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Montreal Gazette
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Housefather hopes to heal division in Mount Royal riding
Canadian Politics By Days after winning a fourth term as MP of the Mount Royal riding, Anthony Housefather said he will work to heal a divided community. With 51.1 per cent of the vote, Housefather won with a comfortable majority, with a margin of more than 5,000 votes over his Conservative opponent Neil Oberman, who received 40.5 per cent of the vote. However, it was the issue of the Jewish vote that weighed heavy in this campaign, as both candidates acknowledge that many from the majority Jewish city of Côte-St-Luc and town of Hampstead voted Conservative. Official results from Elections Canada were not available as of publication. Housefather said despite the rhetoric from many people on social media, the results showed the Jewish community didn't overwhelmingly reject his candidacy. 'I didn't lose the Jewish vote by massive amounts,' he said. 'I won the advance polls in largely Jewish areas, and on election day, I won many polls where Jews form the majority. Now that the election is over, my hope is that in the next election, I will win back all communities, and prove through my work as an MP that I deserve their vote.' Though Mount Royal has been Liberal for 85 years, it's not the first time the Jewish community rejected the Liberal party in this riding. Housefather's predecessor Irwin Cotler said he too lost the Jewish vote during the last two of his three terms. 'It's very similar to 2015, where Stephen Harper was very popular with the Jewish community,' Housefather said. In the months leading up to the election, many on social media expressed anger against the Liberal government for what they perceived as inaction against rising antisemitism. Housefather said he has no problem accepting criticism of his party and his record, but he found this campaign more difficult than others. He said there was a concerted effort on social media to attack his character. 'On a daily basis, there were some in our community who would post things attacking me five or six times a day,' he said. 'For someone who served the community for 30 years, whether people like what I've done, I think I've always done my best, and I think I delivered for the community. It was deeply hurtful and I have to now get over that and I have to try to bring everyone together and I am going to try to do that.' For his part, Oberman said he's proud of the campaign he waged. His 40.5 per cent of the vote was the largest share by a Conservative candidate since 1958, according to statistics from the Library of Parliament. 'I think we sent a strong message to the Liberal Party of Canada that the Jewish community will not tolerate being disrespected, or not being heard,' Oberman said. 'What I think we need to see from the federal government is leadership, and it needs to come by ensuring our streets are removed of those who wish to break the law and attack minority communities. We need to make sure university campuses are protected by ensuring laws are applied.' He said he will continue to fight for the community, and that he's 'not going anywhere.' At the Côte-St-Luc Shopping Centre this week, many of those who voted on Monday said they were pleased with the result. 'I'm happy that Anthony Housefather won,' said a Ruby, a Jewish woman who lives in Côte-St-Luc. 'He's a good man, very honest; he's straightforward, and he's a very hard worker.' She added she didn't think the anger against Housefather was warranted. 'Why were people angry? You have to ask them.' Another woman said she was disappointed with the result. 'We were hoping for a change, and I was surprised,' said Katie, who is also Jewish. 'I feel there was no support to try to (combat) antisemitism. I was disappointed. I don't think (Carney) supports or cares, while (Pierre) Poilievre was very expressive in support of the Jewish community in his promise to defund universities that have (problems with antisemitism).'
Montreal Gazette
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Liberal Anthony Housefather elected to fourth term in Mount Royal riding
Canadian Politics By First there was the silence, then came the worried anguish, and in the end Anthony Housefather held on to his seat to be elected to a fourth term in the Mount Royal riding. CBC declared he had won the race around 12:30 a.m., but Housefather still said he was 'cautiously optimistic.' Polls closed at 9:30 p.m., and the nervous Liberal incumbent retreated to a back room where he spent most of the night either alone or with a small number of staffers in the office converted from a former Bétonel paint shop on Décarie Blvd. at the corner of Bourret Ave. He emerged for about a minute during the night as volunteers watched the results come in on a television that was set up. He said a quick 'thank you' to his campaign staff and then returned to his back office. Information coming from the poll observers was bad at first, with Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead polling stations voting overwhelmingly for the challenger, Conservative Neil Oberman. If successful, it would have been the first time the riding went Blue in 90 years. In the time since, the riding was held by six MPs, including Pierre Trudeau, Sheila Finestone and Irwin Cotler. With the second-largest plurality of Jewish voters in the country, the question of rising antisemitism was identified as one of the key issues by many voters. While some voters harboured resentment toward Housefather and the Liberal party for perceived inaction against rising antisemitism, others applauded the longtime MP for standing up for the community. He was the lone MP to vote against Bill C-13, a major revamp of Canada's Official Languages Act in 2023. He was also among three Liberal MPs to vote against an NDP motion last year recognizing Palestinian statehood. After the vote, Housefather said he was reflecting on his future with the Liberal party, but he ultimately decided not to cross the floor to join the Conservatives. Households were divided, including that of former MP Cotler, who supported his successor, while his wife, Ariela, publicly supported the Conservative. In an interview granted during the campaign, Cotler said he, too, lost the Jewish vote in Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead, but ended up winning the riding twice with strong showings in Town of Mount Royal and Côte-des-Neiges. It appears that is how Housefather's votes also played out in this campaign. Oberman, a local lawyer, was thrust into the spotlight in January 2024 when he represented a Concordia student who sent a letter to the university's administration to demand it take immediate steps against antisemitism and violence directed at Jewish students. In March 2024, he represented the Jewish community at large in its quest to have a court order an injunction against protesting outside schools and synagogues. He declared his candidacy for the Conservatives early — having campaigned since June 2024. With just an hour before polls closed, a Hampstead resident took the time to cast the first ballot in his life, and he voted for change. 'I'm happy I did it,' said Ben, 18, who declined to give his last name, standing outside Hampstead School. 'The biggest issue that drew me was crime and how crime is going to be reduced. I like Poilievre's three-strikes policy that he's proposing.' Ben added that he also voted with antisemitism in mind. 'I'm a Jewish person, and I see what's going on in Montreal,' he said. 'There hasn't been a change, and Poilievre has said he would advocate for that.' Both Ben and his father, Michael, said they held Housefather in high esteem, but said they were angry with how the party as a whole handled several issues. 'My vote is against the Liberals because (Housefather) was very poorly treated by the Liberals,' Michael said. 'He's an excellent candidate, and he stood up for us, and he was treated like garbage. That's the reason my vote was anti-Liberal.' At the campaign headquarters for Oberman, there was a party atmosphere in the last minutes of the voting process. 'I'm very proud of everyone who has worked with me,' Oberman said. 'I'm very honoured to have been in a race with people who stood up and did something. When you get out onto the street, knock on the doors and meet people, you realize how privileged we are in Canada to be able to do this.' Volunteers reported that there were more than 30 teams walking on the streets to get out the vote and several dozen working the phones throughout the course of the day. Speaking to The Gazette in the minutes after the victory, a visibly exhausted Housefather said he was frustrated by a dirty campaign waged by his Conservative opponent. 'It was the nastiest election campaign I ever faced,' Housefather said. 'It was a tough election to deal with that, and I will do my best to serve all people in my riding with the conviction they are used to from me.'
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canada's Conservatives court Jewish voters in bid to break Liberal grip on key cities
TORONTO — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is making a strategic push to court Jewish Canadian votes, hoping to capitalize on growing dissatisfaction with the Liberal government's handling of antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war. The Conservative Party has done extensive outreach within the Jewish community in an effort to crack Toronto and Montreal in particular — voter-rich areas that typically play a key role in who becomes Canada's next prime minister. With the Liberals entrenched in many of these seats, even small shifts in voter allegiance could tip the scales in what's shaping up to be a high-stakes battle for Canada's political future. It's a dynamic that has already led to some political swings in other elections, such as those last year in the U.S. and U.K. 'We've always had debates and disagreements about foreign issues in Canada, but those disagreements did not spill into violence on our streets. People left the violence abroad,' Poilievre said on the campaign trail regarding pro-Palestinian protests. 'The Jewish community feels understandably under siege, as these hate marches and antisemitic outbursts have become an unfortunate part of Canadian life, and Liberals have encouraged these divisions.' Last year, an unknown person or persons fired gunshots at a Jewish elementary school in north Toronto three separate times, attacked synagogues and Jewish community centers, firebombed a Montreal synagogue, and vandalized Jewish businesses. In a suburb of Montreal, Liberal incumbent Anthony Housefather, a Jewish candidate who has had his own campaign signs vandalized, has had to distance himself from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's handling of the war. While Trudeau denounced some pro-Palestinian protests on campuses, devoted new funding to fight hate crimes and enlisted Housefather to serve as a special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism, many viewed the measures as insufficient. 'There was an ambiguity in certain senses where he felt there was a need to constantly mention Islamophobia and antisemitism in the same breath all the time. The constant balance of wording was frustrating for both sides,' Housefather told POLITICO. He even considered leaving his party last year, after the Liberal caucus made a symbolic vote in the House of Commons to recognize Palestinian statehood. Many in Mount Royal, an electoral district with the second-highest percentage of Jewish voters in Canada, are displeased with a 'lack of action' to combat the rise of antisemitism in their communities, Housefather said. Meanwhile, Poilievre is vowing to bring in tougher laws around vandalism, 'hate marches that break laws' and violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion. He's also promised to defund the United Nations agency that works with Palestinian refugees, and defund 'wokeism and fight antisemitism' in federally funded universities and museums. Housefather said those promises have led Jewish voters who voted Liberal in the past to switch their support to the Conservative candidate, and that he has spent 'much more time' this election attempting to court them. The Liberals continue to hold most seats in Toronto — except for a midtown district that Conservative Don Stewart won by about 600 votes in a special election last summer, in the party's first victory there for over 30 years. With several key battlegrounds in play, Conservative candidates in the area are trying to replicate the success of Stewart's campaign. 'He showed us we can accomplish this,' Conservative candidate Roman Baber, who is running in north Toronto, said at a campaign event. Stewart declined an interview with POLITICO. Liberals are putting in a lot of effort to win back the district under their candidate Leslie Church, but one neighborhood with a large Jewish population has been tough to break through. The Liberal campaign has been targeting the area with campaign literature regarding its stance on Israel, and volunteers doorknock regularly. But some Jewish Canadians feel Liberals haven't been doing enough to combat the rise of antisemitism in their communities following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel and the Israeli response in Gaza. 'I hear those concerns every day from families and members of the Jewish community in the riding,' Church told POLITICO. 'We've had a tremendous rise in hate crimes in midtown and it's making people scared, and rightfully so.' With antisemitism becoming an electoral issue, new Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised to create safe bubble zones around places of worship, and to criminalize the intimidation of people attending places of worship, schools or community centers. 'In Montreal, in Toronto, across this country, [there are people] who fear going to their synagogue, fear going to their community center, fear taking their children [and] leaving their children in school, and this has to stop,' said Carney during the federal leaders debate last week in Montreal. 'It's totally unacceptable.' A recent report from the Toronto Police Service, Canada's largest metropolitan force, says it has spent nearly C$20 million tackling rising hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas war began. Police say about half of the hate crimes reported in Toronto were against the Jewish community. Some voters in the region say they are extremely dissatisfied with the Liberal government's handling of pro-Palestinian protests, and consider it hypocritical they're not shut down in the same fashion the federal government brought down the 'Freedom Convoy' — a series of protests supported by Conservatives that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for three weeks and temporarily blocked Canada-U.S. trade in protest of Covid-19 measures. 'I didn't necessarily agree with them — there was a global pandemic, I got vaccinated. But when I look back at how they treated those people for speaking up for Canadian values: The government froze their bank accounts and arrested them,' said Ian Jacobs, a Conservative voter based in Toronto. 'Whereas you see on a weekly basis, pro-hate rallies that justify Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the Islamic regime in Iran, and the police let them do it. It's all backwards.' He gestured toward the Canadian flag, a symbol he says was proudly waved during the "Freedom Convoy" protests but set ablaze at an anti-Israel demonstration — proof, in his eyes, that the country's core values are being eroded under a Liberal government. 'It's hypocritical,' he said. Jason Daniel Baker, a writer from Toronto, is also fed up with the weekly protests in his neighborhood. After witnessing a bookstore vandalized by pro-Palestinian protesters, he decided to rejoin the Conservative Party, despite ripping up his membership 10 years ago. 'Pierre Poilievre is a lifelong supporter of Israel,' said Daniel Baker, who will be voting Conservative. 'They believe Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and so do I.' In Jewish support groups online, people echo that message, trying to convince their relatives and neighbours to vote Conservative on Monday. Some even say they will move to Israel if the Liberals form their fourth mandate. Conservatives hope their staunch support of Jewish Canadians can be a winning issue. 'We're going to set a different tone, and we're going to end the ugliness that we're seeing on Canadian streets,' said Baber. 'We're going to make Canada safe for the Jewish community.'
Politico
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Canada's Conservatives court Jewish voters in bid to break Liberal grip on key cities
TORONTO — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is making a strategic push to court Jewish Canadian votes, hoping to capitalize on growing dissatisfaction with the Liberal government's handling of antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war. The Conservative Party has done extensive outreach within the Jewish community in an effort to crack Toronto and Montreal in particular — voter-rich areas that typically play a key role in who becomes Canada's next prime minister. With the Liberals entrenched in many of these seats, even small shifts in voter allegiance could tip the scales in what's shaping up to be a high-stakes battle for Canada's political future. It's a dynamic that has already led to some political swings in other elections, such as those last year in the U.S. and U.K. 'We've always had debates and disagreements about foreign issues in Canada, but those disagreements did not spill into violence on our streets. People left the violence abroad,' Poilievre said on the campaign trail regarding pro-Palestinian protests. 'The Jewish community feels understandably under siege, as these hate marches and antisemitic outbursts have become an unfortunate part of Canadian life, and Liberals have encouraged these divisions.' Last year, an unknown person or persons fired gunshots at a Jewish elementary school in north Toronto three separate times, attacked synagogues and Jewish community centers, firebombed a Montreal synagogue, and vandalized Jewish businesses. In a suburb of Montreal, Liberal incumbent Anthony Housefather, a Jewish candidate who has had his own campaign signs vandalized, has had to distance himself from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's handling of the war. While Trudeau denounced some pro-Palestinian protests on campuses, devoted new funding to fight hate crimes and enlisted Housefather to serve as a special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism, many viewed the measures as insufficient. 'There was an ambiguity in certain senses where he felt there was a need to constantly mention Islamophobia and antisemitism in the same breath all the time. The constant balance of wording was frustrating for both sides,' Housefather told POLITICO. He even considered leaving his party last year, after the Liberal caucus made a symbolic vote in the House of Commons to recognize Palestinian statehood. Many in Mount Royal, an electoral district with the second-highest percentage of Jewish voters in Canada, are displeased with a 'lack of action' to combat the rise of antisemitism in their communities, Housefather said. Meanwhile, Poilievre is vowing to bring in tougher laws around vandalism, 'hate marches that break laws' and violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion. He's also promised to defund the United Nations agency that works with Palestinian refugees, and defund 'wokeism and fight antisemitism' in federally funded universities and museums. Housefather said those promises have led Jewish voters who voted Liberal in the past to switch their support to the Conservative candidate, and that he has spent 'much more time' this election attempting to court them. The Liberals continue to hold most seats in Toronto — except for a midtown district that Conservative Don Stewart won by about 600 votes in a special election last summer, in the party's first victory there for over 30 years. With several key battlegrounds in play, Conservative candidates in the area are trying to replicate the success of Stewart's campaign. 'He showed us we can accomplish this,' Conservative candidate Roman Baber, who is running in north Toronto, said at a campaign event. Stewart declined an interview with POLITICO. Liberals are putting in a lot of effort to win back the district under their candidate Leslie Church, but one neighborhood with a large Jewish population has been tough to break through. The Liberal campaign has been targeting the area with campaign literature regarding its stance on Israel, and volunteers doorknock regularly. But some Jewish Canadians feel Liberals haven't been doing enough to combat the rise of antisemitism in their communities following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel and the Israeli response in Gaza. 'I hear those concerns every day from families and members of the Jewish community in the riding,' Church told POLITICO. 'We've had a tremendous rise in hate crimes in midtown and it's making people scared, and rightfully so.' With antisemitism becoming an electoral issue, new Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised to create safe bubble zones around places of worship, and to criminalize the intimidation of people attending places of worship, schools or community centers. 'In Montreal, in Toronto, across this country, [there are people] who fear going to their synagogue, fear going to their community center, fear taking their children [and] leaving their children in school, and this has to stop,' said Carney during the federal leaders debate last week in Montreal. 'It's totally unacceptable.' A recent report from the Toronto Police Service, Canada's largest metropolitan force, says it has spent nearly C$20 million tackling rising hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas war began. Police say about half of the hate crimes reported in Toronto were against the Jewish community. Some voters in the region say they are extremely dissatisfied with the Liberal government's handling of pro-Palestinian protests, and consider it hypocritical they're not shut down in the same fashion the federal government brought down the 'Freedom Convoy' — a series of protests supported by Conservatives that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for three weeks and temporarily blocked Canada-U.S. trade in protest of Covid-19 measures. 'I didn't necessarily agree with them — there was a global pandemic, I got vaccinated. But when I look back at how they treated those people for speaking up for Canadian values: The government froze their bank accounts and arrested them,' said Ian Jacobs, a Conservative voter based in Toronto. 'Whereas you see on a weekly basis, pro-hate rallies that justify Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the Islamic regime in Iran, and the police let them do it. It's all backwards.' He gestured toward the Canadian flag, a symbol he says was proudly waved during the 'Freedom Convoy' protests but set ablaze at an anti-Israel demonstration — proof, in his eyes, that the country's core values are being eroded under a Liberal government. 'It's hypocritical,' he said. Jason Daniel Baker, a writer from Toronto, is also fed up with the weekly protests in his neighborhood. After witnessing a bookstore vandalized by pro-Palestinian protesters, he decided to rejoin the Conservative Party, despite ripping up his membership 10 years ago. 'Pierre Poilievre is a lifelong supporter of Israel,' said Daniel Baker, who will be voting Conservative. 'They believe Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and so do I.' In Jewish support groups online, people echo that message, trying to convince their relatives and neighbours to vote Conservative on Monday. Some even say they will move to Israel if the Liberals form their fourth mandate. Conservatives hope their staunch support of Jewish Canadians can be a winning issue. 'We're going to set a different tone, and we're going to end the ugliness that we're seeing on Canadian streets,' said Baber. 'We're going to make Canada safe for the Jewish community.'
Global News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Canada election 2025: Mount Royal
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Mount Royal is a federal riding located in Quebec. This riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Anthony Housefather who first took office in 2015. Housefather collected 23,284 votes, winning 57.69 per cent of the vote in the 2021 federal election. Voters will decide who will represent Mount Royal in Quebec during the upcoming Canadian election on April 28, 2025. Visit this page on election night for a complete breakdown of up to the minute results. Candidates Liberal: Anthony Housefather (Incumbent) Conservative: Neil Oberman NDP: Adam Frank Bloc Québécois: Yegor Komarov Marxist-Leninist: Diane Johnston
