N.L. faces ‘serious liability questions’ over Ithaca Energy’s entry into province’s oil sector, legal expert warns

The provincial government doesn’t intend to stop Ithaca Energy’s entry into Newfoundland and Labrador’s oil sector despite the company’s ties to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

Ithaca is majority-owned by Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group, which is blacklisted by the United Nations for its alleged role in “activities that raised particular human rights concerns.”

On Wednesday Wakeham said he won’t comment on Ithaca’s “political things,” and that the company’s involvement in the province’s oil and gas sector “bodes well for our industry.”

His comments come nearly a week after provincial Energy Minister Lloyd Parrot did not answer questions from The Independent about what the PC government will do, if anything, in response to Ithaca’s takeover of Canadian oil company Suncor’s stakes in the Terra Nova, White Rose and West White Rose offshore oil projects.

Human rights advocates say the impending acquisition should be stopped, while a legal expert says the federal and provincial governments – as well as Suncor and provincial crown corporation OilCo – face legal risks if they fail to intervene.

“Gaza has been razed. Families have been erased, children have been starved and buried under rubble, and the West Bank is being cleared village by village,” local Palestinian solidarity group Palestine Action YYT told The Independent in a statement. “Newfoundlanders and Labradorians did not build an offshore industry to underwrite that. Not one barrel of our oil should pad the profits of anyone tied to apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”

Michael Bueckert, vice president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) – one of the country’s leading voices speaking out against Israel’s war and occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories – calls Ithaca’s acquisition “unacceptable” and wants political leaders to step in.

“As the International Court of Justice has determined, our political leaders are obliged to avoid economic dealings with companies involved in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine,” he said in a statement to The Independent. 

“This underscores the urgent need for Canada to intervene and impose comprehensive sanctions to stop all economic trade with those who profit from and facilitate Israel’s illegal settlements.”

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Delek Group is providing “services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport,” and of using “natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes.”

The Independent sent questions to Delek Group but did not hear back.

Carney needs to clarify commitment to sanctions

In September, Prime Minister Mark Carney committed to banning trade in goods with Israel’s settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. “Settlements are illegal under international law,” he said at the time.

But details of Canada’s new sanctions have not yet been announced.

CJPME and others, including federal MP Heather McPherson – an outspoken critic of Canada’s relations with Israel amid what many argue amounts to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians – are calling on the Liberals to expand Canada’s sanctions against Israel and prohibit trade in services, too.

Heidi Matthews, an assistant professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and an expert in international criminal law, says the Carney government needs to ensure its new policy is “comprehensive enough to capture things like federal and provincial procurement, and involvement in economic deals with corporations that in one way or another are engaged in illegal activity in occupied Palestine.”

The Independent reached out to Global Affairs Canada for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Legal risks for governments, corporations: Professor

Matthews says Wakeham’s characterisation of Ithaca and Delek’s ties to Israel’s occupation of Palestine as ‘political things’ is “inattentive to the realities of their commercial dealings,” which, she says, “cannot – according to the evidence that’s been documented by the UN database – be disassociated from violations of international law.

“It is well established that the occupation of the Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, is unlawful because it violates the Palestinian right to self-determination, and also because it amounts to the acquisition of territory by the use of force, as well as systemic racial discrimination and apartheid. All of this was found by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its 2024 advisory opinion on the question.”

In December 2023, South Africa instituted proceedings at the ICJ, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians and violating the 1948 Genocide Convention. The court isn’t expected to render a decision until 2029 or 2030. In 2024, however, the court issued an advisory opinion on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

The ICJ said Israel “has an obligation to bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible,” and “must immediately cease all new settlement activity.”

The court also said states dealing with Israel have a legal obligation to “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

In August, the federal government warned Canadian businesses that, “Engagement in, or connection to, settlement-related activities presents significant legal, financial and reputational risks [which] arise in part because, under international law, settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are not recognized as part of Israel’s territory.

“Activities may involve assets or resources subject to dispute and may expose businesses to increased scrutiny from investors, partners and civil society,” the advisory reads. “Businesses may also face disputes related to land, water, minerals or other natural resources associated with investments or transactions.”

Matthews points to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2020 decision in Nevsun Resources Ltd. v Araya, which she says, “very clearly established that Canadian corporations can be held directly liable for violating these peremptory norms of international law, and that would include the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

This means Suncor and Newfoundland and Labrador crown energy corporation OilCo could arguably face litigation, Matthews says. “But I do think the key question would be about whether or not the relationship between Suncor or OilCo. and Delek is too attenuated, by virtue of Ithaca in the middle. So whether doing business essentially with a company whose parent company is engaged in human rights violations – whether or not that’s a close enough link.”

Though states are legally bound to international law, including human rights law, states’ subnational jurisdictions could face legal consequences, too.

Matthews says Ithaca’s entry into the province’s oil sector raises “serious liability questions” for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, “in the sense that under international law […] the actions of [provinces or territories] are still attributable to the central government itself.

“Canada has several obligations under international law, including to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the occupation, which would include but not be limited to the settlement economy,” she continues. “So the provincial government also shares in that obligation.”

‘Silence is complicity,’ says local Palestine solidarity group

When asked Wednesday if he had the power to stop Ithaca’s acquisition of Suncor’s stakes in the oil projects, Wakeham said it’s “not something that I’m looking at.”

The premier said he is “focused on making sure that we have what the world needs, and we wanna make sure that if, as long as the world has a demand for oil, that Newfoundland and Labrador is part of that solution.”

@independent.nl

N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham won’t comment on what he called Ithaca Energys “political things,” but a law professor says Newfoundland and Labrador could face legal risks based on the company’s ties to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Read the full story: https://theindependent.ca/news/lji/n-l-faces-serious-liability-questions-over-ithaca-energys-entry-into-provinces-oil-sector-legal-expert-warns/ #nlpoli #Israel #Palestine

♬ original sound – The Independent

Wakeham’s apparent inattention to the province’s legal obligations are concerning, says Matthews.

“For Wakeham to say that somehow the province is not bound by international law with respect to its connection to, or involvement in, these violations shows a basic misunderstanding of provincial obligations under international law.”

Palestine Action YYT, which has held rallies, marches and other protest actions since 2023, says the federal government’s actions so far are inadequate, but pale in comparison to the provincial government’s. “Ottawa talks about banning settlement trade. Premier Wakeham and Minister Parrott won’t even say the word. Silence is complicity, and we won’t be silent,” the group says in its statement. 

“We will resist this deal, and we expect oil and gas workers and their neighbours will stand with us.” The group says it is planning a public meeting in the near future, details of which will be announced this coming week. “Everyone who refuses to bankroll genocide is invited.”

With files from Kenny Sharpe.