Brampton City Council is set to vote on a motion this week that would see the city formally denounce what it calls the “genocide and ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and commit to an international campaign opposing Israel’s system of apartheid.
The motion, introduced by Councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor and seconded by Councillor Navjit Kaur Brar, urges the city to align itself with the Apartheid-Free Network’s Community Pledge, which advocates for “freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people.”
If passed at Wednesday’s council meeting, Brampton would become one of the first major Canadian cities to officially sign the pledge, joining a coalition of communities and organizations seeking to “end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.”
The motion also calls on Canada’s federal government to recognize and respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza by:
- Condemning all illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and across Palestine.
- Demanding an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza.
- Ensuring full, unhindered humanitarian aid access to the region.
- Imposing a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel by halting all exports and cancelling existing arms permits.
Councillors Toor and Brar further argue that Canada’s Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) program is “inadequate to support family reunification or meet humanitarian needs in Gaza,” calling for policy changes to allow displaced Palestinians to reunite with relatives in Canada.
The motion comes amid ongoing global outrage following the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and saw around 240 hostages taken. Israel’s military response has resulted in more than 67,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
A United Nations Commission of Inquiry last month accused Israel of committing genocide — an allegation that Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Daniel Meron, rejected as “fake.”
In August, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada has denied new arms export permits “that could be used in Gaza” since early 2024, vowing strict enforcement of export control laws.
Brampton-based manufacturer Roshel Inc. was previously criticized by pro-Palestinian activists for its contracts to supply armoured vehicles to Israel for domestic police use, sparking renewed debate over Canada’s military trade policies.
If approved, Brampton’s motion would symbolize one of the strongest municipal-level condemnations of Israel’s military campaign to date — positioning the city as part of a growing global movement calling for accountability, humanitarian access, and justice for Palestinians.