TURNING THEIR BACKS

Grits send Ukraine billions in weapons but put ban on Israel

The Trudeau government has confirmed it won’t allow any military sales to Israel – that includes non-lethal military sales like boots, trucks or supplies.

Foreign Affairs has been blocking military sales since early January, but in the wake of last Monday’s vote on an NDP motion, Minister Melanie Joly has confirmed all sales are off.

The non-binding motion, which included a clause calling on the government to “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel,” is now policy of the Trudeau government.

Israel has never really bought much in the way of military supplies from Canada. In 2021, it bought just $26 million worth of military gear from the Canadian firms, a far cry from the $1.7 billion Saudi Arabia spent . In the days after the Oct. 7^th terror attacks on Israel, export permits jumped up to $28 million over several months before  a pause was imposed on Jan. 8^th.

Now, that may seem like a lot, but it’s not, especially not when you compare it to our other democratic ally currently involved in a war, Ukraine.

Since the start of 2022, the Canadian government proudly boasts that we have sent $4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

This isn’t material that Ukraine has bought from Canada, this is what we have sent them.

• 40,000 rounds of 155-mm artillery shells.
• 10,000 rounds of 105-mm tank shells.
• 277 1,000 pound aircraft bombs.
• Four M777 Howitzers.
• 4,200 M72A5-C1 anti-tank rocket launchers.
• $10 million worth of pistols, infantry rifles, sniper rifles and ammunition.
• Eight Leopard 2 battle tanks

In addition to all of this, Canada has sent millions of rounds of ammunition for small arms, gas masks, night vision goggles, winter clothing, vehicles and more.

If Canada is going to stand with Ukraine, then these are the sorts of supplies we should be giving to them. Given Vladimir Putin’s ambitions, it’s far better for Canada, and other Western allies to supply Ukraine to do battle with the Russian despot than to take him on directly.

Stop Putin in Ukraine or deal with him in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and elsewhere.

So why doesn’t the same apply to Israel, which is battling the terrorist group Hamas, which is backed by Iran – a country aligned with Russia and China – and seeing regional dominance through destabilization?

With Israel, Canada isn’t just refusing to send military aid, we’re actively blocking Canadian companies from selling to the Israeli government. Forget selling rifles, artillery shells or the other lethal weapons that Canada sends to Ukraine with taxpayers dollars, the Trudeau government is actively blocking the sale of anything that could be used by the Israeli military.