Join MP Jenny Kwan's Fight to Stop Canadian Weapons from Fuelling War

Canada must close the loopholes that let our arms end up in the hands of human rights abusers.

Jenny Kwan is closing Canada’s “arms embargo loophole” that allows Canadian arms to flow through the US without accountability. Currently, Canadian weapons can reach global conflicts, contributing to human rights abuses despite international law.

Her Private Member’s Bill strengthens monitoring and disclosure standards to prevent Canadian arms from being used in war crimes or harming civilians. This legislation reflects Canada’s commitment to peace, justice, and human rights, including situations of impunity such as in Gaza being perpetrated by Israel.

✍️ Sign the Parliamentary Petition →

Canada Must Not Be Complicit in War and Repression

Right now, loopholes in Canada’s arms export laws allow Canadian-made weapons and components to end up in the hands of governments accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.

That’s wrong.

On September 19th, Jenny introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to close these dangerous loopholes and make sure Canadian weapons are never used to harm civilians or fuel repression abroad. There will be a vote in Parliament in February 2026. We need your help to mobilize your friends and neighbours!

The Problem

When Canada joined the Arms Trade Treaty in 2019, it left out one big exception — exports to the United States.

The U.S. is the largest buyer of Canadian military goods. Once there, those Canadian-made parts can be built into weapons systems and shipped to countries accused of bombing civilians or violating human rights — with no transparency, no accountability, and no oversight.

Reports from Amnesty International and Arms Embargo Now have shown that Canadian components have been used in conflicts like Gaza and Yemen.

This must stop.

What Jenny’s Bill Will Do

✅ Apply export controls to all arms, parts, and technology — no exceptions.
 Remove exemptions for the U.S. and other countries.
 Ban blanket export permits for weapons and munitions.
 Require end-use certificates to prevent diversion to human rights abusers.
 Mandate annual public reports to Parliament on Canada’s compliance with the Arms Trade Treaty.

Jenny's Private Member's Bill is Supported By:

Oxfam Canada, Canadians for a Just Peace in the Middle East, Independent Jewish Voices, National Council of Canadian Muslims, and the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council — all standing together for peace, accountability, and human rights.

 

Latest Update

A delegation of 30 Canadians, including six MPs, was on its way to meet with displaced Palestinians when they were denied entry into the occupied West Bank by Israeli border agents. David Akin looks at what the group is saying about why it was turned away, and the reaction.

Click image or link to watch the news video - https://globalnews.ca/video/11580973/israel-denies-canadian-delegation-including-mps-from-entering-west-bank/

OTTAWA — A GTA MP says she was shoved repeatedly by Israeli border agents in what another MP described as “angry” and “aggressive” behaviour when they were denied entry into the West Bank as part of a Canadian delegation Tuesday.

The incident prompted Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to object to the “mistreatment of these Canadians,” while Israeli authorities — who control entry into the Palestinian territory — confirmed they are reviewing the incident.

Iqra Khalid, the Liberal MP for Mississauga—Erin Mills, told the Star by phone from Jordan that she was one of six parliamentarians in a group of about 30 people who were held for several hours at a border crossing, despite having already obtained electronic visas. Khalid said one of the delegates travelling with them was being questioned by several officers, and so she approached to “make sure she was OK.”

When asked to back away, Khalid said she took a couple steps back but kept a close watch on what was happening.

“An Israeli officer came up to me, to my face, and started yelling, telling me to go away,” Khalid said.

Then Khalid said the officer “shoved me into the wall,” prompting her to tell him not to touch her.

Khalid said the officer responded “I will touch you as much as I want” and then pushed her again, before another officer joined in to shove her back into an open area of the room.

“I got pushed with enough force that I almost fell backwards,” she said. “I got caught by a delegate, and a couple more delegates came and took me away before the situation escalated further.”

Anand said Global Affairs Canada was in contact with the travelling delegation.

Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/canadian-delegation-including-6-mps-say-they-were-treated-roughly-denied-entry-into-west-bank/article_aa2bba9a-4e75-42e1-8d5d-188dd836c172.html

The Canadian delegation’s trip to the West Bank was sponsored by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, a registered charity that seeks to foster political participation within Canadian Muslim communities.

The Canadian-Muslim Vote sponsored a similar trip last year which saw Liberal MPs Salma Zahid and Shafqat Ali, as well as NDP MP Heather McPherson and former NDP MPs Matthew Green and Lindsay Mathyssen visit Jordan and the West Bank.

The West Bank was chosen as the destination for the 2025 trip because of “increasing concerns around settler expansion and settler violence” in the region, Ghayyur said.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, settlers in the West Bank attacked Palestinian communities over 1,600 times this year as of Dec. 5, an average of five per day. The current olive harvest season was marked by “widespread settler violence” targeting farmers, trees and agriculture infrastructure, the UN agency said.

The “accelerated settlement building across the West Bank” and “settler violence against Palestinians” were among the reasons Prime Minister Mark Carney gave for his decision to formally recognize the State of Palestine in September.

Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/politics-government/canada-delegation-west-bank-denied-entry-21-gtha-11633418

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Global Affairs Canada was made aware of the trip well in advance and informed the Israeli authorities that the delegation intended to cross into the occupied West Bank.

“I certainly hope that the Canadian government will follow up,” Kwan said from Jordan. “It should come as no surprise that we were coming and why we were all going.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted to X Tuesday that Canada has expressed its “objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross.”

Click image or link to read and watch the news story - https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/really-unfortunate-six-mps-denied-entry-to-west-bank-by-israeli-officials/

 

A Canadian lawmaker who was denied entry to the occupied West Bank, alongside fellow politicians and civil society leaders, has dismissed Israel’s claims that the delegation posed a threat to public safety.

Jenny Kwan, a Canadian MP with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), questioned whether Canada’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state earlier this year contributed to Israel’s decision to block the group.

“How is it that members of parliament are a public safety concern?” she said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “How is it that civil society organisations who are doing humanitarian work… [are] a security concern?”

Kwan and five other MPs were among 30 Canadian delegates denied entry to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday after Israel deemed them a risk to public safety.

The delegation, organised by nonprofit group The Canadian-Muslim Vote, was turned back to Jordan at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing, which connects Jordan with the West Bank and is controlled by Israel on the Palestinian side, after an hours-long security check.

Kwan said another female MP in the group was “manhandled” by Israeli border agents while attempting to keep an eye on a delegate who was being taken for additional interrogation.

“She was shoved – not once, not twice, but multiple times – by border agents there,” Kwan said. “A member of parliament was handled in that way – If you were just an everyday person, what else could have happened?”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/16/canadian-mp-blocked-from-west-bank-rejects-israels-safety-concern-claims

Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver-East, was one of six members of Parliament denied entry into the occupied West Bank on Tuesday by the Israeli government, on the grounds of 'government, public security, public safety or public order considerations.' Kwan pushed back on the justification of the refusal of entry, calling it 'completely unacceptable.'

Click image or link to watch the news video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5RYyFnzpxI

OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says she was shoved several times by Israeli border officials as her delegation was denied entry to the West Bank Tuesday morning.

Ontario MP Iqra Khalid said Tuesday she was pushed after trying to check on a member of the roughly 30-person delegation who was pulled aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby Crossing for several hours.

"I wanted to stay close by because there were three or four officers that were surrounding this young woman. And so I asked if I could be part of the conversation. They said no. So I took two steps back and I just was watching," Khalid said in an interview from Amman, Jordan.

"An Israeli officer came up to me and he was yelling at my face and said, 'Go away,' and he pushed me. I took a step back into the wall and I said, 'Don't touch me, please.' And he said, 'I'll touch you as much as I want,' and he pushed me again. And at that point, another officer came and he pushed me further back."

Khalid said another member of the delegation then came and pulled her back toward the rest of the group.

Khalid said the border officials would have known she was a parliamentarian because they had taken her special passport, which looks different from the standard Canadian document.

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan and Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, who are also part of the delegation, both told The Canadian Press they witnessed the shoving incident.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/travel/israel-blocks-canadian-delegation-including-mps-from-entering-the-west-bank/ar-AA1Stmys?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver-East, was one of six members of Parliament denied entry into the occupied West Bank on Tuesday by the Israeli government, on the grounds of 'government, public security, public safety or public order considerations.' Kwan pushed back on the justification of the refusal of entry, calling it 'completely unacceptable.'

Kwan says the delegation had advised the Canadian government of its trip and plans, which in turn communicated the information to Israel.

At no point did we try to hide the information. We were completely forthright, Kwan said in an interview with CBC News's Aarti Patel.

Kwan explained that Canadian members of Parliament are issued special passports and that they were not handed the form with the statement denying them entry — and therefore were not asked to sign it.

Still, she doesn't believe the reasons used by Israel to justify the denial.

I for one reject that notion that civil societies who are doing humanitarian work on the ground [are] a security threat and I also reject the fact that members of Parliament, doing our work, also pose, somehow, a security threat, Kwan said.

Before they attempted to enter, she said the delegation had visited a refugee camp in Jordan and spoken to families there about their experiences in the West Bank.

Kwan said she hasn't yet heard how the Canadian government will react to the news, but said, You have to ask the question: what is it that the Israeli government is trying to hide?

Click image or link to read and watch the news - https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2214469/completely-unacceptable-mp-says-after-israel-blocks-canadian-delegation-from-entering-west-bank

Statement from Jenny Kwan on Canadian MP's and Civil Society Organizations Denied Entry to West Bank

As part of a delegation of organized and sponsored by Canadian Muslim Vote, six Canadian Members of Parliament, along with representatives from civil society organizations, arrived in Amman on Sunday, December 14, 2025. The purpose of the visit for the delegation was to deepen our understanding by listening to and learning directly from individuals on the ground, including Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, and Christian families, about their lived experiences.

During my time in Jordan, the delegation met with the Canadian Ambassador and government representatives, visited families living in refugee camps, and engaged with civil society organizations involved in humanitarian work. These meetings provided firsthand insight into daily conditions, lived realities, and the practical challenges facing affected communities. I also learned about the efforts of relief organizations and the impact of humanitarian projects in Jordan prior to our planned travel to the West Bank.

Upon arrival at the Allenby Border Crossing on December 16, 2025, the entire delegation was denied entry to the West Bank. Israeli authorities cited “public security, public safety, or public order considerations” as the basis for the denial. The Canadian government informed Israel of the delegation prior to travel.  I categorically reject the assertion that elected officials and civil society organizations engaging in humanitarian and fact-finding work pose any risk to public safety, security, or public order.

The delegation travelled in good faith with the intention of meeting a broad range of individuals, families, and community members to better understand their daily conditions and lived experiences. In Jordan, we met with displaced families residing in refugee camps and with organizations delivering humanitarian assistance on the ground.

All travel arrangements and documentation required to enter the West Bank were completed in advance and in full compliance with established requirements. The Government of Canada formally notified the Government of Israel ahead of the delegation’s travel. Electronic travel authorizations to enter the West Bank were initially approved but were subsequently revoked on the day of our arrival.

The denial of entry to elected parliamentarians and civil society organizations engaged in peaceful, transparent parliamentary activity raises serious concerns regarding the openness of channels for dialogue. I remain committed to constructive engagement, the rule of law, and the promotion of democratic principles in all international interactions. The use of security and public order narratives to limit legitimate fact-finding work is completely unacceptable.

 

A group of five Liberal MPs and a lone NDP parliamentarian are planning to spend three days in Israel and the occupied West Bank, at a time of heightened tensions between Ottawa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Like a previous delegation of different Liberal and NDP MPs in early 2024, this group is taking part in sponsored travel by a registered Muslim non-profit, Canadian Muslim Vote.

The only NDP MP on this trip, Jenny Kwan, who represents Vancouver East, said she has some concerns about gaining entry into Israel.

The group’s itinerary also includes going into the Israeli-occupied West Bank, administered by the PA.

While there, they intend to meet with Palestinian families who have had run-ins with settlers, as well as PA officials to speak about democratic reform and institution-building.

Kwan said she expects there could be obstacles on any step of the itinerary, given the Israeli-controlled access into the swath of land.

“At any juncture, anything could happen,” she said.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-mps-west-bank-visit-9.7015201

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