Trudeau should not put geopolitics ahead of Canadians

OTTAWA—Israel’s military siege of Gaza has spotlighted two big weaknesses in Canada’s system of governance. We are incapable of saving Canadians stuck in war zones, and we are unable to make decisions that follow the arc of Dr. Martin Luther King’s moral universe. The unfolding of the Israel-Hamas conflict is heart-breaking, but it is predictable. Many more Palestinians will die, with some analysts projecting upwards of 14,000. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear, the military operation in Gaza will continue until the over 240 Israeli hostages are freed, and until Hamas is completely incapacitated. It is in this setting that Justin Trudeau, as prime minister of Canada, has expanded his range of objectives. The readout of his Nov. 4 telephone call with Netanyahu has Trudeau stressing inconsequential issues like “Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law,” and the “importance of upholding international humanitarian law.” It is a replay of his senseless speaking points in favour of “a humanitarian pause.” Trudeau’s words are hollow, as if concocted by political consultants. He should narrow things down to one item and assert that irrespective of the pulls of domestic politics or the pushes of foreign allies: his only priority is the safe return of all Canadians stranded in Gaza. Trudeau must assure us that the government is not failing us again, as it did this past April in Sudan. His credibility will drag—more than it already is—if he waffles and puts geopolitics ahead of Canadians. The dust will eventually settle with the conflict. What happens next will depend on many factors like who takes charge in Israel, who calls the shots in Gaza, the strategic intent of the United States, and how a country like Canada can use soft-diplomacy to reduce political violence and distrust. This topic may be too early to broach for those invested in taking sides. For those invested in peace and an end to the cycles of violence, these discussions are already taking place in the quiet corners of academia, and among Israeli and Palestinian policy thinkers. Canada is not present in these dialogues. We should be. It would be consistent with Trudeau’s foreign policy framework of “using pragmatic diplomacy to prevent international conflicts.” Setting the diplomatic stage to normalize Israel-Palestine relations in the post-conflict period would steer us towards Dr. King’s moral universe. Done right, it could catapult Trudeau into the annals of world history, and quite possibly turn around his dwindling political fortunes at home. One option is to follow the example of Qatar. Smack dab in the middle of the current war, Qatar has become the broker of diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Hamas, including prisoner releases. Qatar is a strong ally of the United States with American airfields and military bases, yet it garners respect all over the globe. In 2021, Qatar enabled the evacuation of foreign nationals out of Afghanistan after NATO countries like Canada failed to do so. If Trudeau is indeed serious about making Canada an interlocutor of peace and diplomacy, he should use the time now to gather academics, experts and diaspora community members to build international goodwill, policy capacity and programming which can be deployed once the war is over. For Israel, the post-conflict period will include an accounting of its security failures on Oct. 7 when Hamas broke out of Gaza, and a hard reckoning of the right-wing drift of Israeli politics by the likes of Netanyahu. For the Palestinians, if Hamas does not survive the conflict, the reckoning will entail filling the gap of political leadership; but if it survives then it will require the backing of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which it may not be able to secure. Whatever dynamics arise, Canada can be a constructive partner in post-conflict Gaza. As a Western counterweight, we could team up with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan who wants a role in the future of Israel-Palestine affairs. Trudeau could convene members of the Abraham Accords, BRICS nations, and the African Union to initiate planning for the provision of public services and attracting investments to Gaza. He could work with the Americans to foster a new generation of Palestinian and Israeli leaders who can commit to a long-term political solution, possibly a re-energized Oslo 2.0. A total of 75 Canadians did make it out on Nov. 7, a full month after the crisis began. Trudeau needs to bring them all back. All the other choices he makes will depend on what he sees as the legacy of his time in national politics—someone who promoted peace and stability, or someone who kept calling for a nonsensical “humanitarian pause.” Bhagwant Sandhu is a retired director general from the federal government. Between 2002-21 he held senior roles in several departments, including Fisheries and Ocean Canada, Infrastructure Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat, and Public Works Canada. He has also held executive positions in the governments of Ontario and British Columbia. The Hill Times