Madam Speaker, I rise to table a petition with over 7,500 signatures from people across the country. At the time of the signing of the petition, the petitioners noted that the Israeli government's blockade of food and medicines to Gaza had continued for more than 90 days since its commencement on March 2, 2025; that, according to the food security analysis released on May 12, 2025, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership, three-quarters of Gaza's population are currently at emergency or catastrophic food deprivation; that Canada has ratified the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which prohibit the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare; and that the starvation of civilians and other forms of collective punishment are also criminalized by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which Canada ratified on July 7, 2000.
The petitioners are noting that Canada as a country needs to uphold international human rights laws to ensure our reputation as a country is not diminished by Canada's inaction in the face of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute by other nations.
Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to suspend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement until the Government of Canada is certain that the Israeli government is no longer acting in violation of international laws with its deliberate blockade and to impose sanctions on all members of the present Israeli government who have publicly expressed their support for the continued blockade.
