Will any Liberal Leadership candidate recognize Palestine?

All five candidates were asked; only two provided an answer.

In July 2024, Canadians marched through Downtown Toronto in solidarity with the State of Palestine. Will the next Prime Minister of Canada respect the will of the people? | Copyright © Jake Landau, all rights reserved.

As of February 6^th, five candidates remain in the bout for the Liberal Leadership, and by extension the Premiership of Canada. With the accelerated pace of this race, policy has taken a backseat to vibes.

Despite candidates being explicitly targeted by pro-Palestine protestors, those same candidates have offered little in terms of foreign policy regarding the State of Palestine, which remains unrecognized by Canada.

So I posed the question to each of the five candidates, as directly and plainly as it could be:

Will you extend diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine and establish an embassy? If not, why?

Of those five, only two candidates provided a response to the question. You can read about the candidates who did and did not respond below:

Frank Baylis

Mr. Baylis served as Liberal MP for the Montréal riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard from 2015 to 2019. Of all five candidates, he is the only one from the province of Québec. He is first in alphabetical order, and also the first to respond to our press inquiry.

Here is the response which his campaign provided:

Frank is deeply committed to human rights and is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian lives in Palestine.

He is also troubled by the recent comments from American President Donald Trump concerning Gaza.

Frank will be specifically addressing this question at a later date in his campaign.

Empathy with Palestinians and opposition to their ethnic cleansing is good. No answer is provided on the question of diplomatic recognition for Palestine, however a promise is made to directly address the question further on in the campaign.

With voting in the race set to end on March 9^th, that promise will be tested sooner rather than later. Keep an eye out for more on this from the Baylis campaign.

Mark Carney

Mr. Carney served as the 8th Governor of the Bank of Canada, 120th Governor of the Bank of England, Chair of the Financial Stability Board, and has worked in the private sector at Goldman Sachs and Brookfield Asset Management.

Carney’s campaign did not respond to request for comment by the publication deadline. Regardless, he is the front-runner in the current race; it should be concerning that someone likely to become Prime Minister is keeping significant foreign policy stances opaque to the public.

Either he is willing to recognize the State of Palestine, or he is not. And according to recent social media statements, he does not believe the “hard work of reaching a two-state solution” has been completed. I am not optimistic here,

Ruby Dhalla

Ms. Dhalla served as the Liberal MP for Brampton—Springdale from 2004 to 2011; this riding has since been abolished and redistributed. Dhalla faced controversy in 2009 after allegations of human trafficking, specifically claims that she refused to pay immigrant workers and confiscated their passports.

Dhalla’s campaign did not respond to request for comment by the publication deadline. But given the above allegations, her stance on diplomatic recognition for Palestine is the least of my concerns.

Chrystia Freeland

Ms. Freeland is the former Deputy Prime Minister, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and current Liberal MP for University—Rosedale since 2015, having previously served in Toronto Centre from 2013 to 2015 before the realignment of boundaries.

Freeland’s campaign responded by referring me to a tweet they posted at 4 PM Eastern Time on February 5^th:

My government will oppose any forced displacement of the Palestinian people, support the rebuilding of Gaza, and work urgently towards a two-state solution. Forced displacement would be a serious violation of international law and an attack on the rules-based international order.

Considering her senior participation in a government which refused to recognize the State of Palestine when pressured by their NDP partners, claims of “working urgently towards a two-state solution” are words that have not been backed by action.

Indeed, Freeland has been endorsed by Anthony Housefather, who has used his political influence within the Trudeau government to crack down upon solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

One must wonder what Freeland promised Housefather to gain his endorsement. This fear is well-founded, considering that Housefather extorted Trudeau for an elevated role in exchange for remaining with the Liberal Party caucus.

Freeland’s position is a reiteration of the very same status quo policy that she shaped in her tenure under Trudeau’s premiership. Carney may have said similar things, but he does not have a history of material action opposing his own words.

Karina Gould

Ms. Gould joined Trudeau’s cabinet as Minister of Democratic Institutions in order to deal the finishing blow to electoral reform that he was unwilling to deal himself.

Since then, she has served as Minister of International Development, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and most recently as Government House Leader.

Throughout all of this, she has sat as the Liberal MP for Burlington since 2015. She has also made history as the youngest woman to ever become a cabinet minister in Canada, as well as becoming the first sitting cabinet minister to give birth in office.

Gould’s campaign did not respond to request for comment by the publication deadline. Her record on Palestine is minimal due to which cabinet portfolios she has held; she made a similar public statement last night to Carney and Freeland, claiming support for a two-state solution, yet withholding recognition of that state.

As of the Thursday evening before the February 7^th fee deadline for Liberal Leadership candidates, there are rumblings that Gould may not have the money required to remain in the race, and thus fundraising may be swallowing her team’s focus over responding to press inquiries.

In conclusion, neither Carney, Dhalla, nor Gould provided any comment on diplomatic recognition of the State of Palestine. Freeland’s campaign responded with just a tweet, which measures up poorly against her own history of action.

Only the Baylis campaign promises a true response…at a later date. On balance, I give top points to the campaign promising to address the question over the candidates who dance around it.

The state of pro-Palestinian advocacy within the Liberal Party is grim. Palestine is not likely to be a deciding issue for the majority of Liberal members, especially with the focus on Yankee threats to Canadian freedom.

And yet, there is clearly a large swath of the Liberal Party for whom this is an important issue. Many high-dollar donors have pulled back their money, and many Hill staffers have stopped volunteering on campaigns, in protest to anti-Palestinian racism inside the party.

Palestine does motivate many Liberals, and they deserve leadership willing to respect the mainstream societal consensus that Palestine is a state, and that Canada has no right to withhold support for Palestinian freedom.

Soon, Canada will have a new Prime Minister, and they will decide whether we change our relationship with Palestine for the better, or for the worse.

I want to be optimistic. Recognition of Palestine would be the right thing strategically, and the right thing morally.

But from the tone of the conversation? I’m bracing for disappointment, yet again.