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ALT First of all, I want to extend my apologies for how long it has taken me to reach out to all of you. I began a new job at the beginning of this month and was away at a work conference all of this week, so was unable to get a full handle on this situation or take the time to write the thoughtful correspondence you all deserve until this evening. I know that this has been an incredibly difficult week, and that there are those of you with direct connections to both Palestine and Israel. I cannot imagine the stress and grief that you are currently copersonally have experienced several emotions over the course of the last two weeks, from profound grief to incredible rage. I have asked myself a thousand questions with no answers. But I have also tried to be mindful of ensuring that my feelings have not gotten in the way of the ultimate goal - doing what I can do to ensure justice and safety for those who are most at risk in this conflict.

ALT Several of you attended Federal Convention, where a thoughtful resolution focused on humanitarian relief, a ceasefire, and global leadership towards a long term solution received almost unanimous support. I proudly voted in support of that motion, because I felt as though it reflected the reality of where we need to go, and where we need to go together as a Party. I felt that as a resolution it spoke to the importance of speaking up for the vast majority of those being impacted and spoke of offering desperately needed solutions rather than assigning blame. I will be honest, when I heard the news about Sarah Jama I did have deep concerns. I did have a crisis of confidence. I had a moment where I considered my place in the Party. But then I took some time to go deep into my own thoughts. I have been a member of this party for almost half my life, and have invested incalculable time, effort and personal resources in working to try and see it succeed. I came to the conclusion that I refuse

ALT I had a conversation earlier this evening with Marit, and she is feeling every inch of this. I spoke with her frankly and asked her to be frank with me in return. While the details of the conversation will remain between her and I, I will say that any doubt I was feeling in regard to this decision has been laid to rest. I have known Marit both personally and professionally for over a decade. I have watched her work, her passion for improving people’s lives, her intelligence, her empathy and ability to connect. So tonight, I thought about trust. About how trust is something that is earned, and how she has earned my trust time and time again. I trust her now. This is an issue that we will need to navigate as a team and come to decisions on as a team. I don’t doubt it will be challenging, but as much as I have faith in Marit I also have faith in us.

ALT I do personally believe that it is imperative that our association show support for Marit - not only as our MPP, but also as our Leader. I know that she is eager to engage with each of you as well and I will be having conversations with her and her team about the best means of proceeding. Our Executive will be meeting as scheduled on November 8th at 7:00 pm at (redacted) and I will be providing a zoom link for those who prefer a virtual meeting. In the meantime, I ask that we as a collective continue to do whatever we can can to turn down the temperature on this issue rather than raise it - engaging with others with thoughtfulness, respect and empathy. It is my personal belief that anger, either ours or others, does nothing to help the victims of this conflict. I would also encourage you, should you have the means, to look into a monetary donation to an organization providing humanitarian aid - I have donated to MSF to support their work in Gaza. It was a small thing but it at least ma