Dear Mark Carney: Can we talk about numbers?

A measure of our failure to act.

Dear Mark Carney,

Can we talk about numbers?

These numbers, via Irish MEP Lynn Boylan, 21/10/25, in a speech at the European Union.
I note here: the numbers increase daily, and most are conservative estimates.

11 days ago we welcomed the ceasefire.
Since then 153 tonnes of bombs have dropped on Gaza.
67,000 is a very conservative estimate for Palestinians killed.
Unknown is the number still under the rubble.
169,000 is the conservative number of Palestinians injured.
4,000 is the number of children who have lost limbs.
154 is the number of children who have died from starvation.
355 is the number of bullets fired at hand by Israeli occupation forces.
1,722 is the number of health and aid workers murdered.
34 is the number of hospitals attacked.
Almost 300 is the number of journalists and media workers murdered.
2 is the number of ICC arrest warrants for members of the Israeli government.

And I will add a few more:
1,760 is the conservative number of Palestinians killed while seeking food aid.
9,619 is the estimate for Palestinians held in “indefinite administrative detention,” many without trial or charge.
360 is the estimate for Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons — 41% without charge.
39,000 is the estimate for Palestinian children whose parents have been killed (one or both).
1,001 is the estimated number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 2023.
1.9 million — 85% of Gaza’s population — have been forcibly displaced.
Over 70% of homes are destroyed or uninhabitable.
More than 80% of schools have been damaged or obliterated.
Over 1.1 million people face catastrophic hunger.

In Ms. Boylan’s final comments, I took the liberty of substituting Canada for EU:

Zero is the number of concrete actions taken by Canada.

This ceasefire cannot be an excuse for Canada to sit on its hands.
Now is the time for Canada to restore its credibility and end its complicity in this genocide.
There can be no peace without justice.
There must be accountability for the lives behind these numbers.
Their lives have to mean something.

I note here: Canada has yet to fully instate a two-way arms embargo.
Canada shipped military goods as recently as July 2025.
Canada’s stated support for a “two-state solution,” and its recognition of a Palestinian state, come with conditions and clauses that preclude the true concept of sovereignty.
It comes with the constant qualifier that what we want is a Zionist Palestinian State. (This is not my Canada.)

And, importantly, it includes the clause that firmly indicates Canada’s continued and steadfast support of Israel, its people, and their security.
This clause ultimately upholds and justifies all of the above numbers.

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It is problematic to imagine that a people’s security can be built upon the statistics in this letter, let alone the seven previous decades of “numbers.”

Numbers cannot hold grief, nor can they justify indifference.
But they can measure our failure to act.

For whatever weight your conscience allows this letter to carry.

Janice Mar Wong

Sources and References

• Lynn Boylan (MEP) — Speech to the European Parliament, 21 October 2025.
• UNRWA Situation Reports (October 2025): Estimates of displacement (≈1.9 million, 85% of population), catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5, 1.1 million people), and infrastructure destruction.
• WHO / Health Cluster (September–October 2025): Data on injured (169,000), killed (67,000), and healthcare worker casualties (1,722).
• UNICEF (October 2025): Estimates of children killed, injured, orphaned (≈39,000), and child amputees (≈4,000).
• Education Cluster / UNICEF (October 2025): >80% of schools damaged or destroyed.
• UNOSAT / Shelter Cluster (October 2025): ≈70% of homes destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.
• Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (October 2025): Numbers for administrative detention (9,619), child detainees (360), and food-aid killings (1,760).
• OCHA West Bank Update (October 2025): ≈1,001 Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 2023.
• International Criminal Court (May 2025): Two arrest warrants issued for Israeli government officials for war crimes in Gaza.