May 21, 2025
The Right Honourable Mark Carney
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
Subject: Action needed to achieve ceasefire in Israel and Gaza
Dear Prime Minister Carney,
I am writing on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, which represents over 250,000 frontline nurses and health care workers, to express once again our need for your government to take urgent action to oppose the devastating bombardment of Gaza and Israel’s refusal to allow unimpeded humanitarian aid into the territory. There needs to be an urgent end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the ability to facilitate the return of Israeli and Palestinian hostages. Your May 19, 2025, joint statement with the United Kingdom and France is a clear condemnation of recent events, and we urge you to continue to put pressure by taking urgent and concrete action to ensure an end to the horrors playing out in Gaza and the West Bank. Additionally, we are very concerned that as a country we need to do more to stop anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, and after 19 months of violence it has reached unimaginable levels. The United Nations estimates that over 52,653 Palestinians have been killed, with an additional approximately 118,897 reported injured. Many reports have this number higher with estimates of an additional 10,000 Palestinians missing and presumed dead, with many more facing mass starvation.
The overwhelming fatalities in Gaza are civilians – 70 percent being women and children. There is no safe refuge, virtually the entire population has been displaced in Gaza.
The world has witnessed the utter destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, and no hospital or medical facility has been spared. In most recent news, two of the last functioning hospitals in Northern Gaza have been encircled by Israeli forces and are no longer functioning. Many health care workers have been killed and kidnapped by Israel, and those who have not been killed or kidnapped continue to work in extremely dangerous and impossible conditions.
Given the severity of the situation, Canada’s nurses are demanding your government to do far more to resolve the crisis. Actions you can take include:
These are extremely difficult times that require urgent and concrete action motivated by a need to ensure peace, security and the protection of health care workers and all civilians in situations of war and conflict.
As nurses and health care workers, we must stand up for peace and justice globally, and we know many Canadians share this belief in our government’s role. We urge our government to use its influence on the international stage to uphold international law by demanding an immediate ceasefire, supporting the release of all hostages and pushing for a lasting peace based on adherence with international law.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent issues.
Sincerely,
Linda Silas, CFNU President
Cc.: The Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Hon. Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health
The Hon. Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development)