Chris Selley: Anthony Housefather’s place is not with the Tories

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At time of writing, it’s presumed that Montreal MP Anthony Housefather remains to be contemplating his future throughout the Liberal Occasion of Canada. “I didn’t really feel like some members of Parliament, or quite a lot of members of Parliament, understood the existential menace that Israel faces and the fears of Jewish Canadians because of what’s taking place domestically, what’s taking place overseas,” Housefather instructed reporters after Monday’s vote within the Home of Commons on Palestinian statehood.

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He conceded the amended movement that handed was higher than the unique, which had proposed the Home acknowledge Palestinian statehood as a actuality quite than as a aim. However then, Housefather famous, “we give a standing ovation to the NDP member (Heather McPherson) who sponsored the unique movement, and I’ve to mirror now.”

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His choices are many. Little question the Conservatives can be joyful to have him, and he didn’t “rule out” crossing the ground when requested about it this week. He may actually have a shot of holding his driving for the Tories within the subsequent election. Conservative chief Pierre Poilievre doesn’t appear all that fussed about Quebec, actually, however Mount Royal can be a hell of a prize: Pierre Trudeau’s driving, Irwin Cotler’s driving, as Liberal because the day is lengthy since 1940.

But when I have been Housefather, I’m undecided I might see the attraction.

He appears to be in politics for unusually principled causes. On Quebec’s Invoice 21, the unnecessary struggle towards the hijab (and different spiritual symbols, however actually simply the hijab) within the public service; on Quebec’s Invoice 96, the unnecessary struggle towards languages apart from French; and on Quebec’s struggle towards Montreal’s anglophone universities, Housefather has been a remarkably constant voice of old-school Trudeauvian Liberalism in the most effective sense. This, whereas Justin Trudeau and his Quebec lieutenant, the lighter-than-air Pablo Rodriguez, stroll on egg shells.

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To his occasion’s everlasting disgrace, Housefather was the one MP to vote towards Invoice C-13, which basically acceded to Quebec’s Invoice 96, together with its supposedly heretical “pre-emptive” use of the however clause.

Within the brief time period, the Conservatives are fairly understandably centered on one factor, which is profitable the subsequent election. And that seems to require pretty strict obeisance to the chief’s needs and whims, even once they make no earthly sense. Poilievre’s baffling objection to the Canada-Ukraine free-trade deal over its meaningless carbon-pricing verbiage curiously appeared to rub off on each single Conservative MP and senator, all of whom voted towards the invoice (which handed this week).

You’ll not persuade me that Michael Chong, Poilievre’s international affairs critic, truly opposed that invoice for that motive. You simply gained’t.

In the long term, Conservative MP Anthony Housefather may need a high quality profession. He can be a shoo-in for a cupboard place, one would suppose. However on the problems he’s identified to care about, there isn’t all that a lot conspicuously awaiting him on the blue staff. Invoice 21 is regulation. Invoice 96 is regulation. The anglophone-university crackdown is actuality. If solely as a result of Quebec actually isn’t a precedence for the trendy Conservatives, it’s cheap to imagine Housefather would haven’t any extra clout in preventing the nice fights.

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As for Israel and Hamas, there’s nothing any Canadian politician can actually do about that apart from choose a aspect and advocate for it. As appalled as many are by the movement that handed Monday, nobody thinks it makes any actual distinction in Jerusalem or in Rafah. It’s not even clear whether or not we’ve or haven’t stopped supplying weapons to Israel. Regardless, Israel can get them elsewhere.

It appears to me the place Housefather might make the largest distinction can be at dwelling in Quebec, the place the totally adrift Liberals are looking for a brand new chief. The closest there may be to a declared candidate at this level is the maddeningly irrepressible buffoon Denis Coderre, final seen shedding the Montreal mayoralty to Valérie Plante after which being humiliated making an attempt to win it again. And final seen earlier than that taking a jackhammer to Canada Put up property as a result of, not so way back, within the earlier than instances, dwelling mail supply was truly by some means a number one Canadian political situation.

Worse than all that, Coderre has averred that Invoice 21 is “right here to remain” beneath a Quebec Liberal authorities led by him — regardless of the very fact the however clause defending it needs to be renewed each 5 years. He’ll promote out the whole lot the Quebec Liberals are supposed to face for, and get nothing in return: If Legault loses the subsequent election, it should virtually definitely be to the Parti Québécois beneath the much more nationalist Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. A principled old-school Liberal voice like Housefather’s can be most welcome in that race, even in a misplaced trigger.

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cselley@postmedia.com

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