Dec. 8: A group of leading Canadian Muslim donors will no longer raise money for the ruling Liberals because of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s failure to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said on Friday.
According to a Reuters report, the group said it was pulling out of the Laurier Club, the upper tier of donors, because Trudeau did not appear interested in international law or the children of Gaza.
“With broken hearts, we must depart the Laurier Club,” CBC cited a letter from the group to the party.
“The idea that this situation will all be forgotten in two years is an extremely risky and unwise strategy for the party.”
The Reuters report added that polls show the left-leaning Liberals trailing their Conservative rivals ahead of the next election, which is scheduled for October 2025.
CBC said the group, set up in 2014, claimed 400 members and had directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party.
Trudeau has consistently said Israel has the right to defend itself after the deadly rampage by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7, but as the death toll in its retaliatory action in Gaza has mounted, he has gradually hardened his tone. Last month, he said the “killing of women, of children, of babies” in the Palestinian enclave must stop.
Muslims make up around 5% of Canada’s 40 million population.
