When it comes to Gaza, political insincerity is not cutting it

OTTAWA—Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s trip to the Middle East, her department’s main estimates, and the NDP motion to acknowledge the plight of the Palestinians should have nothing in common. Except, they have converged to expose the emptiness of Joly’s ministerial gravitas. Joly was in the Middle East to “exchange views on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.” That’s according to her news release, which goes to great lengths to “reiterate Canada’s unequivocal condemnation of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel.” It is near the end that she mentions the two-state solution with the warring parties “living side by side in peace, security, and dignity.” These are idealistic but somewhat dishonest gestures. With the death count in Gaza nearing 31,000, Joly met with humanitarian groups “to hear about the evolving need and challenges they continue to face” to deliver food to famine struck Gazans. The photo-op she shared on social media had this caption: “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic.” You don’t say! Empathy for the starving of Gaza and naïve assertions about a two-state solution at this late stage of the conflict is just plain pretence. Everyone in the world knows that Joly and her government were the first to cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the most credible food delivery agency for Gaza. It was restored, but only after massive public protests. Joly has now moved on to the politics of low level exploitation of Palestinian victims of sexual crimes. Once again, she took to social media to announce $1-million to investigate claims of rape and violence. “We believe Palestinian women,” she posted. The Israelis are naturally livid, wondering if she means that they are the perpetrators? If so, why not spell it out loud? Her gestures are symbolic. They are not statements of policy or official calls for justice. In fact, when the rate of the Gaza killings was at its peak in early November, the best Joly could do was utter jargon like “humanitarian pause,” and question the “premise” of South Africa’s allegations of genocide. Palestinians and Israelis should not fall for these tricks. They should take a closer look at Canada’s foreign policy track record. They may be surprised to learn that our government is driven less by firm policy commitments than it is by soundbites and impromptu announcements to capture the news cycle. The departmental plan for Global Affairs Canada shows how systemic the problem is. Joly is planning deep cuts to her portfolio. It will drop from a high of $9.2-billion in 2022-23 to $7.4-billion by 2026-27, with cuts to items like $430-million for developing countries to tackle climate change; $387-million for biodiversity programs; and, $100-million in help for international health. The selection and timing of the cuts with no pledge that the programs will be replaced or ever renewed again raises a few red flags. It was only last October that Joly unveiled her new policy framework of “pragmatic diplomacy.” It was going to transform Canada into a “convening power that prevents global conflicts.” In June, she had announced a corporate renewal project to make her department “fit for purpose.” That takes public servants and fresh new programs. Perhaps she thinks: why bother with costly programs and meddling bureaucrats when you have social media? It's possible that with the election approaching Joly has been told to slash the budget and focus on quick political wins. The arena of international affairs, sadly, does not jibe well with such retail politics. Mechanically repeating speaking points, no matter how crafty they are, gets difficult when the entire planet is scrutinizing your every word and action. You lose credibility. What helps is good policy. It puts context to the words and consistency to the actions. Without it we are left with scoffing political stunts, like Joly meeting with the Saudi Arabian foreign minister. She noted on social media that they had a “productive conversation on how our two countries can collaborate in service of global peace and security.” Does she not know that Saudi Arabia is among the worst abusers of human rights? Of course, she does. Maybe we shouldn’t despair about the state of politics in Canada. Joly did ultimately support the ground-breaking NDP motion on Gaza. It was approved by the Bloc Québécois, the Greens, and most of the Liberals. That much is true, except it is non-binding and does nothing more than to reaffirm already existing policies, legislative measures, and international law. Shortly after the NDP motion was first debated, Immigration Minister Marc Miller noted that the cap put on the temporary visa program for Canadians to sponsor their ill-fated relatives out of Gaza will be raised. The program had an initial cap of 1,000. It was first announced in December last year. So far, only 14 individuals have been processed. We can expect these deceits to continue for as long as politicians believe that their moral contradictions have no bearing on their electability. Luckily, on a hopeful note, a quick a look at the polling data shows that when it comes to Gaza, political insincerity is not cutting it with Canadians anymore. Bhagwant Sandhu is a retired director general from the federal public service. He also held executive positions with the governments of Ontario and British Columbia. The Hill Times