Palestine solidarity organization Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has condemned the Canadian government for approving a contract to export artillery propellants to the Israeli military via the United States. This action breaks an explicit commitment from Foreign Affairs Minister Joly that she would stop such transfers.
CJPME is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to block this transfer of explosive artillery fuel and finally implement a full two-way arms embargo on Israel without any loopholes.
“Either this government lied to us when they told us that they were stopping arms from reaching Gaza, or they are incapable of upholding their explicit commitments to Canadians,” said Michael Bueckert, Acting President of CJPME. “We deserve answers from Minister Joly about how this contract was approved, and what steps will be taken to prevent [Canadian made] weapons from being transferred to Israel.”
CJPME cited a report published March 27 by Project Ploughshares which reveals that Quebec-based General Dynamics is contracted to produce $78.8M CAD worth of artillery propellants for the United States, of which part will be supplied to Israel. The propellant is an explosive fuel needed to launch 155mm artillery shells, which have been heavily used by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. The General Dynamics plant in Quebec is the sole provider to the US.
The contract was brokered by the Canadian Commercial Corporation in September 2024, only two weeks after Minister Joly blocked a similar sale of 50,000 “high explosive” mortar cartridges from the same company following pressure from human rights groups. At the time, Joly issued an explicit promise to block all weapons and components from being “sent to Gaza,” including via the United States.
“Weapons manufacturers are not taking this government seriously on the supposed prohibition of arms to Israel, and why should they? All we have seen from Joly is empty rhetoric, without any follow-up to ensure that her pronouncements are being followed,” said Bueckert. “We need the Canadian government to enforce a full arms embargo and bring these loopholes to an end once and for all.”
Canada’s arms control regime allows weapons to flow through the US to Israel unregulated, unreported and without human rights evaluations. This includes an estimated $120.9M CAD worth of technology for F-35 fighters jets destined for use by the Israeli military. Earlier this month, 29 Liberal, NDP, and Green MPs in the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Group issued a statement calling on Canada to “enforce a strong two-way arms embargo with no exceptions or loopholes.”
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