As international condemnation of Israel’s assault on Gaza intensifies, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney surprised many by suggesting Canada could impose sanctions on the Israeli government. The former Bank of Canada governor stated that “serious consequences” may be warranted if Israel continues to violate international law, drawing a clear—if cautious—line in the sand.
Yet while Carney tentatively gestures toward accountability for war crimes, Green Party leader Elizabeth May appears more concerned with Canada’s voting rules and blaming the « unfair » system for her poor election results.
In a post from the Green Party’s official account this week, May declared:
“My top priority this parliamentary session? Electoral reform.”
Nowhere in May’s recent public remarks was there any mention of the starvation of children, or Canada’s complicity through continued arms sales to Israel. For a party that once prided itself on human rights and moral clarity on the Middle East her silence is deafening.
Indeed, May’s post-election messaging has been heavy on strategic voting and electoral mechanics, and light—if not absent—on foreign policy, climate justice, and Canada’s role on the world stage. Even as the NDP and Bloc Québécois have issued calls for arms embargoes and ceasefires in Gaza, May has remained relatively silent.
This isn’t the first time she’s tried to suppress the party’s more activist members. In 2016, when grassroots Greens passed a resolution calling for sanctions on Israel, May openly opposed the move and threatened to down in protest, only to return after pressuring the party to soften its language.
Now, as the world watches in horror at the live-streamed destruction of Gaza, May’s focus on procedural reform feels to many like a dodge.
“She’s talking about how votes don’t count while children are being bombed with weapons Canada exports,” said one Green supporter.
