel has tried time and time again to make peace and has co-operated in numerous peace negotiations, so this simply is not true.
BDS calls for Canadian universities to cut ties with Israeli academia.
Israel is a vibrant democracy that protects the rights of women, homosexuals, and religious minorities. Arabs in Israel have more freedoms than Arabs in any other Arab country. In fact, Israel is the only functioning democracy in the entire Middle East region, and is surrounded by cruel dictatorships that engage in systematic and egregious human rights violations.
Yet the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement calls for the isolation of only one state, Israel. Clearly this does not align with Canadian policies and agreements and is discriminatory. It also does not align with the view of the majority of Canadians. Two-thirds of Canadians are either Christian or Jewish according to the latest census results. This is an overwhelming majority of Canadians. Christians and Jews believe this verse from the book of Genesis, chapter 27, verse 29, where it says regarding Israel, “May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed”.
The BDS movement is cursing Israel. It is boycotting Israeli goods and services. It is discriminating against the Jewish people, and it is spreading anti-Semitic views and advocating for the elimination of Israel as a free state.
Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights of every individual to be free from discrimination. Let me remind members of it:
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
How can we allow in our country an organization like the BDS movement to operate when it clearly is discriminating against the Jews? How can we allow it to infiltrate our Canadian academic institutions and fill the minds of our young people with hatred for Israel?
Today I am calling on the government for action, recognizing that Israel is a free state with a right to exist and a right to defend itself. I am calling on the government to condemn any organizations, groups, or individuals that actively promote the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. I am calling on the Liberal government to stand up for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to stand up for the 24 million Canadian Christians and Jews who want to stand with Israel. I am calling on the government to stand with Israel that we as a nation might be blessed.