Bill C-233: A Letter to William Stevenson, MP for Yellowhead

Hello William,

I’m writing today to express my displeasure with your “nay” vote on Bill C-233. It feels like the House of Commons has no conscience these days, nor does it really have an opposition. I am disappointed in you and the Conservative Party for failing to provide any moral, legal, or even economic objections to the current (rapidly oscillating) Liberal foreign policy in the Middle East. 

You and I had a very constructive discussion last year regarding defence spending, and to my knowledge we were in agreement on driving domestic development and weapons procurement to reinforce our sovereignty, so in light of those chats I’m going to ask that you explain how upholding indirect military procurement to Israel is helping your constituents and Canadians as a whole. Neither the IRGC nor its proxies possess munitions capable of striking Canadian territory, and given that there are cases before the International Criminal Court accusing Israeli leadership of war crimes, with ample evidence, there is a substantial risk that Canadian munitions could be used in the careless fashion that characterizes Israel’s campaigns against its adversaries, risking civilian casualties. 

Perhaps I am mistaken, my logic clouded by youthful idealism, but in an era of guided munitions that can target a single passenger of a specific car, there is no reason a city such as Rafah, or any other should be referred to in the past tense due to sheer razing. That is a level of destruction only possible with generous and regular munitions shipments from friends around the world- a war machine that you have now firmly implicated yourself in.

And now, we’re complicit in yet more strikes, this time because we refuse to outright condemn the illegal US and Israeli offensive in Iran which opened up pretty much right away with a cruise missile into an elementary school. We may not have fired that Tomahawk and we didn’t pay for it directly but every mouth that doesn’t condemn the slaughter of civilians in the futile pursuit of regime change is doing a disservice to the people they allege to be freeing from oppression.

So, in light of Carney’s flip flopping on the matter and the CPC leadership’s outright support for these illegal strikes thus far, I would also like to know where you stand on Iran, from the initial strikes to the thought of Canadian hands providing logistical or fire support. For the purposes of this question, I am asking William Stevenson- not Pierre Poilievre. 

Baseless WMD and imminent threat claims have underscored US interventions in the Middle East since before I was born, but to my knowledge you were alive through the Bush years- what is different? 

I am tired of genocide, William. I am tired of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked (which is not an isolated sentiment within Yellowhead, I’m sure). I am tired of this government’s unchecked pseudo-majority. We are at an inflection point and you have a closing window to prevent your relegation to the ages as a backbench bystander who watched and turned a blind eye to the plight of humanity at the hands of our allies. 

In solidarity,

Brodie Friesen

West Yellowhead NDP