Achi news desk-
Quebec MP Anthony Housefather remains undecided on his future more than a week after a House of Commons motion on Israel and Gaza left him questioning whether he will remain in the Liberal party.
And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not saying whether he has even been talking to Housefather to try and keep him in the fold.
Trudeau dodged the question today, saying only that he has spoken to Housefather many times over the years and that he is proud to lead a caucus where multiple views are heard and reflected.
Housefather is a lifelong Liberal and has been the party’s MP for Mount Royal since 2015.
But on March 19 he said he was “reflecting” on his future a day after a majority of Liberals backed the NDP’s proposal on Gaza after discussing heavy improvements.
Housefather said the last minute amendments without consultation were not the right way to go and he was hurt that some members of his party appeared to applaud the NDP for a motion he felt was anti-Israel.
In response to a question on Thursday from The Canadian Press he said he had not made any decisions that he was ready to share.
The final motion contained 14 amendments proposed by the Liberals, which removed a stand-alone call to recognize a Palestinian state and instead saw MPs voice support for a peace process and a two-state solution, in line with policy current Canada.
It also designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, added a call on Hamas to lay down its arms, and changed language about banning all Canadian military and technology exports to Israel to ban arms exports.
Many of those changes reflected some of the criticism of the original proposal but Israel and many Canadian Jewish organizations still faced disgust at the final proposal.
A housefather said he wished the Liberals had simply voted down the flawed proposal. 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 said last week that would have been a far worse outcome for the party.
Trudeau has not spoken publicly about the proposal or Housefather’s concerns before Thursday.
“Over the years I have had many conversations with Anthony Housefather. I have known him for a long time,” said Trudeau, when asked if he had spoken to Housefather in the past week.
He went on to say that the whole thing reinforces that the Liberal caucus is a reflection of Canada, which can get messy sometimes.
“And yes, for parties that can pick one side of the conflict and ignore the concerns of a whole bunch of Canadians, it might be easier to control that caucus. But I suggest it’s probably not as good as Canada,” he said.
His office later said he had spoken to Housefather the day the offer was discussed but would not say whether the two had spoken since then.
The father of a house is Jewish and has been advocating for his community in the face of threats and protests targeting synagogues and community centers and Jewish businesses.
His Montreal riding has been a Liberal stronghold since the 1940s, and is home to the second largest number of Jewish voters of any riding in Canada.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on March 28, 2024
