Well the Liberals have got themselves into a pickle.

Actually, much as I hate to see it, Anthony Housefather MP is now also deep in the brine. 

You see Housefather made a huge fuss five months ago about antisemitism being rife across Canada.  In his view exemplified by the encampments, the pickets, the university students’ councils and the massive demonstrations in support of Palestinians are proof. He believes any support for Palestinians and much of  Canadian society’s  anger at Israel arguably murdering more than 186,000 Gazans is evidence of antisemitism.  Housefather, along with most establishment Jews in Canada, deny Israel’s genocide against Palestinians and believe any protests against Israel are proof of dangerous levels of antisemitism.  

To find out more, you can read my newsletters here and here which zero in on Anthony Housefather’s pro-Israel record.  

Well, in March 2024,  Housefather “cried wolf”.  The Liberals in the House of Commons supported the much watered-down motion by the NDP which had demanded that Canada recognize the State of Palestine.  The new motion approved by the majority of MPs in the Commons read in part that Canada  “work with international partners to actively pursue the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, including towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution.” But an infuriated Housefather opposed even that motion.   There are many pictures, interviews and videos of him suggesting he might switch his allegiance to the Tories whose MPs unanimously opposed it.  

To placate Housefather, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed him the Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights which held hearings in May and June.  Parliament Hill observers noticed the only testimony allowed at the hearings was from people committed to Israel such as students in campus groups of Hillel, Jewish religious and establishment community leaders and various pro-Israel lobbying groups.  For instance, despite IJVCanada applying to present at the committee, they were denied access.  

Housefather’s title belied the fact that pretty well all the hearings were concerned about antisemitism, and had little to nothing to do with other minorities’ human rights.   

 

“It is deplorable that a Canadian MP would work alongside a far-right, extremist Israeli lawmaker like Rothman, who justifies racial discrimination and settler terrorism against Palestinians.” 

Dr Michael Bueckert, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

With the less than inspired hearings on antisemitism over in late June, Housefather must have been looking for a way to salute Israel and raise his own political profile. He found it through his  recent meeting with Simcha Rothman, a far-right member of Israel’s extremist government. He is a member of the Religious Zionist Party.  Rothman is a leader of Israel’s “judicial coup” and defends racial discrimination against Palestinians and settler violence against them.  Rothman and the party believe shopkeepers should discriminate against non-Jews entering their stores. The Religious Zionist Party supports the annexation of the whole West bank, expulsion of asylum seekers, is against same-sex marriage, stands for Jewish supremacy and anti-Arab racism.  As an American journalist noted, the “Religious Zionist Party is a political party driven by Jewish supremacy and anti-Arab racism“.

As Michael Bueckert of CJPME (Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East) notes, “It is deplorable that a Canadian MP would work alongside a far-right, extremist Israeli lawmaker like Rothman, who justifies racial discrimination and settler terrorism against Palestinians.” 

In late June, Housefather met with Rothman.  They are the co-chairs of the ‘Task Force’ a group that is pushing social media companies to adopt  the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism (IHRA-WDA).   As CJPME notes,  f

The IHRA “has been used to shut down speech in support of Palestinian rights. More than 100 Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights NGOs have recently written to the United Nations in opposition to IHRA, and leading Israeli NGOs warn that IHRA is already being weaponized against human rights work.”

Politics on Parliament Hill

Now Housefather has what many consider the safest Liberal seat in Canada.  His seat, Mount Royal in Montreal, has been held for 84 years since 1940 by a Liberal MP.  The seat was only created in 1925 – so for 84 of its 99 years, Mount Royal has been represented by a Liberal MP. 

Suddenly it may be up for grabs!  What five months ago looked like a tempest in a teacup over exaggerated claims of antisemitism is today a full blown storm.  In a federal by-election in Toronto, the newby Liberal candidate unexpectedly lost to the newby Tory candidate in St Paul’s. The seat had been held by the Liberals for 27 years, so the Tory win shook the Liberals.  The government’s defeat in St Paul’s, once a Liberal stronghold, sent the Liberals reeling. This could be a warning about what is to come in the upcoming (but as yet unannounced)  federal election.    

The loss of St Paul’s means every Liberal riding is vulnerable.  Indeed according to the National Post, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre “is said to be sharpening his knives to take on a Liberal fortress in Quebec’s largest city in the next general election.”  

Housefather: Extremist writ large

Despite Housefather’s extremism and the company he keeps, the Liberals probably believe their best bet is to keep him in the fold.  So now, the party is counting on Housefather to run for a fourth term. 

Over and above that, Housefather still seeks the limelight; he wants to be the man who almost single-handedly fights antisemitism.  So again, Trudeau has rewarded him with yet another high profile job.  Housefather is now Special Advisor on Jewish Community Relations and Antisemitism.

The problem is that the fight against antisemitism has morphed into is a fight to silence and to sideline critics of Israel.  It has very little to do with anti-Jewish animus.  In fact, poll after poll show Canada is one of the least antisemitic countries in the world.  The American ADL’s (Anti-Defamation League’s) poll in 2019 revealed that Canada was second only to Sweden in favourable attitudes toward Jews.  

But Housefather and many others will not abide criticism of Israel or allow serious discussion in Parliament and on public platforms about Israel’s genocide of tens of thousands of mainly women and children Palestinians.   Canada’s powerful establishment Jews have the ear of the Prime Minister.  Canada, like the US, the UK and every country in western Europe, rather than face the massacre of the Palestinians and demand an end to Israel’s war on Gaza,  arrests protesters, breaks up rallies and encampments of those who demand an end to the genocide.   

Trudeau: appointed Lyons and then Housefather

Trudeau’s contribution to the fight against antisemitism, has been to appoint Deborah Lyons as Canada’s Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism.  Now Trudeau has doubled down and put Housefather on the same beat. 

The problem is – who is in charge? If Lyons, with a background as Canada’s ambassador to Israel, and former ambassador to Afghanistan ‘plays nice’ and wants to lead the campaign, it is doubtful that Housefather will knuckle under.  After all – he isn’t doing this new job to be second fiddle.  On the contrary he wants to be known as the slayer of Canada’s antisemitism dragon—not as someone who just follows some woman’s orders.  Also Lyons is not a Jew. 

But neither does Lyons want to play second  string  to Housefather. She’s had the portfolio for seven months and considers herself an expert on antisemitism.  She is well-tolerated as she is a diplomat by training and often seeks consensus.  She is not an MP so she can work flat out on this file, and get stuff done.  Why would she take orders from the very partisan and nasty Housefather? 

Lyons is an experienced diplomat and Housefather acts like a bull in a china shop.  I don’t see both of them sharing the same space for long.

Image of text at the top by Banksy