By: Andrew Gavin Marshall

The following is a letter I wrote and sent to my Member of Parliament, Rob Oliphant, who happens to be the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, a role he also held for the previous Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, for then-Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. This position gives him an enhanced role (and salary) to speak on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and help shepherd her bills through Parliament.

Dear Hon. Rob Oliphant,

As a member of your constituency, I have some concerns and questions I would like to raise with you. However, before doing so, I would like to give you a bit of background on myself, so that you are aware of where I am coming from with my concerns.

My name is Andrew Marshall, I’m 38, a mature student at University of Toronto where I am studying Political Science and History. I have studied these subjects not only at U of T, but at SFU in Vancouver and Concordia in Montreal. Reviewing your own biography, I see that you have also attended UofT and even lived and studied in Vancouver as well.

I don’t have a singular area focus in my studies, which I have pursued both in and out of school for the past 20 years, though among the many areas of interest are: international relations/geopolitics, state formation and collapse, imperial history, economic history, colonialism, fascism, revolution, occupation, and war. This has included a broad focus on the Global South, including Middle Eastern history and politics, and notably that of Israel-Palestine.

I say all this to note that my questions and concerns do not simply emanate from what I have witnessed via social media over the past nearly two years – though that has doubtless contributed – but to add that I have read countless scholarly journals, books, histories, regularly read the Israeli and international press, reports from human rights groups and other international organizations. I have read Israeli historians and taken courses by Israeli political scientists.

I say this to preface that the usual talking points put forward by numerous politicians and pundits will not stand as an acceptable response. And seeing as how you are the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, both under the previous and current Canadian governments, I think we can both communicate in a way that assumes we know better than to repeat Israeli government or IDF talking points and engage in a discussion that respects each other’s intelligence.

Additionally, I would like to note that I have never been a Liberal, but this prior election was the first time I have ever voted for a Liberal (yourself), not because I believe in the party, but because I am revolted by the Conservatives and their willingness to play the MAGA game in Canada. I was exceedingly disappointed with the prior government, and despite advocating for many others to vote for the Liberals/Carney in this past election, I maintained no illusions about who he (Carney) is or what he believed in and yet have already become heavily disillusioned with him and this government, on many issues.

My main concern here is Canada’s stance and responsibility toward the genocide and ethnic cleansing unfolding in Gaza, and with its potential to expand to ever-more extreme levels, and potentially even beyond Gaza’s own borders.

I would like to begin with acknowledging the leaked phone call you had with a constituent in February of 2024, roughly a year and a half ago, in the wake of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) interim ruling that stated Israel was “plausibly” committing genocide. I commend you in your comments to the constituent that you were willing to politely denounce the government’s response to the ICJ case, calling it a “communication disaster,” and even saying, “Do I believe there’s genocidal activity on the part of Israel?… Probably yes, from what I have seen.” Additionally, you recognized the absolute madness of the decision to (temporarily) cut funding to UNRWA over Israeli allegations that ultimately proved spurious, to say the least. So, kudos to you for that.

However, according to a video with another constituent, recorded in early January 2024 and reported in the National Post (which I generally consider a rag, but nevertheless), you reportedly referred to two colleagues of yours who took a more public stance on the matter of genocide as “arrogant” for backing South Africa’s case at the ICJ. In the video, you stated that, “I would never declare genocide unless I was in a court of law and I have all the evidence,” and added that you put “the blame squarely on Hamas” for the deaths in Gaza. According to the same article, you reportedly said you had lived in Ramallah in the West Bank; I’m curious if this is accurate and in what capacity? Finally, you stated that “if the court determines” genocide has been committed, “will I agree with it? Yes, absolutely.”

Now that we are more than a year and a half later, and the ICJ has yet to issue a final ruling, and I have not seen any statements from you in the interim on this specific question, are you willing to declare Isarel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, or are you still standing by the claim that only a court can make such a decision, and only then would you be willing to take a political stance?

I ask because of course, the Genocide Convention itself was established three years after the Holocaust, but naturally did nothing to stop it or oppose it, because it was all after-the-fact. My concern here is that if the only criteria for acknowledging and denouncing a genocide is to wait until the ICJ rules it as such, and this can often take years of litigation, it is most likely that we will once again be engaging in post-mortem denunciations and “moral” stances.

The purpose of calling out and denouncing genocide is first, to try to prevent it by warning that there is a risk of genocide, which the Canadian government has not done (your private, leaked comments aside); and then to stop it once it has commenced if we fail in the first objective. Clearly, we have failed on both counts. Canada, like every nation, has not only a moral but legal obligation to do everything in its power to stop a genocide.

As I am sure you are aware, a genocide is not the result of the flicking of a light switch: it evolves and goes through phases. This was true in the case of Nazi Germany as it was in regards to Armenia, the Herero in Southern Africa, the Tutsi in Rwanda, and of course, the current situation in Gaza. Presently, we see the strategy moving into its blatant and openly stated ethnic cleansing phase with plans for a concentration camp in the former city of Rafah in the south, which is now rubble. Even former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, once a Likud member himself, acknowledged this with the term “concentration camp.”

We now have an extensive collection of evidence, reports, and statements from human rights organizations, genocide scholars and experts establishing that there is a consensus: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza. Nearly a year ago, the two most well-established human rights organizations in the world put out detailed reports affirming that Israel is committing a genocide (Amnesty International) or engaged in genocidal acts of extermination (Human Rights Watch).

Omer Bartov, an Israeli-Jewish scholar and one of the world’s leading experts on genocide, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times affirming his belief, held since May of 2024, that Israel was committing genocide.

The NYT permitted a counter argument written by Bret Stephens, a non-expert who is simply an opinion piece columnist whose argument essentially amounted to, ‘if it was genocide, Israel could have killed everyone by now’, which of course obscures that this is not the definition of genocide, and ignores the historical truth that no genocide has successfully killed the entire target population (meaning that by his definition, the Holocaust was not a genocide because the Nazis didn’t kill all of the Jews). I make this point just to pre-empt any response along these lines to the question of genocide.

Additionally, the Dutch publication NRC conducted an interview in May 2025 with seven leading scholars of genocide in which they all affirmed that Israel was committing genocide, and added that virtually all of their colleagues in the field agreed.

And finally, coming to the past week or so, two of the leading Israeli human rights organizations whose decades of good work I am sure you are aware, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, released a joint 88-page report called “Our Genocide,” affirming that Israel is committing genocide, detailing their evidence and conclusions.

I don’t feel the need to go through all the extensive evidence of genocide, starting with statements of incitement to genocide from Israeli leaders from October 7, 2023, to present, as I am sure you are aware of many of them, and they are amply documented in South Africa’s case at the ICJ, as well as in all the reports and scholarly accounts listed above.

So back to the question of your stance on this issue, and not simply a privately-expressed view, but a public one: in light of all the vast data and evidence from human rights groups and scholars – including Israeli human rights groups and genocide experts – in addition to the vast wealth of damning evidence put forward by international aid and humanitarian organizations operating on-the-ground in Gaza, are you willing to acknowledge that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza?

Assuming you are able to acknowledge and respect this ever-growing consensus, could you please advance several points of action that you are willing to take to pressure your own government to not simply acknowledge this reality, but take measures to stop it?

Given the recent damning report of the previous and present Liberal government’s complicity in continuing to send weapons to Israel while it is committing a genocide, something which the previous Foreign Minister to whom you served as Parliamentary Secretary, Melanie Joly, publicly denied (aka: lied about): are you willing to acknowledge these weapons shipments? Are you willing to denounce them, publicly? And again, how will you pressure the current Foreign Minister, Anita Anand, to whom you serve as Parliamentary Secretary, to acknowledge and end this policy? At present, she appears to be terrified of her constituents and will not address this topic and won’t even go to her own office for fear of being confronted by constituents or protests. I hope and assume you will display more courage and honesty than our Foreign Affairs Minister.

On the subject of Canada’s recent announcement about recognizing a Palestinian state (maybe), if the oppressed party meets numerous criteria, including holding elections while at war (a demand we do not impose upon Ukraine), what are you willing to do to move beyond mere words that come with endless conditions and criteria, many of which we both know are impossible (as if the Israelis would allow for Palestinian elections to take place)?

The three conditions Carney & Co. put forward for Palestinian recognitions were, as you know:

  • For the Palestinian Authority (PA) to implement reforms to its governance
  • To hold elections in 2026 with no Hamas participation
  • And to “demilitarize” the Palestinian state

Seeing as how Israel is the occupying power in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza (in addition to expanding its illegal occupations in southern Lebanon and in Syria), why is the onus for recognition on the party with no power?

Where are the conditions on Israel? And notably, conditions beyond mere rhetoric, or threats merely to “recognize” a Palestinian state?

In truth, we in Canada should be imposing extensive conditions on Israel – particularly as it commits genocide – not only in return for aid (which we have to first actually STOP), but we should be taking actions to fully boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) the Israeli state, leadership, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – not just a few settlers in the West Bank or a couple of the most racist and vile members of the government. At this point, NATO should in fact be invoking R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and begin mobilizing for a military intervention against Israel. But, seeing as how we are painfully hypocritical and our foreign policy is one endless double standard, our “threats” are mere words and symbolic gestures.

Assuming this government develops a spine and adheres to the principles that we in Canada and the West claim we believe in and support, and at a bare minimum block all additional aid and trade with the genocidal state of Israel, we should put forward a series of demands in return for ever returning to aid or trade with Israel, in addition to the obvious first requirement to stop committing genocide:

  • Israel must undertake fundamental governance reforms – including by halting their efforts at judicial reform, which is clearly designed to undermine what little remains of Israel’s already-weak democratic standards
  • Israel must hold new elections in 2026, but without the participation of Netanyahu’s Likud party, the Otzma Yehudit/Jewish Power party (of Itamar Ben-Gvir), and the Religious Zionism party (of Bezalel Smotrich)
  • Israel must become a demilitarized state that stops threatening and attacking its neighbours and the wider region

If any of these demands seem unreasonable or unlikely, perhaps we should apply that same standard to our demands upon the Palestinians, who clearly do not have the power to realize our demands (unlike the Israelis, where the issue is will, not power). To apply a higher standard on an occupied people, currently being subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide, as opposed to the one with all the power and responsibility for committing those crimes, is obscene and insulting.

If Canada ever wants to be taken seriously in the world again, particularly in relation to issues of human rights, democracy, or so-called ‘liberal’ values and respect for basic human decency, we cannot and must not continue with our present policies toward the State of Israel and the genocide in Gaza. As I am sure you know, Canada and other G7 members have, since the start of the war and genocide back in October 2023, been aware of the rapidly plummeting reputation of the West throughout the Global South. An October 18, 2023 article in the Financial Times noted this problem, quoting a senior G7 official saying: “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South… All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost… Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” The senior official continued: “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility… The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”

That was said less than two weeks into the war. Nearly two years later, it is safe to assume our reputations are almost irreversibly damaged if not totally destroyed. And considering the wider geopolitical environment of a resurgent and aggressive Russian empire, a rising China with its eyes on Taiwan, and growing regional powers across the globe while the US is actively destroying its own ‘soft power’, the very future of the West itself is at stake. If Canada’s leaders have any hope of securing a strong and stable place for Canada in the world of the 21st century, we cannot continue operating as if we are stuck in the mid-20th century.

Gaza is not simply one of many issues – it is the defining issue: it is a microcosm of the Global North and South, of colonialism and resistance, of empire and resistance, the past and present. It is a test – a test of whether or not we believe in and uphold real, genuine values, and follow them up with policies and actions (not simply words).

I ask you, not simply as a constituent, not simply as a Canadian, but as a human being who actually believes in the values of human rights, dignity, freedom, equality, and yes, peace: please do something!

The Carney-Liberal government, like the one before it, is stuck on words and symbols, and isn’t even willing to be honest with those words or follow through with hypothetical symbolic gestures. Our rhetorical and symbolic support for the oppressed party is made conditional upon their taking extensive actions. It’s not simply a disconnect between, ‘we talk and they act,’ but that it conditions our ‘talk’ upon their ‘act’. This is unacceptable, particularly given the severity of the situation, and especially in light of the damning revelations of Canada’s ongoing complicity in supplying weapons to Israel while it commits a genocide. Our words become a mere public relations exercise.

As I stated at the start of this letter, I am not a Liberal, and my vote for you in the recent election was my first time voting for a Liberal in a federal election. I am sad to say that if you continue to merely accept the government line, it will be the last time I ever cast such a vote (and I am aware that this is your job, but I am also cognizant of the fact that in your February 2024 leaked phone call, you suggested that you had considered resigning in protest of the government’s position on this issue back then!), so what are you willing to say AND do now, today, and tomorrow?

We can start with words, but it’s not enough.

Polling data published in early June 2025 notes that 49% of Canadians believe Israel is committing genocide, an additional 21% saying they disagreed with that premise, and the remaining 30% refused to answer. When it came to Liberal, NDP, Green Party, and Bloc Quebecois voters, more than 60% agreed that Israel was committing genocide. Only Conservative voters remain beyond reality (shocker, I know), though to be fair, 37% of them agreed that Israel was committing genocide and only 33% disagreed (the remainder didn’t answer), so even among Conservatives, more agreed than disagreed with that premise.

These trends are clearly accelerated among younger generations of Canadians, including my own generation of Millennials and the Gen-Z that follows.

If the Liberal Party, or any party for that matter, wants to maintain legitimacy among its own base or the citizens of Canada as a whole, how they act – or change their actions NOW – will define their future. But I can honestly say that not only will the Liberals never get another vote from me for the rest of my life, but I will actively campaign against them every opportunity I get. Canada and the West have lost the Global South basically on day one of this “war,” and it seems as if the government is doing everything it can to lose the youth of this country. Such a crisis of legitimacy in the political establishment is exactly how fascist parties and movements grow and gain power. Don’t help them. Please.

As Canadians, we are supposed to stand for something – for peace, equality, freedom, opportunity, and to uphold basic human rights – rights that come with responsibility. We have unequivocally failed to meet our responsibilities.

As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, you are in a position to not only speak, but act in accordance with Canadian values and responsibilities.

Our political, rhetorical, diplomatic, military and other forms of support for Israel as it commits a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza, will be an eternal stain on this country and on your party.

Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza – a genocide which could easily expand to the West Bank, where Israel is already rapidly expanding its ethnic cleansing efforts, a genocide which could expand to target the Palestinian citizens of Israel (note: Ben-Gvir’s armed “security squads” are set up in hundreds of locations across Israel as a kind of paramilitary army under the leadership of the Jewish Power party, which controls the police and prisons), or even extend into Palestinian refugee camps in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, which Israel has already shown a tendency to attack, invade, and occupy. This didn’t start in Gaza, and it won’t end there.

I do understand the geopolitical reality that Canada can only do so much, that there are limits on our influence and power, and that ultimately it comes down to what the United States says and does. But Canada is not absolved of its power or responsibility. We are a G7 member, a NATO member, a G20 member, an OECD member, and we are also part of the F-35 supply chain.

I know I put forward numerous questions and comments for you to respond to, and will greatly appreciate your responses. I would just like to again preface to avoid talking points and platitudes, particularly those that pretend as if Israeli policy and actions are all the responsibility of Hamas (as if they dictate Tel Aviv and Jerusalem’s policy, or have F-35 fighter jets, drones, artillery, tanks, armoured vehicles, naval warships and occupation forces). Additionally, we can avoid straw men arguments about genocide that claim that Israel is innocent because it hasn’t exterminated the entire population (yet). These, as I’m sure you would agree, are disingenuous and deeply disturbing arguments unworthy of regurgitation.

Israel is responsible for its own actions, even – and especially – in times of war. As you are well aware, international law does not absolve one party of having to adhere to international law because it suffered an attack like October 7th. In fact, Israel has even more responsibilities under international law due to the fact that it is the occupying power. Israel must be held to account. And so must our own government, role, and responsibility in this genocide.

For the sake of brevity (I know, ironic, considering the length of this letter), I will summarize my questions to you below:

  • Do you accept that Israel is committing genocide?
  • If so, will you publicly acknowledge it in Parliament and to the press?
  • If so, how will you pressure the government to acknowledge it?
  • If the government fails to do so, will you resign?
  • Beyond rhetoric, what actions and policies are you willing to advocate for or take in order to apply pressure on Israel to stop its war and genocide?
  • Will you take a stand against and stop arming Israel?
  • Will you move to sanction the Israeli government, all its ministers, including the Prime Minister, and the political parties that make up their coalition?
  • Will you move to sanction the IDF?
  • Will you take efforts to designate the IDF as a terrorist organization? (as Canada did for Iran’s IRGC in 2024, an institution that is responsible for far less death and destruction than the IDF)
  • Will you support Boycott and Divestment from Israel? (in addition to sanctions)
  • Will you work to suspend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement?
  • Will you support and advocate for unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state?
  • Will you put forward conditional demands upon Israel in return for resumption of any aid, removal of any sanctions, or the end of any other restrictions that might be imposed?

Please share with me your responses and any other comments, suggestions, or actions you are willing to take to address and work to stop Israel’s genocide.

I would appreciate a response in writing. But I will also be following up, in writing, by phone, and in person. I am happy and willing to maintain an ongoing conversation if desired, so long as there is movement towards recognizing basic reality, and taking actions (beyond mere words) to do something about it.

I thank you, sincerely, for your time, and in advance for your reply.

Andrew Gavin Marshall

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