(Ottawa) Quebec MP Anthony Housefather remains undecided about his future more than a week after a House of Commons motion on Israel and Gaza led him to reflect on his future within the Liberal Party.
Mr. Housefather is a lifelong Liberal. He has been a member of Parliament for Justin Trudeau’s party in Mont-Royal, on the island of Montreal, since 2015.
But on March 19, he declared that he was “thinking” about his future, the day after the adoption in the Commons of a New Democratic motion, heavily amended by the government, on support for a Palestinian state.
Mr Housefather said last-minute amendments without consultation were not the right way to go. He also said he was hurt by the fact that some members of his party seemed to have applauded the NDP for a motion that he deemed anti-Israel.
On Thursday, in response to a question from The Canadian Press, Mr. Housefather indicated that he had not made any decisions that he was prepared to share.
The final motion included 14 amendments proposed by the Liberals, which eliminated a call to recognize a Palestinian state and instead saw MPs express support for a peace process and a two-state solution, consistent with current Canadian policy.
The new version also added language calling on Hamas to lay down its arms, and calling it a terrorist organization registered in Canada. Language calling on Ottawa to “suspend all” trade in military goods and technology with Israel was replaced with a paragraph calling on Canada to stop approving the transfer of “arms exports” to Israel.
Many of these changes reflected some of the criticisms leveled at the original motion, but the final version still displeased Israel and several Canadian Jewish organizations.
Mr. Housefather said he would have preferred the Liberals to simply vote against the motion. However, there was a real possibility that the cabinet would vote against it and a majority of the rest of the caucus would vote for it.
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith commented last week that this would have been a much worse outcome for the party.
Mr. Trudeau did not say Thursday whether he had discussed with Mr. Housefather to try to keep him in the party.
The prime minister dodged the question, saying only that he had spoken to the Montreal MP several times over the years and was proud to lead a caucus where multiple points of view are heard and reflected.
Mr. Trudeau’s office later clarified that he had spoken to Mr. Housefather the day the motion was debated, but would not say whether the two had spoken since.
Mr. Trudeau had not spoken publicly about the motion or Mr. Housefather’s concerns before Thursday.
Mr. Housefather is Jewish and defends the interests of his community in the face of threats and protests targeting synagogues, community centers and Jewish businesses.
His riding has been a Liberal stronghold since the 1940s and is home to the second highest number of Jewish voters of any riding in Canada.
reference: www.lapresse.ca