Canada won’t even pretend to do the right thing

More than 100 diplomats from over 50 countries walked out at the UN General Assembly as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the podium. Yet Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, remained firmly in his chair.

For over two years, Netanyahu’s government has carried out a genocide in Palestine, killing at least 67,000 people, almost a third being children, according to Palestinian health authorities. 

Netanyahu’s speech included statements that Israel “must finish the job” in Gaza.

“I don’t think we’re going to engage in a performative gesture at this point,” Rae said to CTV News to explain his decision. “I think it’s important for us to try to figure out what the solutions are and how we can get there.”

“My job is to listen to people,” he continued. “In many cases, listen to people I don’t agree with.” 

He wasn’t the only one listening. The Israeli military made sure Gazans would hear, as they ghoulishly blasted the speech on loudspeakers throughout the territory. 

He pointed to speeches made about Ukraine by Russia’s foreign affairs minister and ambassador, saying he listened to them despite disagreeing with some of their content.

But, ignoring that the Canadian delegation actually did walk out of the Russian foreign minister’s speech in 2022 (represented by our then-Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly), Rae’s argument is still morally and logically hollow.

Choosing to walk out is a “performative” gesture, but with so many delegates leaving, staying in that room is a clear, performative choice as well. 

Rae’s choice tacitly legitimizes the contents of Netanyahu’s speech and the actions of his warmongering government. 

Even the most gracious interpretations of his motivations, the ones Rae ascribes to himself, fall short. There is no justification for Rae’s level of hearing both sides out, not this far into a genocide. 

In the face of this humanitarian crisis, Rae represents Canada without morals or values. He continues to ride the line between spineless spectator and active supporter of the genocide — all while contorting moral justifications so that the Canadian government can sleep at night. 

Take Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent decision to recognize the state of Palestine, which Netanyahu described in his speech as “disgraceful” and “encourag[ing] terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere.”

Despite Netanyahu’s theatrics, the PM’s recognition is another largely performative act, backed by no real action. 

This comes after the Liberal government spent two years twiddling their thumbs while the Israeli military bombed Palestinians and their land with Canadian explosives. 

Weapons which Canada, through signing the UN Genocide Convention and Arms Trade Treaty, is legally obligated to prevent from being used by genocidal forces.

Last year, Parliament blocked shipments of “lethal goods,” such as weapons technology and equipment, which suspended only 30 of the 164 permits Canadian companies used to export military goods to Israel as of 2024. 

But this embargo has glaring loopholes the Liberals refuse to close, according to a report from Arms Embargo Now. 

The report says over 400,000 bullets, alongside other weaponry and equipment used to aid the genocide, have arrived from Canada since October 2023, violating Canada’s internal and international promises. 

Both the Trudeau and Carney governments have denied that the shipments violate Canada’s responsibilities and laws.

The Canadian government has shown no interest in taking moral culpability or doing the right thing, preferring to offer impotent smoke-and-mirrors statesmanship while Palestinians are slaughtered. 

Rae is right, it is not the time for performative action — it is the time for strong, decisive leadership to end our support of a genocide. 

Clearly, our government is not willing to do that. They would rather stay complicit through inaction. 

By refusing to take a meaningful — or even performative — stand against Israel, Rae and the Canadian government are supporting Israel and its genocide.