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OTTAWA — The consequences of a symbolic House of Commons vote Monday that called on Canada to cease future arms exports to Israel are still reverberating as Liberals face criticism from Israel — and from within their own caucus.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly held a closed-door meeting with some Liberals late Tuesday after three MPs voted against the motion, saying they were blindsided by the details of the last-minute amendments.
New Democrats say they negotiated those changes with the Liberals for days before the vote, and Joly herself was working with them late Monday to hammer out the details.
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said Joly was pushing to further soften the language on arms exports with just half an hour to spare before a scheduled vote.
The final version of the non-binding motion as approved by most Liberals said Canada should cease further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel, drawing condemnation from the Israeli government.
Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather also continues to mull his place in the party, saying on Wednesday that he doesn’t have any updates on whether or not he is going to leave the caucus.
But he skipped his party’s caucus meeting Wednesday, which he typically attends in person. Several Liberal MPs said they had not reached out to him yet, but plan to do so.
Liberals had different takes on how much friction the vote caused within their party, with some describing their meeting as tension-filled while others tried to show a united front.
Government House leader Steve MacKinnon described the meeting as a “warm discussion” and “emotional” but rejected the notion there was tension within caucus.
But Liberal MP John McKay said following their meeting that “of course” the vote caused tension, because the Israel-Hamas war continues to cause tension around the world, in their ridings and in the room.
As they try to heal internal fractures, the international implications are also unfolding, with Immigration Minister Marc Miller admitting that the motion will “not help” Canada’s efforts to get family members of Canadians out of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s foreign minister said Tuesday in reaction to the final version of the motion that Canada was taking a step that would undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself.
“History will judge Canada’s current action harshly,” Israel Katz posted on X.
The original version of the motion said Canada should “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel,” which would have nixed any existing permits.
Global Affairs Canada said there are currently no open permits for exports of lethal goods to Israel.
“Since Jan. 8, the government has not approved new arms export permits to Israel and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime,” the department said in a statement.
Export permits issued before Jan. 8 are still in effect. “Given the nature of the supply chain, suspending all open permits would have important implications for both Canada and its allies.”
Despite the final motion text speaking only to arms, Joly’s office said the freeze applies to all military goods and technology. For example, a university seeking a radar system that is subject to Canadian permit rules would also be held up in the approval process under the Jan. 8 order.
McPherson said the NDP was willing to walk away over the arms export language.
She said Joly approached her in the opposition lobby of the House of Commons at around 7 p.m. on Monday evening, just 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled vote.
Joly tried to push for even softer language than what appeared in the final motion, McPherson said.
“They didn’t want the liability of cancelling arms contracts,” she said. “We said no. We walked away.”
The negotiations ultimately hinged on what the Liberals would be willing to do to help people in Gaza “right now,” she said.
That came down to three red lines, she said: stopping the sale of arms to the Israeli government, supporting the International Court of Justice and putting sanctions on extremist settlers in the West Bank.
The language around supporting the work of the court did not specify how Canada should do so, but McPherson said it’s show that “we’re giving support to the organizations that we want to hold Hamas responsible” for the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, that sparked its war with Hamas.
The government had also earlier signalled it was considering sanctioning Israelis accused of violence in the West Bank.
“Every single time we worked with the Liberals, every time we looked at something they were proposing, we took it back to members of the community, we took it back to progressive Jewish individuals, we took it back to folks that have experience on the ground in Gaza,” McPherson said.
“It wasn’t easy work.”
The New Democrats didn’t come out of the vote unscathed. On Wednesday, NDP Brian Masse issued an apology for making a comment in the House of Commons that linked a ceasefire with tackling antisemitism.
“I want to apologize to all who have been impacted by this comment. I’m committed to repairing the harm that was caused,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.
— With files from Mia Rabson and Dylan Robertson.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press