One Richmond city councillor, along with other B.C. elected officials, are demanding the federal government call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
More than 50 elected officials from 29 municipal governments have signed a letter urging the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire, support unrestricted access to humanitarian aid and secure the release of all hostages.
Only one Richmond city councillor, Coun. Michael Wolfe, has signed the open letter so far.
The letter was penned after Burnaby’s city council passed a unanimous motion last week to write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for a ceasefire.
More than 11,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed more than 1,400 people on Oct. 7, triggering the Israel-Hamas war.
Estimates show more than two-thirds of Gaza’s population have been displaced, while around 250,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate from areas near the besieged area and near Lebanon.
“As local government elected officials across B.C., we are horrified and heartbroken by the crisis in Israel and Gaza,” reads the letter.
It referred to pleas from concerned residents for “action from all orders of government.”
“We are ashamed at Canada’s abstention at the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution calling for ‘an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,’” reads the letter.
“Canada should be a leader on the world stage, but instead, sat on the sidelines.”
The letter also condemns “all acts of anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamaphobia,” adding there has been an increase in all three over the past month.
Other signatories include councillors from Burnaby, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Comox and New Westminster, as well as Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley.
