Dear Dr. Ross, Dr. Green, Dr. Hodges, Dr Brosseau and Ms.Blennerhassett

I am writing to implore you to advocate at the highest levels of the federal government for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I recognize as presidents of the Canadian Medical Association, College of Family Physicians, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Canadian Nurses Association  and Canadian Association of Midwives that your voices matter. Your organizations represent thousands of Canadian physicians, nurses and midwives who have dedicated their careers to the service of others for the promotion and protection of health.  

The last 30+ days of conflict have resulted in thousands of deaths in Gaza and Israel, with thousands more injured. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked, “The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity”. We would also welcome a statement from the organizations you represent about the ongoing crisis in Gaza in calling for an end to the conflict and for a ceasefire to allow the provision of health care for the citizens of Gaza and the Israeli hostages. 

 It behooves us as citizens and health care professionals to bear witness to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and petition the Canadian government to call for an immediate ceasefire. This position was supported by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21 on the 27th of October 2023. It called for an "immediate and sustained" humanitarian truce and cessation of hostilities, condemned "all acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians" and "demands that all parties immediately and fully comply with their obligations under international law”.

https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12548.doc.htm?_gl=1*odwoaw*_ga*ODMzNTIyMTYuMTY5OTQ2NTUyOA..*_ga_TK9BQL5X7Z*MTY5OTk4ODA5Mi42LjAuMTY5OTk4ODA5Mi4wLjAuMA

Recently President Emmanuel Macron of France has stated that “There is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow to protect … all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists”. Our Federal government has yet to call for an unequivocal ceasefire.  

This week the executive director of MSF Canada, Joseph Belliveau petitioned the government of Canada, stating, “ I am writing to you on behalf of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to urgently request that the Canadian Government do everything within its power to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Ending the indiscriminate violence is the only way to prevent more deaths and scale up desperately needed humanitarian assistance.”

Specifically, I feel your organization’s policies and principles align with a petition to the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire. The CMA Impact 2040 Strategy expresses the principles of engagement, accountability and impact. These principles speak to the goals of a call for a ceasefire. The CMA accountability principle embodies that “ We believe we have an obligation to create positive change”. Engagement in this issue is in keeping with the CMA’s commitment to “Building on our rich history of physician engagement, we will cultivate meaningful and respectful dialogue”. As stated in the CMA strategy, “We’re ready to disrupt and advance solutions that can make a meaningful and measurable difference in partnership with those who share our passion for better health”. These principles compel us as an organization to be accountable to Canadians and others in Gaza and Israel who are suffering related to ongoing conflict and trauma.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada CanMeds framework also compels us as specialist physicians and as an organization to act as Leaders and Health Advocates. As stated in the framework - “advocacy requires action” and “Physicians support patients, communities, or populations to call for change, and they speak on behalf of others when needed. Physicians increase awareness about important health issues at the patient, community, or population level. They support or lead the mobilization of resources (e.g. financial, material, or human resources) on small or large scales”.  A call for a ceasefire and the provision of aid as outlined by MSF is a real-world embodiment of our responsibility to the RCPSC, and to each other as physicians. As leaders we have a duty that extends beyond our clinics or hospitals, “ They function as individual care providers, as members of teams, and as participants and leaders in the health care system locally, regionally, nationally, and globally”. The College of Family Physicians also expresses a role for family physicians to have a role for advocacy.  The Canadian Nursing Association supports, " participating directly and indirectly in political processes and acknowledging the importance of evidence, power and politics in advancing policy options".

The Canadian Association of Midwives called for urgent access to reproductive care and protection of pregnant and vulnerable people in the Middle East in a statement issued on the 19th of October 2023. 

This is a crucial period and your organizations and our voices matter. It is important to use the skills and privileges that we possess as physicians, nurses and midwives to stand up for what is right and stand on the side of peace. I am proud of Canadian advocacy internationally for indigenous rights, globally for climate change and against nuclear weapons. Our organization's and government’s silence on this matter could be mistaken for indifference to human suffering.  Our response to this humanitarian crisis speaks to what lies at the essence of what compelled all of us through the challenge of becoming and continuing to practice as health care professionals; a desire to help people and do good in the world. 

It has been suggested that ⅔ of the deaths in Gaza have been children, women and elderly. A substantial number of Israeli hostages in Gaza are seniors, women and children. Let us stand up as organizations and as individuals for peace and use our collective voice to advocate for this goal and petition for a ceasefire. 

The call for a ceasefire is encapsulated in the words of poet Amanda Gorman when she addressed the United Nations General Assembly in 2022:

“To anyone out there:

I only ask that you care before it’s too late,

That you live aware and awake,

That you lead with love in hours of hate.

I challenge you to heed this call,

I dare you to shape our fate.

Above all, I dare you to do good

So that the world might be great”