To remain human, the writer Graham Greene once said, you have to take sides.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has chosen a side – Jews, the Jewish state and Western democracy.
Poilievre sometimes gets himself in trouble for lack of nuance. But this week, his refusal to equivocate on Israel deserves high praise.
On Parliament Hill, Poilievre condemned the avalanche of antisemitism, the likes of which he said “we’ve never seen before in this country.” The Conservative Leader cited the “firebombing of synagogues, the hateful, genocidal protests, (the) chants in front of Jewish businesses, homes and hospitals,” and – this week – the burning of the Canadian flag, and the “death to Canada” chants of Samidoun, the federally-registered nonprofit that Poilievre rightly describes as a pro-terror organization.
“Let’s unify our people… Let’s secure our borders. Let’s keep terrorists out of our country,” Poilievre said. “And let’s stand up for what’s right once again, and stand with our allies against terrorism, and for decency. Let’s bring home the country that we knew and still love.”
Compare that to the spinelessness of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who this week was notably absent from a Toronto ceremony to mark the terrible events of Oct. 7, 2023. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and two dozen politicians from all levels were there. But not Chow.
Chow, a mayor in a region where half of Canada’s 400,000 Jews live, literally suggested to media that the multiple invitations she was sent somehow ended up in someone’s spam folder. When that didn’t work – because Toronto councillors had reminded her about the event in person, too – Chow actually said she didn’t go because she was, and I quote, “tired.”
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Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly was no better. On Monday, Poilievre twice asked Joly to condemn the antisemitic, genocidal chants regularly heard in our streets. She wouldn’t. Poilievre then rightly accused her of pandering to Hamas and its ilk.
Former New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair perhaps provided an explanation for Joly’s craven approach towards Israel, which has seen Joly much more critical of the Jewish state than its homicidal enemies. In a column he wrote for CTV, Mulcair described asking Joly about South Africa’s baseless claims that Israel has committed genocide in their war with Hamas.
Mulcair quoted Joly saying this: “Thomas, have you seen the demographics of my riding?” Which, apparently, was a reference to the 22,000 people who identify as Muslim in Joly’s Montreal-area riding of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. Her reaction “floored me,” said Mulcair.
Not to be outdone, Justin Trudeau was noncommittal on the call by Poilievre – and every major Jewish advocacy group, and multiple leaders at all levels – to ban Samidoun for its links to listed terrorist entities. Samidoun, based in Vancouver and granted non-profit status by the Trudeau Liberals, is banned in Germany and is considered a terror group in Israel, and this week was designated a terrorist group by the Dutch Parliament. Its leadership have openly admitted their ties to the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the outlaw Iranian regime.
As Postmedia’s Terry Glavin has recounted, Trudeau’s government has punted the Samidoun file to the bureaucracy, for an “urgent” review. Which, in Trudeau Speak, means a decision may be rendered sometime before the end of this decade.
Enough. Voters, everywhere, want clarity. They want political leaders to be clear about where they stand – even if they disagree with the politician’s stance on an issue. That’s why conservatives tend to win elections with a smaller electoral base: they are better at values and words. As I wrote in my book Fight The Right, progressives get tongue-tied when talking about core values. And, in so doing, they end up sounding like cowards.
This week, when decency demanded that we remember the 1,200 men, women, children and babies slaughtered by Hamas and Gazans – and the 250 Israelis kidnapped, and 100 women and girls raped by terrorists – leaders needed to show us leadership. They needed to choose sides: against terror and antisemitism, for decency and democracy.
What we got from Olivia Chow, Melanie Joly and Justin Trudeau, instead, were profiles in cowardice.