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Dear Prime Minister,

Grace and peace to you.

The Anglican Church of Canada has through successive Primates since October 7, 2023, written or endorsed many letters to you and the previous Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, urging the Government of Canada to lead boldly toward ending the egregious devastation of Palestinian and Israeli lives and lands through disproportionate armed violence, the imprisonment and killing of civilians, and the blockade of humanitarian aid to Gazans.

At the recent meeting of our General Synod, members of our youth delegation brought forward this resolution, which was resoundingly adopted:

Request the Primate to publicly write to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs calling on the Canadian government to uphold their moral responsibilities and impose full and immediate arms embargo on Israel.

As the 15th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, upholding our church’s repeated calls to your office and our government, I urge you, and the Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to impose a comprehensive, two-way arms embargo between Israel and Canada. The obscene violence and deprivation in Gaza demand a sharp move away from vague promises and half-measures.

Such an embargo would activate your May 20, 2025, pledge to take further action if Israel failed to halt its offensives and lift restrictions on aid. It would replace the verbal commitments of Minister Anand to pause approvals of future arms export permits. Failure to do so deepens the complicity of all Canadians in Israel’s and Hamas’ continuing war crimes.

I will encourage the more than 1.3 million Canadians who identify as Anglican to regularly communicate with their elected officials, asking them to work toward an immediate, comprehensive, two-way arms embargo.

I would welcome an opportunity to meet with you to discuss this urgent matter of justice and mercy and the concrete steps our government is taking to address it.

Sincerely,

[signed] +Shane

The Most Reverend Shane Parker
Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada

Cc:

The Hon. Andrew Scheer, House Leader of the Official Opposition
The Hon. Yves-François Blanchet, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
The Hon. Don Davies, Interim Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada
The Hon. Elizabeth May, Co-Leader of the Green Party of Canada
The Hon. Jonathan Pedneault, Co-Leader of the Green Party of Canada
The Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs

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