Government's endorsement of amended Palestinian statehood motion wins praise, draws outrage

The Liberal government's last-minute endorsement of an amended NDP mo‐ tion on Palestinian state‐ hood is being welcomed by the country's Muslim advo‐ cacy group and derided by Jewish voices who say Ot‐ tawa has sub-contracted its foreign policy to "anti-Is‐ rael radicals."

The motion, introduced by NDP MP Heather McPherson, was controversial from the start. One clause in the origi‐ nal motion called on the gov‐ ernment to "officially recog‐ nize the State of Palestine."

As the war rages on in Gaza, some of Canada's al‐ lies, including the United Kingdom, have signalled they're open to recognizing the Palestinian territories as a state - once some key con‐ ditions are met.

The idea has been pitched as a way to revive dormant peace talks and prompt the creation of an independent Palestinian state next to Is‐ rael.

The Trudeau government took out its red pen and amended the language in McPherson's motion to add the stipulation that Canada will "work with international partners" to "pursue the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East," and work "towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negoti‐ ated two-state solution."

Before backing the mo‐ tion, the government also ad‐ justed its section on military exports. It wouldn't go along with a call to "suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel" but agreed to "cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel."

As for UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian relief agency, the government agreed to main‐ tain its funding - as it has an‐ nounced previously - but it added language to the mo‐ tion saying it supports an in‐ ternal investigation into claims that some UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.

The government also ad‐ ded verbiage about backing "long-term governance refor‐ ms" and "accountability mea‐ sures" at UNRWA. The aid agency has been described by some as an essential life‐ line for Gazans living through a destructive war - while some Israelis claim it has been infiltrated by Hamaslinked elements.

WATCH: House passes watered-down Palestinian recognition motion

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said the govern‐ ment secured important "concessions" before agreeing to the motion's pas‐ sage.

"We were able to find common ground on the question of the two-state so‐ lution, which is important for Canadians and for our coun‐ try," she said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Palestinians are "suffering on a massive scale in Gaza," and the entire pop‐ ulation of the territory is "on the brink of starvation."

"Our motion offers real solutions for peace and jus‐ tice, as well as steps to show that Canada can be a force for good in this world and that Canada and its leaders have the moral courage to say when enough is enough," he said.

Israel launched an offen‐ sive in the Gaza Strip follow‐ ing the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7. The surprise Hamas assault left some 1,200 peo‐ ple - mostly civilians but also soldiers, police officers and security officials - dead in Is‐ rael, according to officials, and saw hundreds of hostages taken to Gaza.

Gaza health officials said that, as of last week, Israel's military campaign had killed more than 31,000 people and displaced nearly two million more.

WATCH | Liberal MP says he has to reflect after Lib‐ erals voted for amended motion on Palestinian statehood

McPherson said she was amenable to the governmen‐ t's changes because the mo‐ tion was never meant to be "a 'gotcha' motion" - the party wanted the govern‐ ment to come on side.

"This is a moment in time where we need to come up with a better solution for peace in the Middle East," she told CBC News.

The government's changes meant that a motion that was destined to fail fewer than a dozen Liberal MPs told CBC News earlier Monday they would vote in favour - easily carried the House of Commons, with on‐ ly the staunchly pro-Israel Conservative caucus, three Liberals and an Independent MP voting nay.

The final vote count was 204 in favour and 117 voting against.

Motion 'rewards Hamas,' says Liberal MP

MP Anthony Housefather, one of the Liberals who voted no, said Canada's Jew‐ ish community is feeling "de‐ moralized and intimidated" as it grapples with a spike in antisemitism.

In a speech to the Com‐ mons, Housefather said the motion "rewards Hamas," be‐ cause it creates "a false equivalency between the State of Israel and the terror‐

ist organization Hamas."

"Canada should be stand‐ ing with Israel. Canada should be defending the right of Israel to fight back against a terrorist organiza‐ tion. We should not be pass‐ ing motions that make a ter‐ rorist organization equivalent to a democratic state," he said.

The amended motion passed by the Commons does describe Hamas as "a listed terrorist organization."

WATCH | Motion on Palestinian statehood tests Liberal caucus

The government agreed to language demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but added the stipulation that Hamas "must lay down its arms."

Asked if he could stay on as a parliamentary secretary after the government's en‐ dorsement, Housefather told

CBC News he would "take the time to reflect."

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday before question pe‐ riod, Housefather, who ap‐ peared emotional, said he's re-evaluating his place in the Liberal caucus after last night's vote. He said he'd "take the time to reflect" on whether he can stay on as a parliamentary secretary.

"I truly felt last night that a line had been crossed," Housefather said.

"When my party members cheered and gave a standing ovation to Heather McPher‐ son and the NDP, I started re‐ flecting on whether or not I belonged. I didn't feel like some MPs - or a lot of MPs understood the existential threat that Israel faces.

"I am such a proud Cana‐ dian but I also care passion‐ ately about the state of Israel because it's the only refuge for Jewish people when they're exiled or thrown out of countries. You need an Is‐ rael."

He said the government didn't have to vote for an NDP opposition day motion it made a choice to adopt something that's been widely panned by many Jewish Canadians, he said. "It easily could have been voted down," he said. "That should have been the course."

While he's uneasy about his place in the party he's called home for most of his life, Housefather said his col‐ leagues have shown him "a lot of love."

CIJA, a Jewish advocacy group, said stripping the uni‐ lateral recognition of Pales‐ tine from the motion was the result of "substantial mobi‐ lization of the pro-Israel com‐ munity," but it still criticized the motion as passed.

"We are deeply disap‐ pointed that the Liberal gov‐ ernment has chosen to effec‐ tively sub-contract Canadian foreign policy to anti-Israel radicals within the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois," the group said in a statement fol‐ lowing the vote.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a vocal critic of Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and an advocate of Canada taking a harder line against the Jewish state and its leadership, said it was pleased by what it described as "a historic vote."

"Canada voted in favour of Palestine today," the group said. "That is history."

The NCCM said it was happy with what it described as the motion's call for "a weapons embargo" and a passage that would impose "sanctions on settlers" - a ref‐ erence to one passage of the motion that calls on the gov‐ ernment to impose sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have attacked Palestinians.

Salma Zahid, a Liberal MP who backed the motion from the start, said "a humanitari‐ an crisis of epic proportions" is unfolding in Gaza and Canada must do something.

She said that given the massive civilian death toll in Gaza, Canada needs to "do more than just wag its finger" at the Israeli government over its actions.

Zahid was particularly crit‐ ical of the Israeli governmen‐ t's tacit acceptance of settle‐ ments in the West Bank.

Those settlements, which are seen as illegal under in‐ ternational law, have been described as an impediment to the creation of a future Palestinian state.

"It is time for Canada to stand up and be counted. Canadians are looking to us. They expect us to lead. They expect us to act. Either we stand for peace and justice, or we do not," she said.