As a city councillor in Côte Saint-Luc for the past decade, I have had the honour and pleasure to serve under Anthony Housefather as mayor. Seldom have I come into contact with a man as brilliant as Anthony. The ultimate multi-tasker, he has the magic touch when it comes to politics, having been elected to public office in Hampstead when he was only in his early 20s. When he decided to seek the Liberal nomination in Mount Royal, each member of council stood behind him. Now the race is on, with voting set to take place on October 19.
Anthony`s opponent from the Conservative Party is Robert Libman, someone who I have known for many years and also have a great deal of respect for. One thing voters need to understand is that when they go to the ballot box, they will not see the names of Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper or Tom Mulcair. It will be Housefather, Libman and the other local candidates. Nonetheless, during this campaign voters in Mount Royal are being fed lies about Trudeau. There is no question that Harper has been a huge supporter of Israel. But so is Trudeau.
"Some who oppose the Liberal party are using the issue of Israel as the main thing to differentiate the main political parties," said Sidney Margles, a one-time legendary broadcaster and a key player in the Housefather camp. "The Conservatives are trying to make you think they are the saviors of Israel…and there is at least one candidate who has gone so far as to tell some people that Israel cannot exist without the Conservative support, which is the furthest thing from the truth. Now, there is a vitriolic and defamatory letter from Toronto that has started making the rounds in Montreal."
The letter is indeed full of mistruths and I found it quite sad to field emails from individuals in the community who took no time to do any fact checking. It was written by Gabriel Erem, the publisher of the splashy Lifestyles Magazine, who basically came out on attack over Ontario pharmaceutical giant Barry Sherman and his wife Honey's plans for a fundraising cocktail party they have scheduled for Trudeau and York Centre candidate Michael Levitt.
Sherman and his wife were appalled by Erem's email regarding the stance of Trudeau and the Liberal Party on Israel. "Not only did you demonstrate astounding ignorance and unfairness, but you had the gall to cc countless people, apparently in an attempt to undermine our efforts to provide support from the community, which Justin and the Liberal Party surely deserve," Sherman wrote. "In essence, your letter slanders Justin on the basis of irrational views expressed, not by Justin, but by his brother!"
Sherman notes that the best evidence of Trudeau's views is surely his own words and deeds.
-On his brother’s views on Israel, Trudeau has said: "On the issue of Iran, and Israel specifically, we disagree significantly.” Click here to see Trudeau's visit to Leo Baeck Day School: -1.1026543
-On multi partisan support for Israel, Trudeau agrees completely with Harper's support for Israel and says: “I’m happy to say that I love the prime minister for his support for Israel and thank Mr. Mulcair for his personal support of Israel as well, and I’m glad to say that any government of Canada will be supportive of Israel.”
–Here is a link to Trudeau's interview with The Jewish Independent:
-On Standing Up for Israel, Trudeau has been clear in his belief that standing up for Israel is more than just standing up for her security, it is also standing up for the very values and ideals that our two countries share…” See this clip of his greetings to Meir Hospital. "Yes, the Liberal Party will have Israel’s back – not because it’s in our political interests to do so at home – but because it is the right thing to do on the world stage," he said.
-On Iran, Trudeau has said that it must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons capability as it would pose an existential threat “not just to Israel but to the entire Middle East.” Click here for his position.
-On BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) and IAW (Israel apartheid week), Trudeau has said, “The BDS movement like IAW has absolutely no place on Canadian university campuses “
Click here.
-On Gaza/Hamas, Trudeau made this statement on July 15, 2014 regarding the war in Gaza which clearly demonstrates his and the Liberal Party’s position. “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people," he said. "Hamas is a terrorist organization and must cease its rocket attacks immediately.” Here is the full statement.
Sherman notes that as Jewish community leaders, he and his wife have always believed it is crucial for our community to encourage support for Israel from across party lines. "Our pro-Israel community's goal, including that of CIJA and CJPAC, is multi-partisan support for Israel," he says. "We must continue to build relationships with those that seek to ensure Israel’s peace and security. We are grateful for Justin Trudeau's unwavering support for Israel, and Michael Levitt’s record of leading Israel advocacy efforts in Toronto and across the country. We are therefore proud to support Justin Trudeau and Michael Levitt in their efforts."
To Erem, Sherman says: "Given the outrageously unfair contents of your email, we request that you immediately forward this response to every person to whom you forwarded your email, together with a retraction of and apology for the contents.I hope that you have the decency to do so."
Trudeau has already held a Town Hall meeting at Shaare Zion Congregation in Montreal where he answered a wide variety of questions. Please see that video clip here.
Anthony Housefather and Robert Libman will debate on Radio Shalom (1650 AM) on Sunday evening, August 23 (6 p.m.) and at a much anticipated event sponsored by B'nai Brith Canada on Wednesday evening, September 2 (7:30 p.m.) at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Snowdon.
Shame on Harper for manipulating the Jewish vote, and pitting one Jewish candidate against the other
Well the local Conservative candidate has his own words to eat! He turned his back on the community when we needed support the most! He was in favour of staying in Montreal when 90% of the population wanted to demerge! He wanted to stay in that corrupt environment of the Tremblay team and was a member of the executive committee..some of whom have already been charged with corruption.
I want my representative to LISTEN to the people and respond to their needs and not that of an executive committee that was self serving. Sorry for the harsh words but that is and was the reality.
I will continue to support Anthony Housefather! He will represent Mount Royal with integrity and honesty. He will represent English Canadiand and Jewish Canadians and not make those divisive issues!
I have read the letter that Gabriel Erem wrote to Barry Sherman and I see no factual errors. That old adage “words are cheap”…..Trudeau’s actions are the big problem here. He loves to tell of his visits to the Al-Sunnah Al-Nabawiah mosque. This mosque was named in a leaked U.S. Pentagon study as one of the nine world centres of recruitment for al-Qaida. He accepted an invitation to speak at a conference in Toronto that was initially sponsored by IRFAN, a Muslim group that had its charity status revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency for transferring funds to the Hamas terrorist group. (IRFAN withdrew as sponsor just before the conference.) Trudeau accepted the invitation, and indeed spoke there – never condemning Hamas. Not the kind of prime minister I want and not the sort of associations that someone in the Jewish community should be associated with…..my thoughts.
Should city councillors who represent the C.S.L. public and their citizens have a preference for political parties or should they remain neutral?
You can say and write what you will, but facts remain facts. You vote for a party and it’s leader, not just the local candidate. The facts speak for themselves, not only on the position a party takes on Israel. What qualifies Trudeau to be Prime Minister. If his name wasn’t Trudeau he would barely qualify to be a serious candidate for MP. Sorry, I like you have no problem with either of the candidates, it’s the Party record, and platform, that tip the scales for me in favour of the P.C. Take Care, Bernie Shuster
FACT: Omar Alghabra is a Saudi Arabian born Canadian politician. He is senior policy advisor to Justin Trudeau and former president of Canadian Arab Federation.
FACT: JustOUT shamefully parades his surname. Should Einstein’s son run NASA due to his famous surname?
FACT: Just OUT is Left of Left.
My thoughts, more facts…
Fact..Mr. Erem spent much of his email talking about M. Trudeau’s brother. I will be casting my vote for a candidate, not their family.
Fact..Mr. Erem publishes a magazine. Thanks to his “accidental” mass email, he has gotten loads of publicity for himself and by association for his magazine. How “lucky” for him.
Fact..Mr. Erem, in his email, talks about family he lost in the Holocaust shamefully ignoring that Mrs. Sherman’s parents were both Holocaust survivors whose families were all but obliterated. This helped shape Mrs. Sherman’s commitment to Jewish causes. Mr. Erem seems to not realize that people in all parties lost family to this horrific event.
Fact…Mr. Erem says in his email, “I am..involved on a regular basis in a number of highly sensitive global security issues. I am somewhat better informed on issues and people than others”. Mr. Erem publishes a local lifestyles magazine. Is the CIA recruiting from there? But what would I know? Mr. Erem already said he is better informed than most people.
Fact..Mr & Mrs. Sherman understand the need to reach out to all leaders to ensure continued strong support of Israel.
Mr. Erem…Shame on you for using this invitation and slanting it without thought or consideration for two people who have worked tirelessly and given generously to a variety of causes. Perhaps it’s time you put your money where your mouth is and match what the Shermans have given and done. Until then, a public apology to Mr. & Mrs. Sherman, as has been called for by Jewish community leaders, is in order.
I can’t vote for a Conservative party that slings mud and hides the hand. Attack ads show how underhanded and unscrupulous are what the Conservatives represent.
For Québecers, the gun registery is important to us. We want to know who in our province has small-arms.
For business people, the basic destruction of stats Canada and our lack of detailed knowledge of statistical data due to the long form eradication hurt we small businesses. In order to do business planning we are obliged to use 8 year old data.
The near destruction of the CBC, and the curtailing of the CBC’s ability to reach remote Canadian locations with good programming is a Conservative disgrace. Hockey night in Canada belongs to the CBC to distribute.
When all opposition parties advised the Conservatives to not purchase the F35 plane (millions of cost overruns, and now proof that Canada’s F16 can outdo the F35, two to one is proof of obstinate “do it my way”.
And what about the autochtones? Why are the conservatives treating them as less than human? Shame.
And another shame is the Mike Duffy and other senator-gate affairs.
Its one thing to cut the deficit, but the other is to balance deficit cutting with protection of the poor. The Conservatives pay lip service to small business. Small business is the lifeblood of Canada. Yet Harper ignored Canadians requirements by trying to force a pipeline down into the guts of the USA. The pipeline is profit to the owners, and very little trickle down to the Canadians across the land.
Harper is a mean spirited dictator! With a Conservative government, we can’t live with another term of splitting the country up into West, and the rest of Canada.
Trudeau is a fine young man leading a Liberal party. Mulcair is leading the NDP. Either party will do better than conservatives.
I will be voting Liberal. I can’t talk for my wife or other adults in the house.
Perhaps a modicum of common sense is in order, please :
Harper’s government has step-by-step been depriving Canadians of the very democratic principles upon which Canada was built and fostered.
He promised ” Accountability and Transparency ” – show me any evidence of that !
He closed down scientific research ( great Lakes ); muted federal voice of medical research,closed off the democratic process for women’s groups, left Veterans out to dry,increased the possibility of criminal recidivism by removing educational facilities from convicts, attempted to appoint federal judges supportive of his policies – and spent hundreds of millions of tax payers dollars defending legal actions launched by tax payers – losing and appealing, and appealing again, almost invariably losing each time: ergo- if you continue to do what you have always done, and expect a different result = the definition of insanity !
As for the support for Israel issue, and its effect on the Jewish vote – just who do you think the NDP or Liberals would support in the Muddle East?
Sudan ? Iraq ? Syria ? Iran ? perhaps ISIS ?
The only logical state for Canadian support is the only free and democratic state in that part of the world – Israel – and all parties would face the wrath of Canadians across the country if such support were withdrawn.
We have no government at the moment, and Harper is our ‘former’ Prime Minister – I only hope Canadians are sufficiently intelligent to keep it that way !