Government 'strategically planning' to evacuate citizens in Lebanon in case of Hezbollah-Israel war

Article content

OTTAWA — The government says it is “actively engaged” and “strategically planning” in response to questions about whether it is planning an evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon in the event of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“Canada has been actively engaged and strategically planning from the outset; we remain vigilant about the escalating tensions in the region,” said Jean-Pierre J. Godbout, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, in an email.

Godbout was responding to questions from the National Post in the wake of Israeli media reports about a “tense conversation” between Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and her Israeli counterpart Israel Katz about the escalating tensions in the region.

Global Affairs didn’t specifically confirm Israeli media reports about evacuating 45,000 Canadians from the region, but said Canada remains vigilant amid “sustained and escalating violence between Hezbollah and Israel” and has been devising an evacuation plan since hostilities broke out.

The government also warned that Canadians in Lebanon shouldn’t solely rely on Canada to assist them in leaving the country if the situation deteriorates further and that they should consider leaving “by commercial means” if possible.

“The government of Canada’s ability to provide consular services during an active conflict may be limited,” said Godbout. “There is no guarantee the Canadian government will evacuate Canadians in a crisis situation.”

Joly told Katz that Ottawa had already sent “military forces” to the region in preparation for a potential evacuation, according to the Israeli media reports.

On Oct. 20, in the immediate wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians, Ottawa confirmed that Canadian military officials were in Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Greece to prepare for a civilian evacuation if it was needed.

Israeli media also reported that Katz asked Joly to put pressure on Iran to “rein in” Hezbollah, saying the “window of opportunity is closing.”

About 60,000 Israelis remain displaced from northern Israel because rockets continue to rain in from Lebanon and for fear that Hezbollah would be inspired to carry out a similar attack to Hamas’s October 7 assault.

A similar evacuation from Lebanon in 2006 was marred by “chaotic scenes,” widespread confusion and angry evacuees.

The evacuation of almost 15,000 people, including some Americans, Brits and Australians, during the 2006 Lebanon War soon caused an uproar in Canada and a discussion about “convenient Canadians” who held a passport but didn’t live in the country.

A Conservative MP kicked off a firestorm in 2006 with a blog post asking if “someone who does not reside in Canada or pay taxes here (should) be rescued by the taxpayers of Canada just because they have dual citizenship?”

The incident sparked changes to the Citizenship Act.

About 7,000 evacuees immediately went back to Lebanon when the 34-day war ended, according to media reports at the time. The operation cost $85 million.

National Post
[email protected]

Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.