The government's stance on military exports to Israel is anything but clear-cut

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's announcement Tuesday that Canada has suspended 30 permits to export military materiel to Israel may have been meant to placate pro-Palestinian activists demanding an arms embargo. But without more transparency, it remains a political muddle.

One week out from a byelection in a previously safe Liberal seat in Montreal where New Democrats (and their pamphlets) are pushing Canada's response to the ongoing violence in Gaza as a ballot question, Joly proactively used her scrum at the governing caucus's retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. to rebut claims the Trudeau government isn't doing enough.

«Our policy has been clear,» she said. «Since Jan. 8, we have not accepted any form of arms export permits to be sent to Israel.»

Accepting her claim that the government's policy has been «clear» means forgetting the mess last spring when a New Democrat MP introduced a Commons motion calling on Canada to «suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel» that had to be watered down at the last minute so more Liberals could support it.

Activists point to the many millions of dollars in defence trade that may continue to flow Israel's way under previously approved and still-valid permits. (The most recent list, produced by Global Affairs Canada [GAC] to respond to a request from the Commons foreign affairs committee, is available here.)

Joly told reporters she asked her department to look into Canadian companies' existing permits.

«We are asking questions to these companies. Following that, I asked my department to look into any existing permits of arms or parts of arms that could have been sent to Israel,» the minister said.

«Following that, I suspended this summer around 30 existing permits of