Politics
Explainer: The controversy over Canada’s rules on military exports to Israel – National TenX News
A Canadian senator is calling on Ottawa to be more transparent on its policy to restrict arms exports to Israel, following contradictory reports about what manufacturers have been allowed to send to the Middle East.
“I’m horrified to hear this news about certain arms exports and parts going to Israel, directly or indirectly,” Sen. Yuen Pau Woo said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“Civilians are being killed and starved, and the Israeli government has only made things worse.”
Ottawa insists it hasn’t been allowing exports of lethal weapons to Israel and has been blocking any military goods that could be used in Gaza.
Here’s a look at what we know — and don’t know — about Ottawa’s efforts to keep Canadian weapons out of Gaza while allowing Israel to import military goods for other purposes.
What is Canada holding back from Israel?
In March 2024, Parliament voted in favour of a non-binding motion to halt new arms permits for Israel. The government announced a review of export permits and suspended about 30 of them to determine whether they involved lethal uses.
Ottawa has allowed all other military export permits for Israel to continue. There were 164 such permits used to export military goods to Israel in 2024, and some of them are valid for years.
Of the 30 suspended permits, some have expired and the rest remain suspended, says Global Affairs Canada.
In March 2024, the office of then-foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly said that none of the valid permits allowed for the export of “lethal goods” to Israel, such as weapons technology and equipment.
Her office also said Canada stopped approving permits for Israel on Jan. 8, 2024, citing human rights concerns.
While Israel’s foreign minister suggested at the time the decision would undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself, Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed said “we will be able to continue to defend ourselves.”
What is Canada still allowing into Israel?
Ottawa has said its restrictions exclude “non-lethal” equipment.
The government provided Parliament with a list of all existing permits in June 2024. The list mentions circuit boards well over a hundred times.
In September 2024, after the U.S. State Department approved the purchase of mortar cartridges made in Quebec for Israel, Joly said Canadian-made weapons were prohibited from reaching the Gaza Strip.
“We will not have any form of arms or parts of arms be sent to Gaza, period,” Joly said at the time. “How they’re being sent and where they’re being sent is irrelevant.”
Anand said in an Aug. 1 statement that this pledge actually goes back to January 2024.
Groups like Project Ploughshares argue the term “non-lethal” is poorly defined and misleading.
Activists say Israel can use Canadian-made components such as lenses and cameras in the Gaza war and in military campaigns in the West Bank, despite Ottawa saying Israel is violating international law in both theatres.
What does Israeli customs data say?
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In late July, pro-Palestinian activists reported that the Israel Tax Authority had listed publicly imports from Canada that were officially recorded in customs data as bullets, guns and other weapons.
The data suggested 175,000 bullets were sent from Canada to Israel under the customs code that Israel uses for “munitions of war and parts thereof,” with three similar shipments in 2024.
Israeli customs agents recorded another Canadian shipment in the category of “tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorized, whether or not fitted with weapons, and parts of such vehicles.”
It took the Canadian government three days to respond to the claims. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s office said it took the time “to verify if any of the serious allegations of wrongdoing were true.”
In her reply, Anand said the report was flawed and its findings “are misleading and significantly misrepresent the facts.”
The bullets were “paintball-style projectiles” that cannot be used in combat, Anand’s office said.
Sen. Woo called that explanation trivializing and suggested Israel is likely using those materials to train its soldiers.
Woo was among 32 senators — a third of the Senate — who called for a thorough investigation into what’s reaching Israel from Canada. He called Anand’s statement “very limited, slippery and highly defensive.”
“She missed an opportunity to grasp the gravity of the situation in Gaza,” he said.
What about aircraft?
Advocates argue Canadian components are being used in Israeli fighter jets and drones, citing exports of items such as circuit boards and scopes or cameras.
The July report noted that specific companies in Israel receiving Canadian imports have also been equipping Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The report pointed to no direct, explicit evidence that Canadian arms had been used on the ground in Gaza.
Ottawa insists it is doing everything it can to ensure Canadian components aren’t used in Gaza.
What about that parliamentary report?
On Aug. 4, the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council released a report assembled by the Library of Parliament that it said disproves much of what the government has claimed.
The July 8 report is marked “not to be published” and the Library of Parliament said in a statement that it “provides impartial customized research services for individual parliamentarians,” on the basis that the “client’s research request (will) remain confidential.”
The government says the report is a rehash of publicly available information that doesn’t contradict what the government has said publicly.
Advocates seized on the portion of the report showing two arms permits to send goods to Israel were issued in 2024.
Anand’s office noted the permits were disclosed to Parliament last June and were issued on Jan. 8, 2024, the day Ottawa stopped issuing new permits.
The advocates also noted that the report cited $2.3 million in Canadian sales to Israel listed as “bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, other explosive devices and charges and related accessories, components and equipment.”
Anand’s spokesman James Fitz-Morris wrote that these were “electronic components for detection equipment” in Israel’s Iron Dome system, which intercepts and destroys incoming rockets.
Did Carney change the Trudeau government’s policy?
While the government insists it hasn’t changed policies, its language has shifted.
Joly and her office spoke about non-lethal uses for arms. Anand has avoided that language.
“For a year and a half, we have been clear: if an export permit for an item used to protect civilians is requested, it will be approved,” her office wrote in a statement this week.
“Canada has not approved the export of any lethal weapons or munitions to Israel since January 2024, and any such permit that could have allowed such items were suspended and remains inactive today.”
Woo said Anand is “prevaricating, with the shift in language and … an effort to try to be legalistic about the government’s adherence to its own promise.”
Fitz-Morris wrote that it would be “a disingenuous claim, at best” to suggest Ottawa’s language has been shifting.
“The government’s position has not changed. Minister Anand is not reading from a script. She uses different words sometimes to convey the same message or to add clarity, depending on the circumstances and what she is responding to,” he wrote.
“The only permits that may be granted are for the items used to defend civilians, such as the Iron Dome, and items that are transiting through Israel as part of the global supply chain such as items (whose) end-users include Canada and/or NATO allies.”
Why not end all arms exports to Israel?
The government says it would compromise the complex supply chains that Canada and its allies rely on if Canada refused to export military goods to Israel, or to import them from that country.
“Any consideration of a two-way arms embargo that would block Israeli-made components from entering Canada would need to take into consideration the impact that would have on Canada, including the (Canadian Armed Forces),” Fitz-Morris wrote.
Sen. Woo said Anand should halt all military trade with Israel.
“She’s digging a deeper hole for herself and for our government, particularly if there are in fact legal consequences around complicity, aiding and abetting war crimes,” he said.
“We are witnessing, in the memorable words of Amnesty International, a live-streamed genocide. It’s tearing at our souls.”
Israel says it’s in an existential war of self-defence and blames Hamas for the high casualty count.
What do Canadians want?
In an online survey of 1,522 Canadians conducted by the Angus Reid Institute from July 31 to Aug. 5, 54 per cent said they want Ottawa to ensure Canada is not selling lethal military equipment to Israel.
One-fifth of respondents said they want the restrictions dropped. Another 27 per cent said they were unsure or opted not to respond.
Is the government being transparent?
“The Government of Canada tables regular reports concerning arms exports and has provided thousands of pages of documentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs — which the committee then published to its website,” Fitz-Morris wrote.
That’s not good enough, Woo said. “To play with words, when a genocide is happening before our very eyes … it’s scandalous,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Doha on Saturday as part of a push to attract foreign investment and deepen Canada’s economic partnerships beyond its traditional allies.
Carney’s visit comes on the heels of his visit to China and follows the recent presentation of a new federal investment budget aimed at positioning Canada as a stable, attractive destination for global capital.
In a news conference on Saturday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada is working to broaden its economic relationships as global trade patterns shift.
Qatar is viewed by Ottawa as a strategic partner, with officials pointing to the country’s significant investment capacity and growing influence on the global stage.
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“We need to reduce our dependence and increase our self-reliance to find a strategic path forward,” Champagne said.
“Engaging with the Middle East and China is necessary for Canada, just like our European partners have done,” Champagne added. “We buy more from the U.S.A. than anywhere else, but the trading climate right now is different.”
The conference highlighted Canada’s industrial capacity and trade advantages as key selling points for potential investors.
Champagne also said international engagement is critical as Canada works to raise its profile among global investors.
“We are one of the G7s with very big industries. We build cars, planes, ships, we have an abundance of energy, and we are the only one with free trade with all G7,” Champagne said. “With the way the world is changing, you better diversify, supply chain is changing and we need to adapt.”
Prime Minister Carney is expected to meet with senior Qatari officials, including Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as representatives of the Qatar Investment Authority.
His office says the talks will focus on expanding trade access and forging partnerships in artificial intelligence, infrastructure, energy and defence.
The visit comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the region, though officials say the schedule remains unchanged.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
The possibility of a forceful U.S. takeover of Greenland is raising many unprecedented questions — including how Canada, the European Union and NATO could respond or even retaliate against an ostensible ally.
A high-level meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and U.S. officials this week did not resolve the “fundamental disagreement” over the territory’s sovereignty but did set the stage for more talks. The White House made clear Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to control Greenland has not changed after the meeting.
“He wants the United States to acquire Greenland. He thinks it’s in our best national security to do that,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Denmark and European allies are sending more troops to the territory in a show of force and to display a commitment to Arctic security.
Experts say there are other, non-military measures available in the event of a U.S. annexation or invasion of Greenland, or which could at least be threatened to try and get Trump to back down.
Whether those economic measures are actually used is another matter, those experts say.
“I think it remains highly unlikely that we’ll get to that point where we have to seriously discuss consequences for a U.S. move on Greenland,” said Otto Svendsen, an associate fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“So it remains contingency planning for a highly unlikely event. That being said … Denmark would certainly do everything in its power to rally a very robust European response.”
Here’s what that could entail.
EU trade, tech disruptions?
Experts agree the biggest pressure points that can be used in the U.S. surround trade and technology.
The European Parliament’s trade committee is currently debating whether to postpone implementing the trade deal signed between Trump and the EU last summer to protest the threats against Greenland, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Many lawmakers have complained that the deal is lopsided, with the EU required to cut most import duties while the U.S. sticks to a broad 15 per cent tariff for European goods.
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An even bolder move would be triggering the EU’s anti-coercion instrument — known as the “trade bazooka” — that would allow the bloc to hit non-member nations with tariffs, trade restrictions, foreign investment bans, and other penalties if that country is found to be using coercive economic measures.
Although the regulation defines coercion as “measures affecting trade and investment,” Svendsen said it could feasibly be used in a diplomatic or territorial dispute as well.
“EU lawyers have proven themselves to be very creative in recent years,” he said.
However, David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said in an email that economic measures against the U.S. are unlikely “given the massive asymmetry in the defence and economic relationship between the U.S.” and other western nations.
“Any kind of sanction against the U.S. doesn’t make sense for the same reason they can impose tariffs on others: they have the power,” Perry added.
Target U.S. tech companies?
The likeliest — and potentially least harmful — scenario for retaliation in the event of an attack on Greenland, Svendsen said, would be fines or bans against U.S. tech companies like Google, Meta and X operating in Europe.
That’s because the Trump administration has taken particular focus on preventing what they call “attacks” on American companies by foreign governments seeking to regulate their online content or tax their revenues, which has led to calls on Canada, Britain and the EU to repeal laws like digital services taxes.
“I think that would be a really smart and targeted way to get to economic interests very close to the president, while minimizing the direct impact on the on the European economy,” Svendsen said, calling such a move “low-hanging fruit.”
He also compared a future U.S. tech platform ban to how Europe moved to wean itself off Russian gas after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“If you told anyone back then that Europe would basically rid itself of its dependence on Russian gas basically within a two-year period … that would have been considered completely impossible,” he said.
“Weaning the European economy off of U.S. tech would certainly be painful in the short term, but they’ve proven that they can get off those dependencies quickly if there is political will behind it in the past.”
A U.S. hostile takeover of Greenland would mean the “end” of the NATO alliance, experts and European leaders have said.
Trump himself has acknowledged it could be a “choice” between preserving the alliance or acquiring Greenland.
There is no provision within the NATO founding treaty that addresses the possibility of a NATO member taking territory from another, and how the alliance should respond to such an act.
A NATO spokesperson told Global News it wouldn’t “speculate on hypothetical scenarios” when asked how it could potentially act.
“None of this would be actionable in a NATO sense,” Perry said. “It’s an alliance that’s organized to bind the U.S. to European security, and revolves around the U.S. So there’s no scenario of NATO doing that to the U.S.”
Denmark and other European nations could move to reduce or close U.S. military bases in their countries as a possible response, experts say.
Balkan Devlen, a a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and director of its Transatlantic Program, said in an interview that a U.S. annexation of Greenland would force Canada to focus entirely on boosting its defences in the Arctic.
That may include trying to decouple from NORAD, the joint northern defence network with the U.S., in favour of a purely domestic Arctic command, he said — although that process would take years and require Canada to increase defence spending even further.
“Never mind five per cent (of GDP) — we will probably need to go like seven, eight, nine per cent on defence spending to be able to do anything of that sort,” he said. “It’s not even clear that we’ll be able to have enough people to do that.”
Devlen added that any retaliatory action, whether military or financial, needs to be targeted and proportionate to what the U.S. does.
“The problem with nuclear options is that once you use it, it’s gone,” he said. “And if it doesn’t do the damage or make the change of behaviour on the other party, you’ve basically lost a lot of leverage and you might actually sustain a lot more loss yourself.”
A trip to the world’s most-visited museum is about to cost Canadians significantly more.
France has hiked ticket prices at the Louvre by 45 per cent for visitors from outside the European Union, a move that is fuelling debate over so-called dual pricing and the growing backlash against overtourism.
Starting this week, adult visitors from non-EU countries, including Canada, must pay €32 to enter the Paris landmark, up from €22. That’s an increase from about $35 to $52 Canadian.
Visitors from EU countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will continue to pay the lower rate.
The price hike comes as the Louvre grapples with repeated labour strikes, a high-profile daylight jewel heist last October that prompted a costly security overhaul, and years of chronic overcrowding. The museum attracts roughly nine million visitors annually.
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Some Canadian tourists told Global News they feel unfairly targeted.
“We didn’t cause the robberies or some of the other issues that happened and we are paying the consequences,” said Allison Moore, visiting Paris from Newfoundland with her daughter. “[In] Canada we don’t discriminate over pricing like that.”
Others argue tourists already shoulder higher costs simply by travelling long distances.
“In general for tourists, I think things should be a little cheaper than for local people, because we have to travel to come all the way here,” said Darla Daniela Quiroz, another Canadian visitor. “It should be equal pricing, or a little bit cheaper.”
Even some Europeans question the two-tiered system. A French tourist interviewed outside the museum said there was “no reason” to charge non-Europeans more and that the fee should be the same for everyone.
Tourism experts say the Louvre’s financial pressures help explain the decision.
“The Louvre is really cash-strapped right now and needs to do something,” said Marion Joppe, a professor at the University of Guelph. “It can’t really look to the government, which is already struggling with its own budget.”
The move also reflects a broader global pushback against mass tourism. Anti-tourism protests have spread across parts of Spain, New Zealand has increased its entry tax, and the United States recently raised national park fees for foreign visitors.
“You take Paris — it gets about 50 million tourists a year,” said Julian Karaguesian, an economist at McGill University. “That’s roughly a million a week. The city simply wasn’t built for those kinds of numbers.”
Despite the higher price, many visitors say they will still line up to see the Mona Lisa and other of the museum’s famous artworks.
“It’s one of the main attractions. It’s on everybody’s list,” Moore said. “We’re still going to go, and hopefully it will be worth it in the end.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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