Scheer says he will move Canadian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv
MONTREAL — A Conservative government would move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, party leader Andrew Scheer said in a sometimes fiery foreign-policy speech on Tuesday that took personal aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Scheer’s speech in Montreal was a table-setter for the upcoming federal election, the first of several major policy statements the Conservatives say he will make in advance of the fall campaign.
“I will re-open the Office of Religious Freedoms and stand up for religious minorities all around the world. And I will recognize the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” Scheer said, in a portion of the speech not included in the prepared text his office distributed.
Afterward, as he exited the Marriott Chateau Champlain’s ballroom followed by a phalanx of journalists, the Conservative leader said what such recognition would mean for the Canadian Embassy: “That obviously would include making sure that Canada’s representation there is in Jerusalem and we’d work with the government of Israel to accomplish those types of things.”