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Burnaby City Council made an unprecedented move for municipal chambers this week by unanimously voting to pressure Ottawa into imposing a full two-way arms embargo with Israel and changing the Gaza temporary resident visa program to bring in more Gazans with family living in Canada.

The since-passed motion, entitled “Advocating for Canada’s Role: Peace for the Palestinian People,” was introduced by Coun. Alison Gu, a member of the Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA), a municipal party affiliated with the BC NDP.

The City also made the symbolic commitment to sign an “apartheid-free” community pledge, a gesture of allyship that has no tangible impact on local governance. Mayor Mike Hurley said that the ongoing conflict is “hard to sit by as a human and watch,” adding, “This conflict has to come to an end.”

According to Global News, the outcome of the vote was met with cheers in the council chambers. But not everyone in Burnaby supports their city government stepping into foreign policy debates, with some residents arguing the motion was one-sided.

In a letter obtained by Rebel News, one Burnaby resident, whose name we are keeping anonymous, wrote to the mayor and council that she is “deeply disappointed by the council’s recent decision to involve itself in international conflicts and to pass motions that fall far outside the scope of municipal governance."

"Burnaby’s mandate is to provide effective, responsible local services and leadership for its residents, not to posture on complex international affairs where you hold neither authority nor expertise,” she continued. 

The letter went on to question the council’s selective engagement in global issues, stating, “If the council were genuinely committed to consistency and human rights, where was its voice during the massacres in Darfur? During the relentless bloodshed in Syria? During the current massacres targeting the Druze? These atrocities were equally horrific, yet Burnaby council was silent. This selective outrage makes the current stance appear less like principled leadership and more like political virtue signalling.”

Another resident expressed a similar sentiment in a letter addressed to Mayor Hurley, criticizing the move as political grandstanding at the expense of local priorities.

“You are entrusted by Burnaby residents to address pressing local issues: housing affordability, public safety, infrastructure, transportation, and economic development,” the resident wrote. “Instead of addressing those core responsibilities, the council has chosen to chase symbolic international targets. This looks less like moral leadership and more like an attempt to distract from ineptitude in managing Burnaby’s real challenges.”

Council records show that the motion is largely symbolic, with a staff member confirming Tuesday that Burnaby has no contracts with Israeli firms. Still, the decision welcomes debate as to whether city councils should be involved in international conflicts at all.