Order of Canada/New Brunswick recipients call for ceasefire in Gaza [letter]

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

Like many Canadian citizens, we, members of the Order of Canada and the Order of New Brunswick, are deeply concerned about the situation in Palestine.

For more than three weeks, we have been witnessing an armed conflict in which thousands of civilians, men, women and children, are being killed or wounded, hundreds are being taken hostage, and infrastructures and homes are being destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are deprived of basic necessities and will suffer lifelong trauma, especially young people and children.

We cannot remain indifferent to the images of suffering and despair that reach us daily.

Canada must play a constructive role in efforts to prevent the present situation from protracting and worsening. The violence must stop now, and the top priority must be the protection of civilian lives.

Mr. Prime Minister, we ask you to propose a resolution to the House of Commons calling for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians being held illegally in captivity, and respect for and protection, in accordance with international humanitarian law, of all civilian and humanitarian facilities, including hospitals and other medical facilities.

Yours sincerely,

Fernand Arseneault, Moncton, Order of Canada

Jean-Claude Basque, Moncton, Order of New Brunswick

Jean-Luc Bélanger, Jean-Luc, Dieppe, Order of Canada

Armand Canon, Shippagan, Order of New Brunswick

Omer Chouinard, Moncton, Order of Canada

Auréa Cormier, Moncton, Order of Canada

Madeleine Delaney-LeBlanc, Moncton, Order of Canada

Huberte Gautreau, Moncton, Order of New Brunswick

Roland Gauvin, Moncton, Order of Canada

Bernard Poirier, Dieppe, Order of Canada

Valois Robichaud, Shippagan, Order of New Brunswick

Serge-Patrice Thibodeau, Moncton, Order of Canada

Claude Snow, Caraquet, Order of New Brunswick

Gérard Snow, Moncton, Order of Canada