Naomi Hunter, the leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party and federal candidate in Saskatoon West, has reaffirmed her support for sanctions on the state of Israel. In a video recently shared to social media, Hunter delivered a passionate speech at a Palestine solidarity rally, calling out Canadian politicians for their silence in the face of ongoing atrocities and reiterating her position in line with the Green Party of Canada’s 2016 member-approved policy.
“Canada has millions of dollars of contracts to Israel. Why have these contracts not been cancelled yet?” she asked, criticizing both federal and provincial leaders. “The politicians in power in our country and in our province are liars, and they have blood on their hands.”
Amid renewed attacks on Gaza and mounting evidence of genocide, Hunter warned that future generations would question Canada’s complicity.
“This is a conflict in history that will go down with people in schools saying: why was more not done?”
Hunter emphasized the human cost of the conflict, speaking as a mother and Canadian, and rejecting the notion that defending Palestinian rights is anti-Semitic: “We must always think in terms of what if I was the person in that horrible, excruciating situation… This is a situation where we are standing up for humanity.”
This renewed stance comes just days after former MP Paul Manly publicly confirmed his support for sanctions, telling Global Green News, “I stand by the GPC position and have called for sanctions in the past.” His return to the federal Green campaign has been widely praised by grassroots activists and supporters of Palestinian rights.
In contrast, federal Green co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault as well as MP Mike Morrice have remained silent in recent weeks—despite party policy and mounting pressure from within the movement including a call to action from Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell.
As the federal election approaches, it is federal candidates like Hunter’s and Manly that are bringing clarity to a party that has struggled to match its rhetoric with action. Their calls for sanctions are not just about foreign policy—they are a demand for moral leadership in the face of genocide.
Why won’t other prominent federal Green Party figures like Elizabeth May, Jonathan Pedneault and Mike Morrice speak in favour of sanctions? Why won’t Ms May use the term genocide?
