Palestinian firefighters work to estinguish fire in a destroyed building following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Global Affairs Canada says it is providing support to the family of a seventh Canadian killed during ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas, while two Canadians remain missing in the region, as aid groups ramp up calls for more humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Abed Khaled
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with senior members of other parties Thursday to discuss Canada’s approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“The meeting was held in a very candid way, by Mr. Trudeau and his entourage,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet told reporters in French.
His office said the meeting included NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative foreign-affairs critic Michael Chong. Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Nova Scotia on Thursday.
Blanchet described it as a frank, helpful exchange on Canada’s posture in the region and its perception of ongoing events.
Both the Bloc and NDP say they had requested such a meeting, and Blanchet said he argued that a closed-door meeting might be more informative than heated exchanges on the issue in the House of Commons.
“Scoring points during question period (sessions) is rather a bit undignified,” he said in French.
Singh’s office said he raised issues he had outlined in a letter to Trudeau on Sunday.
“I am asking for an urgent meeting between us to discuss how we can work together to end the bloodshed with a ceasefire, get Canadians out of the region, ensure the safe return of all hostages and insist that international law be respected,” reads the Oct. 22 letter.
The Canadian Press has reached out to Conservatives and Greens for comment.
Global Affairs Canada confirmed Thursday that it is providing support to the family of a seventh Canadian killed during ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s office said Ottawa learned on Wednesday of another Canadian killed in the region, and her department relayed the update in a Thursday morning press release.
The federal government also confirmed that two Canadians remain missing in the region.
Officials are not confirming where the seventh death occurred or when it happened, as Israel continues to fire missiles into the densely populated Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas militants’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
Aid groups were scheduled to appear on Parliament Hill on Thursday to ramp up their calls for more humanitarian assistance to reach Hamas-controlled Gaza, which has been under siege since the conflict began.
Canada is expected to weigh in during a United Nations General Assembly debate on the matter on Friday.
Global Affairs Canada said Canada is urging “rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
The trucks Israel has allowed to bring aid into the territory represent only “a small fraction of what is needed to address the needs of Palestinian civilians,” the department said.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in less than three weeks, a figure that includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital.
The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government.
Canada designates Hamas as a terrorist group, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to say that Israel has the right to defend itself, despite his government joining global calls for a temporary respite from the fighting in order to get more aid into Gaza.
As of Wednesday, Global Affairs said it is helping 430 Canadians and their family members who have requested helpin Gaza, as well as 176 people in Israel and 76 in the West Bank.
In Israel, 5,765 Canadians in total have officially registered with Global Affairs Canada, while 451 Canadians have indicated they are in either the West Bank or Gaza.
There are also 17,135 Canadians who have registered as being in Lebanon, where Canadian officials are preparing for a possible evacuation if the country north of Israel is caught up in a wider conflict.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-funded ally of Hamas operating out of Lebanon, has repeatedly traded fire with Israel along the border.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.
– With files Michel Saba, Mia Rabson and The Associated Press.
