The Coordinating Committee of Lebanese-Canadians (CCLC) held a meeting on May 13, 2024 at St. Charbel Church Hall in the Greater Toronto Area with representatives of the Liberal Party of Canada, headed by the Honorable Robert Oliphant, Member of Parliament of Toronto riding, Don Valley West and Parliamentary Secretary to the Canadian Foreign Minister.
Also in attendance were MP Charles Sousa, the Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Lakeshore, and MP Lena Metlege Diab who is of Lebanese descent and is the Member of Parliament for Halifax West. MP Sharef Sabawy of Mississauga-Erin Mills, a parliamentary assistant to the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, joined the Federal MPs from the Conservative Party of Ontario. The meeting was attended by representatives of the CCLC, including Cristine Kahil who moderated, Elias Kassab, Elie Saliba, Elie Gideon and Marwan Sader, as well as representatives from Lebanese associations, political parties and advocacy groups.
The meeting included a Zoom intervention from Warsaw by Ziad El Sayegh, Executive Director of CIH (Civic Influence Hub), on the current situation in Lebanon, starting from the constitutional crisis, passing through to the war along the borders and the issue of Palestinian refugees and Syrian displacement. The discussion addressed the request for assistance from Canada to save Lebanese democracy and restore sovereignty by implementing the provisions of the Constitution and international resolutions concerning Lebanon, which are the basis for restoring prosperity.
There were interventions by the Canadian MPs who engaged in an open discussion on all the hot issues in Lebanon.
Message to the Canadian Foreign Minister
It is worth noting that the representatives of the CCLC held a separate side meeting on Lebanon with the Canadian MPs, which included frank and multi-faceted discussions from both sides about Lebanon and its issues. During the meeting, the committee delegation handed over a handwritten letter addressed to Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, which the Honorable Robert Oliphant received on Joly’s behalf, coinciding with her visit to Lebanon.
The message included the committee's stance on Iranian arms dominance in Lebanon and the consequences of this dominance on the obstruction of the constitutional process, the confiscation of the decision of war and peace, border breaches, increased organized crime—including political crime and the presence of a massive number of Syrian refugees, both legal and illegal, and the alignment with corrupt individuals that has led to economic and financial collapse. The message called for the implementation of international resolutions concerning Lebanon, starting with the 1949 ceasefire agreement and UN resolutions 425, 1559, 1680 and 1701.
Also in attendance were MP Charles Sousa, the Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Lakeshore, and MP Lena Metlege Diab who is of Lebanese descent and is the Member of Parliament for Halifax West. MP Sharef Sabawy of Mississauga-Erin Mills, a parliamentary assistant to the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, joined the Federal MPs from the Conservative Party of Ontario. The meeting was attended by representatives of the CCLC, including Cristine Kahil who moderated, Elias Kassab, Elie Saliba, Elie Gideon and Marwan Sader, as well as representatives from Lebanese associations, political parties and advocacy groups.
The meeting included a Zoom intervention from Warsaw by Ziad El Sayegh, Executive Director of CIH (Civic Influence Hub), on the current situation in Lebanon, starting from the constitutional crisis, passing through to the war along the borders and the issue of Palestinian refugees and Syrian displacement. The discussion addressed the request for assistance from Canada to save Lebanese democracy and restore sovereignty by implementing the provisions of the Constitution and international resolutions concerning Lebanon, which are the basis for restoring prosperity.
There were interventions by the Canadian MPs who engaged in an open discussion on all the hot issues in Lebanon.
Message to the Canadian Foreign Minister
It is worth noting that the representatives of the CCLC held a separate side meeting on Lebanon with the Canadian MPs, which included frank and multi-faceted discussions from both sides about Lebanon and its issues. During the meeting, the committee delegation handed over a handwritten letter addressed to Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, which the Honorable Robert Oliphant received on Joly’s behalf, coinciding with her visit to Lebanon.
The message included the committee's stance on Iranian arms dominance in Lebanon and the consequences of this dominance on the obstruction of the constitutional process, the confiscation of the decision of war and peace, border breaches, increased organized crime—including political crime and the presence of a massive number of Syrian refugees, both legal and illegal, and the alignment with corrupt individuals that has led to economic and financial collapse. The message called for the implementation of international resolutions concerning Lebanon, starting with the 1949 ceasefire agreement and UN resolutions 425, 1559, 1680 and 1701.
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