A cohort of ministerial staffers in the Liberal Party of Canada have pulled their support from the government over its handling of the Israel-Hamas war, the majority of whom are of Middle Eastern descent.
A letter addressed to “the leader of the Liberal party” was signed by 52 staffers and says that they will not be participating in the upcoming byelection campaign for the Lasalle-Emard-Verdun riding in Montreal, QC.
The seat was recently left vacant following former Liberal justice minister David Lametti’s resignation.
“While many of us started our political careers in elections as volunteers, we can no longer in good conscience campaign for a party that excludes us and our values,” reads the letter obtained by CBC News.
The letter indicates that the staffers will not be participating in activities as party members until the Trudeau government changes its diplomatic approach to the conflict and “join our allies in explicitly condemning Israel for its numerous war crimes and for the genocidal rhetoric from members of the Israeli Cabinet.”
Additionally, the group is demanding that Canada “join our allies, including Norway, Spain, and Ireland in recognizing the state of Palestine,” and “acknowledge anti-Palestinian racism as a unique form of hate and work to address it in Canada.”
Staffers are also calling for the government to revoke its existing arms export permits to Israel and close any other loopholes which may permit Canadian-made arms to arrive in Israel through third-party countries.
Their final demand for an end to “all research collaboration on military and dual-use technologies between Canadian and Israeli researchers.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to True North’s request for comment, however, it did release a statement saying it supports the “comprehensive ceasefire deal, outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council.”
“We call on parties to the conflict to agree to the deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost,” reads the statement, which goes on to call for Hamas to lay down its arms and release all hostages.
A spokesperson for the Liberal party told CBC that it “firmly believes that everyone should feel safe, welcome, and included in our movement — and we’ll continue working very hard to engage volunteers and supporters on their priorities to keep moving forward.”
However, political staffers are not unionized and may be hired, fired or quit at any time.
They often volunteer their time to door knock and make phone calls to gather donations for their party during campaigns.
“Until we are no longer ashamed to tell our communities and families that we are actively campaigning for the Liberal Party, we will be pausing partisan activity,” said the staffers in the statement.
This is the second time the group has appealed to Trudeau in the form of a joint letter, first writing to him to demand a ceasefire in Gaza last fall but it did not threaten any specific action if the party did not acquiesce.
The group’s most recent letter made reference to their first one, saying that they have “often felt unheard” by Trudeau.
“Over the past months we have expressed our growing concerns in relation to the human rights violations experienced by Palestinians and advocated for a change in policy towards a posture that is aligned with our values,” it said. “We have often felt unheard by the leadership of our party.”