A grassroots campaign to put Palestine on the ballot has garnered support from 181 candidates running for a seat in the House of Commons. According to a post from the “Vote Palestine” campaign’s Instagram, 124 candidates from the NDP, 44 Green Party candidates and 13 Liberal Party candidates have provided full platform endorsement as of April 11.
The platform’s organizers say their calls are guided by Canada’s obligations under international law. The platform has five key demands, including a two-way arms embargo, the end of Canadian involvement in illegal Israeli settlements, a plan to address anti-Palestinian racism, the recognition of the state of Palestine and proper funding of relief efforts in Gaza.
Canada is heading towards a federal election on April 28, and Canadians have a multitude of demands amidst economic instability exacerbated in part by a trade war with the U.S. Ahead of the debate taking place this week, Abacus data showed that Canadians most want to hear politicians’ plans for handling U.S. relations and the country’s administration headed by Donald Trump. Other top concerns are housing affordability and healthcare access.
READ MORE: Worker’s agenda for the federal election
While international conflicts like the violence in Gaza are not top of mind for voters, Vote Palestine organizers maintain that this issue should remain in Canadians’ consciousness. In fact, how the government reacts to attacks on Gaza is related to those top–of-mind issues Canadians are concerned about.
Hassan Husseini, a member of Unifor and an activist on the national steering committee of Labour for Palestine, said working people should support efforts for justice in Palestine because it aligns with their class interests.
“I work in the labor movement and I negotiate collective agreements for workers across the country,” Husseini said. “Often when we get to the bargaining table, they tell us there is no money, even when you bargain with governments. Yet we turn around and see that they are giving money to regimes that do nothing but violate their own people’s rights.”
This money should be going to essential public and social services, Husseini said. This could address the need for housing and health care. Money divested from arms could also fund protections for laid-off workers amidst Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Polling from the Angus Reid Institute shows the Liberals are currently leading the polls closely followed by the Conservatives. How parties handle the issue of violence in Gaza could affect voter intentions from progressives.
A Leger poll done for the National Post shows 45 per cent of Canadians agree that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, while 23 per cent disagree, and 32 per cent don’t know.
Some concerned voters are looking at the mistakes of the Democrats’ campaign in the 2024 US presidential election as an example of why candidates should take a clear stance on Palestine.
An article by Mohammed Sinan Siyech, a researcher with a PhD in Islamic and Middle East Studies from Edinburgh University, argues that the Democrats, led by Kamala Harris, lost votes in part because of their lukewarm support of Palestine.
Sinan Siyech pointed to polling which showed that in three of the seven swing states, between 30 to 39 per cent of voters were more likely to vote Democrat if the US were to withhold aid to Israel as a result of the genocide in Gaza.
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