November 24, 2025
The Honorable Mark Carney
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Canada
pm@pm.gc.ca
mark.carney@parl.gc.ca
Dear Prime Minister Carney:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars dedicated to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for their colleagues worldwide.
We are writing today regarding an incident that occurred when Emeritus Professor of Princeton University Dr. Richard Falk and his wife, Professor Hilal Elver, crossed the Canadian border. On their arrival on 13 November 2025 at Toronto Pearson International Airport en route to Ottawa, they were detained and interrogated by agents of the Canada Border Services for four hours without any officially stated reason.
The apparent cause of such an unprecedented mistreatment of Falk was his planned participation in a meeting organized by the so-called “people’s tribunal on Canada’s complicity in the genocide and dispossession of Palestinians”. While the Committee of Concerned Scientists neither endorses nor supports the views expressed by this organization, we are appalled by the violation of Professor Falk’s right to participate in a peaceful gathering.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Cc:
The Honorable Anita Anand
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Global Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Canada
Anita.Anand@parl.gc.ca
Mme. Erin O’Gorman
President
Canada Border Services Agency
355 North River Road, 6th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0L8
Canada
Erin.ogorman@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Pete Hoekstra
U.S. Ambassador to Canada
490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa
Ontario, K1N 1G8
Canada
OttawaACS@state.gov