During a June 2008 parliamentary debate, Toews described Canadian jurist Louise Arbour, the retiring United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as a "disgrace". He indicated that he made the remarks with respect to her past statements on Israel (during the 2006 Lebanon War, Arbour argued that the killing of innocent civilians by any party could amount to war crimes). This statement was widely criticized. Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay responded that Toews had taken Arbour's remarks "completely out of context", and described his comments as an "appalling" personal attack. Claire L'Heureux-Dubé also criticized Toews' comments, writing that Arbour had avoided taking sides in the Middle East conflict.