Councillors in Burnaby, B.C., a municipality in the Metro Vancouver region, have unanimously passed a motion calling on the federal government to impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel amid the current war in Gaza.
The motion from Coun. Alison Gu asks Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley to write to the federal government and request that the federal government stop the export and import of all military goods between Canada and Israel.
It also commits Burnaby to the signing of a pledge to be “apartheid free” and commit to freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people, as well as advocate for the feds to expand the temporary resettlement visa program for Canadians seeking to get family members out of Gaza.
Councillors said Tuesday that they were the first community in Canada to call for a two-way arms embargo on Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
“Our constituents have been speaking to us, coming to us, saying that they feel just completely let down by other orders of government in the lack of action on this,” Gu told CBC’s On The Coast before the meeting.
“The representation that we have as local leaders, the responsibility that we have to use our platform to take a stand, is a moral question,” she added.
The passing of the motion was greeted by loud cheers in council chambers on Tuesday in Metro Vancouver’s third-most populous city of just under 250,000 residents.
Gu said the motion was motivated by recent analysis that showed that arms from Canada are still flowing to Israel, despite the federal government’s insistence that no arms have been shipped to the country since January 2024.
She says the data was uncovered by a group of researchers from four NGOs: World Beyond War, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and Independent Jewish Voices.
They found entries in the database of the Israel Tax Authority that show Canadian goods continuing to enter Israel, described by the Israeli government as military weapon parts and ammunition.
Coun. Daniel Tetrault, who is Jewish and descended from Holocaust survivors, said that councillors were standing up for many residents who had written to them horrified about what was going on in Gaza.
“I’m hearing from residents who are looking for leaders to advocate for peace and justice, but instead are faced with silent indifference or outright complicity of so many of our leaders,” he said.
“Residents who are afraid to speak up in their workplace or their school or in their communities for fear of repercussion. Residents who not only want to see peace and justice everywhere else in the world, but also in their local communities.”
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month-long war. It does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251, according to Israeli tallies. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals, but 50 remain in Gaza, with around 20 still believed to be alive.
A new UN-backed report says famine is unfolding in Gaza. Canada’s Secretary of State for International Development Randeep Sarai says Israel is not doing enough to stop civilians from dying of hunger.
Israel has been criticized for the death toll in Gaza, with the country controlling who leaves Gaza and how much humanitarian aid can get in.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system, a collaboration of 19 global organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), said 514,000 people — close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza — are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
