Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

There is no reason for Canada to wait to recognize Palestine. It is time. Palestinian statehood is a legal fact. There are 146 out of 193 United Nations member states that currently recognize Palestine. Our allies, Sweden, Ireland, Ukraine, Norway and Spain, all recognize Palestine, but not Canada. Why?

Let me take this opportunity to dispel some arguments that have been put forward against immediate recognition.

First, some claim that Canada should not recognize Palestine, because doing so would go against our NATO and G7 allies. However, Sweden, Norway and Spain are NATO members, so too are Poland and Czechia, which all recognize Palestine. G7 countries, like France and Japan, have likewise moved closer to recognizing Palestinian statehood. In the May vote at the UN General Assembly, only the United States of the G7 voted against Palestinian statehood.

Second, it is said that recognizing Palestine as a state is a “reward for Hamas and terrorism”. This argument is both duplicitous and, frankly, dangerous. It relies on an assumption that Palestinians are, themselves, Hamas or supporters of terrorism, a notion that drives the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and is used regularly to justify atrocities.

Recognition is not a reward, nor is recognition a consolation for the relentless and well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people. Self-determination is a basic and inalienable human right. It is the right of Palestinians.

The international covenants on civil and political rights, and on economic, social and cultural rights—both treaties Canada signed and ratified—list the right of all peoples to self-determination. They do so in article 1.

Third, some say that recognizing Palestine as a state would undermine the prospects of a negotiated two-state solution. There's no evidence for this proposition. What has undermined the two-state solution are the atrocities of Hamas and Israel, neither of which are interested in a Palestinian state existing beside Israel. It is hard not to conclude that the argument that recognition can only be achieved if Israel agrees to it through negotiation is a cover to permit the continued destruction and annexation of Palestinian land.

Recognizing two states cannot undermine a two-state solution. Rather, it might just jump-start a new, better and more promising political solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Spain, our ally, has said that recognizing Palestine is “the only way of advancing towards what everyone recognises as the only possible solution to achieve a peaceful future, one of a Palestinian state that lives side by side with the Israeli state in peace and security”. Why can Canada not do the same?

As the International Court of Justice has ruled, the right to self-determination is not conditional on a non-existent peace process. Canada cannot condition the right of Palestinians to self-determination on the interests of a government openly engaged in the destruction and illegal occupation of Palestine.

Finally, some say recognizing Palestine is wrong, because it departs from long-standing Canadian policy. What justifies the same policy in the face of mass slaughter?

Canada should depart from long-standing policy. Otherwise, it risks doing the same thing over and over again and saying the same things over and over again while expecting a different result. The status quo isn't fit for purpose. Recognizing Palestine now should be easy for Canada. Palestine exists. We'd only be joining our allies. Indeed, there are no good arguments not to recognize Palestine. There is no reason for delay.

Let me leave you with an image. It's 15 years from now, and the world is coming to terms with its inaction in the face of atrocities committed against civilians in Gaza. Canadian members of Parliament stand in the House of Commons to recognize a day of mourning for the tens of thousands of lives lost. Perhaps the Prime Minister apologizes on national television for not doing more, when we all knew and we all watched the massacres take place. What will you say to your children or grandchildren who ask you then, “What did you do?”

Canada has an opportunity to do something no Canadian government has done before, and something that is legally, politically and diplomatically the right thing to do. This committee has voted to study the quickest path to recognition. The quickest path is the one that you take today. The time has now come to recognize Palestine.

Thank you very much.