Trudeau non-committal about restoring funding to Palestinian relief agency UNRWA
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday his government isn't ready to announce it's restoring fed‐ eral funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the UN agency that has been deliv‐ ering aid to the people of Gaza.
"We're not making any an‐ nouncements today but we will continue to make sure Canada does the right thing in this situation and puts the protection of civilian life at the forefront," Trudeau said at a media event in Toronto about his government's phar‐ macare plan.
Trudeau said the federal government has ministers on the ground in the Middle East "engaging with partners" on "all the things Canada can and should do."
"The ongoing humanitari‐ an crisis and disaster in Gaza is heart-wrenching for every‐ one. We know how important it is to get aid into Gaza, to help the families, the inno‐ cents, the civilians, the peo‐ ple who have been devas‐ tated by the past few mon‐ ths."
WATCH: Trudeau won't confirm Canada is resum‐ ing UNRWA funding
Trudeau's government and a number of other major donors cut off any additional funding for the agency in Jan‐ uary after Israel alleged that some of UNRWA's staff were somehow involved in the Oct. 7 attack that left more than a thousand Israelis dead, in‐ jured or captured as hostages.
After the release of an Is‐ raeli report about alleged UNRWA staff involvement in that deadly day, the agency fired 10 staff members. Two others were later confirmed dead, UNRWA said.
UN investigators are re‐ viewing the Israeli accusa‐ tions and are expected to de‐ liver a public report on their findings.
CBC News reported Tues‐ day that the government is prepared to resume funding UNRWA - including a $25 mil‐ lion payment in April and fu‐ ture funding.
International Develop‐ ment Minister Ahmed Hussen had been scheduled to make an announcement Wednesday but later can‐ celled his appearance.
A source told CBC News that the UNRWA funding an‐ nouncement is still coming soon.
The humanitarian situa‐ tion in Gaza is dire, with re‐ ports of widespread famine.
The Hamas-run Gaza health authority has said at least 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the con‐ flict.
Many people have been displaced and thousands are said to be injured or missing as a result of the war.
U.S. armed forces have been airdropping aid into Gaza to offer some relief. There is also talk of getting more aid into Gaza through the sea.
The previous Conservative government cut off Canada's funding to UNRWA in re‐ sponse to claims that some of its money was somehow assisting Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.
The Liberal government announced in 2016 that Canada would restore fund‐ ing after that pause.
Trudeau said Thursday that when the government made that decision, it put "significant conditions about where and how that funding was to be used."
"We will continue to en‐ sure the funding - any fund‐ ing - we give on humanitari‐ an issues anywhere around the world is used to protect the most vulnerable," he said.
Two Liberal MPs, Anthony Housefather and Marco Men‐ dicino, said Thursday in a media statement that they support providing humani‐ tarian aid to the people of Gaza but oppose having that support go through UNRWA.
"We are deeply troubled by the allegations that UNR‐ WA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel," they said in a joint statement.
"In addition, UNRWA em‐ ployees have been sanc‐ tioned in the past for facilitat‐ ing terrorist activity and for using antisemitic materials in educational textbooks. This misconduct has contributed to the spread of violence, dis‐ information and hate."
Given the agency's "his‐ tory," the MPs said they "be‐ lieve UNRWA lacks sufficient governance and internal con‐ trols to ensure that humani‐ tarian aid delivered by Cana‐ da will be reliably delivered to those who actually need it and that there is a serious risk funds will be misappro‐ priated by Hamas."
The MPs said Canada, the U.S. and other allies should "create new vehicles of hu‐ manitarian aid" to help the people of Gaza without hav‐ ing to rely on UNRWA.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused the agency of being a "terror‐ ist organization" and has promised to cut funding if he becomes prime minister.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said that while he sup‐ ports investigating the allega‐ tions, the move to pause funding was the wrong choice because it punishes desperate people who rely on the agency.