On August 4, the third strongest explosion in the world took place in one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world, Beirut. This explosion caused over 200 deaths, injured over 6,000 people, left more than 300,000 people homeless and over 80,000 children were left without a school.

Lebanese Canadians with the assistance of other Canadians quickly came together to offer Lebanon assistance in its time of need. We recently sent two cargo jets filled with donated food and medical supplies to Lebanon. As we were getting ready to fill the third of five jets, we received an email from the Lebanese Embassy on September 12 stating the Canadian Government would no longer allow any direct flights to Lebanon for security reasons. We fail to see how items such as baby formula or cancer drugs can be considered a security risk!

Canada rescinded a license granted to Air Canada back in 2003. Lebanese-Canadians have been forced for 17 years to take connecting flights when other airlines such as British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and many others have direct flights to Lebanon and yet not one airline has had a “security incident”. Canada allows direct flights from Cairo to Toronto as well as to Istanbul so why are Lebanese being discriminated against? Lebanese-Canadians demand an explanation as to why Canada will not allow direct flights to Lebanon.

We strongly urge everyone to sign this petition and help us raise our voices to lift this direct travel ban to Lebanon.