Commons committee votes to study quickest path to Palestinian state recognition

MPs on the House of Commons foreign affairs committee have voted to study the quickest path to federal government recognition of a Palestinian state.

The move comes despite the objections of Conservative MPs on the committee, who argue that recognizing a Palestinian state in the absence of a negotiated agreement with Israel would be a stark departure from long-standing Canadian government policy.

«This motion is an important motion for those peace-loving nations who support a two-state solution,» said Liberal MP and committee member Omar Alghabra, who presented the motion before the committee.

The motion's wording supports a «two-state solution where a safe and secure state of Israel lives side by side with a safe and secure state of Palestine.» It calls on the committee to «dedicate no more than four meetings to immediately study the issue of how the Government of Canada can advance the recognition of the State of Palestine within a two-state solution.»'

As CBC News has reported, Liberal MPs on the committee secured NDP and Bloc support for the motion in a closed-doors meeting. Conservatives on the committee rejected the motion and prevented it from getting to a vote until Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong tried to introduce amendments that would have brought the motion more in line with the Canadian government's traditional position that a two-state solution must start with a negotiated agreement with Israel.

«The risk with the committee adopting the motion in front of us is that it risks encouraging the government of Canada to do the same, and to recognize a Palestinian state sooner rather than later. And this would hurt Canada's interests,» Chong told committee members.

Chong