North Bay

Arms Embargo Now! – July 24 & 25

– Ceasefire NOW Nipissing –

Urgent Call for Community Support

Please join us this Thursday and Friday, July 24, 25, 9:00-5:00 pm at 375 Main Street W, outside Liberal MP Pauline Rochefort’s office.

This demonstration’s purpose is to impress upon our representatives the urgency of their direct action in stopping the genocide in Gaza.

We have presented Pauline Rochefort with a mandate letter outlining specific ways she can do this. You can read the details of that letter further down.

While we await her response and an in-person meeting with her, we will be reminding her of our presence and the urgency of her decision.

We will be maintaining a peaceful but strong presence during the office hours between 9:00 am — 5:00 pm on both days. Bring your flags, signs, drums, and energy.

Please note that we have notified the office of our intent. We will not be harassing staff or other constituents, or blocking their way in and out of the office.

The office is accessible but bring chairs if needed since there are no benches outside.

Keep in mind that photos and videos may be taken at this demonstration.

Detailed Context and Purpose of this Demonstration

On Monday July 21, concerned community members presented the Arms Embargo NOW Mandate letter to be passed along to MP Rochefort. At this time we also requested an in-person meeting to discuss if Rochefort would support the actions outlined in the letter.

It was strongly recommended that this meeting be held before her return to Ottawa in August. We will update with the confirmed meeting date as soon as it is finalized.

In the meantime, we will continue to put pressure on the urgency of this matter. While Canadian officials drag their feet, Palestinians are being systematically starved and violently terrorized by a state that Canada continues to call our allies, despite the international courts and humanitarian groups determining this state guilty of atrocity crimes and crimes against humanity.

We urge Rochefort to use her power in parliament to express her constituents concerns about Canada’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians and to pressure our government to follow through with our responsibilities and commitments under international law as signatories of the UN genocide convention:

“All member states must not recognize, trade with, aid, or assist a state accused of atrocity crimes”

Here is the full list of demands that are included in the letter:

1. Immediately and publicly express your support for Canada to sanction Israel with a two-way arms embargo. Issue both a public statement as a Member of Parliament and sign onto the call for a full and immediate arms embargo on Israel at armsembargonow.ca.

2. Write a letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence David McGuinty, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, and Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound, and post it publicly, urging them to do the following:

a. Use Canada’s unilateral sanction legislation to urgently impose a comprehensive two-way arms embargo on Israel.

b. Cancel all permits for transfers of arms, parts, and components to Israel and end all direct shipments immediately.

c. End indirect transfers of arms to Israel through the United States by banning Canadian arms from being sent as military aid to Israel or being sold by the US to Israel. Require end-use assurances for all arms transferred to the US to not end up in Israel.

d. Cancel all contracts and planned purchases of military goods from Israel.

e. Update Canada’s procurement code of conduct to include measures that prevent the purchase of arms from companies involved in Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid system, and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.