People gathered at General Dynamics to denounce their role in the ongoing genocide.
Repentigny, Québec — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the General Dynamics munitions plant this week to denounce Canada’s role in arming Israel’s assault on Gaza. The protest featured speeches from physician Dr. Sarah Lalonde, renowned Indigenous activist Ellen Gabriel and author Yves Engler. Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party of Québec was also present and posted a video to social media from the event.
Dr. Sarah Lalonde: A Doctor’s Account From Gaza
Dr. Sarah Lalonde, who volunteered in Gaza earlier this year, shared harrowing testimony of the patients she treated under bombardment.
“I remember the exact moment he walked through the door of the European Gaza Hospital… the bullet had passed within millimeters of his pulmonary arteries. He is a young man, full of life and incredible passion.”
She linked these tragedies directly to Canada’s arms industry:
“Canada provides bullets that murder patients like Iyad. More than 420,000 bullets. If half were used, that’s 10 Bell Centres full of people killed by Canadian bullets. Every F-35 flying over Gaza has $2.1 million worth of Canadian parts. Without Canada, there could be no F-35 flying over Gaza.”
Dr. Lalonde condemned Ottawa’s lack of moral clarity, stressing that famine in Gaza is “entirely man-made and completely preventable.”
“Can you imagine desperately trying to breastfeed your child and you cannot get milk out of your breast? This is Canada’s genocide.”
She concluded with a clear demand:
“We need a full two-way arms embargo. Not a single bullet, not a single F-35 part made in Canada should reach Israel. No loopholes.”
Ellen Gabriel: Linking Palestinian and Indigenous Struggles
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Renowned Mohawk activist Ellen Gabriel delivered a searing speech connecting Canada’s complicity in Gaza to its own genocidal history against Indigenous peoples.
“It is Canada and all Western states that are the terrorists as they create laws to oppress Indigenous peoples from their homelands. Colonialism continues today — it is not a thing of the past. You are standing on Haudenosaunee territory, and it breaks my heart to see this war machine behind me on our land.”
Gabriel denounced General Dynamics and other weapons companies for fueling fascism and genocide in both Palestine and Turtle Island.
“They give the bullets and bombs to kill innocent people so the rich can take our land, our resources, and our children. Canada profits from genocide abroad just as it profited from genocide here.”
Drawing direct parallels between residential schools, the Oka Crisis, and the current assault on Gaza, she underscored the unity of Indigenous and Palestinian struggles:
“Just like Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, this is Haudenosaunee land. We stand in solidarity with Palestinians who know what it’s like to fight European settlers on their homelands. Free Palestine! General Dynamics is an accomplice in genocide!”
Yves Engler: Calling Out Political Criminality
Author and activist Yves Engler placed responsibility squarely on Canada’s political class. He blasted both the arms industry and government leaders for their complicity.
“We are here to condemn our government that lied about arming a Holocaust in person. We are here to condemn General Dynamics for arming a Holocaust in person.”
Engler detailed how General Dynamics is propped up by taxpayer subsidies and diplomatic backing:
“General Dynamics’ role in arming Israel’s Holocaust is shameful, but it is only one piece. Canada has registered charities subsidizing the IOF. We have Montrealers joining the IOF who are killing in Gaza. They are criminals and should be prosecuted under Canada’s war crimes and crimes against humanity laws.”
He accused Prime Minister-in-waiting Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of enabling mass murder while lying about embargoes:
“The lying Mélanie Joly, the lying Mark Carney — they are enabling the images of kids being murdered day after day after day.”
Engler also warned of new legislation that could criminalize pro-Palestinian activism:
“If I was to have a shirt that said Samidoun, Palestinian political prisoner, they could throw us in jail. Twenty-two months into a Holocaust, that is what our government is talking about.”
Alex Tyrrell: Transitioning Quebec Away from Bombs
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Green Party of Québec leader Alex Tyrrell connected the protest to a broader vision for Quebec’s economy. Speaking directly to the 1,350 people employed at the Repentigny plant, he offered solidarity but also a challenge:
“Every morning thousands of people get up and go to work to make bombs and ammunition used to kill people abroad, especially in Gaza. For the people who work here, I want to address you directly: people should have a job guarantee somewhere else in Quebec, another industry that is not perpetuating death abroad.”
Tyrrell called for Quebec to redirect its industrial capacity toward renewable energy and social needs, not weapons production.
“Quebec is wasting its industrial potential with factories like this one. We have so many projects that are more important — including the energy transition. The skills of these workers could be put to better use in industries that benefit society rather than the production of bombs.”
He ended with solidarity for all those mobilizing against genocide:
“We are in solidarity with all the people who are here today to speak out against genocide, against General Dynamics, and against the manufacture of these weapons in Quebec.”
Canada’s Genocide, Canada’s Responsibility
The speeches underscored a common theme: Canada is not a bystander but an active participant in the destruction of Gaza. Through bullets, fighter jet components, subsidies, and political support, the country’s leaders and industries are directly complicit.
As Dr. Lalonde, Ellen Gabriel, Yves Engler, and Alex Tyrrell made clear, ending this complicity requires more than rhetoric — it demands an immediate arms embargo, the shutdown of war industries like General Dynamics, and a just transition for workers away from weapons manufacturing.
