It's sad that our Canadian counterparts are in the same boat as American Jews, and perhaps in even more dire straits than we are at the moment. And Canada was always the place to which we thought we could flee if we needed to. I admit this is the closest I've watched Canadian politics, largely out of concern for our Jewish Canadian mishpucha. On that note, both you and Bret Stephens are calling it:
"Few minorities have been more conspicuously attached to progressive causes than American Jews: Samuel Gompers and labor unionism; Betty Friedan and feminism; Harvey Milk and gay rights; Abraham Joshua Heschel and civil rights; Robert Bernsteinand human rights. A proud history, but whatever we poured of ourselves into the pain and struggle of others was not returned in our days of grief. Nor should we expect much understanding: In an era that stresses sensitivity to every microaggression against nearly any minority, macroaggressions against Jews who happen to believe that Israel has a right to exist are not only permitted but demanded." - Bret Stephens, "The Year American Jews Woke Up"
And the Democratic Party here may well pay the price too.
The Liberal Government of Canada just dropped a taxpayer-funded unmistakable dog-whistle to Canadian Jew-haters, Muslims, jihadism sympathizers and Islamists themselves in the form of 1/4 or 1/3 of billion dollars of funding for Gaza etc. The same Liberal Government is maintaining an arms embargo (albeit symbolic, but politically very harmful) against Israel as it defends itself against terror onslaughts including thousands of rockets and ballistic missiles being waged against it by entities, movements and organizations that are prominent on Canada‘s list (also the UK‘s and the US’s) of terrorist entities. Some of these Liberal Government initiatives have even attracted the thanks of Hamas. The PM may appoint one or two Jews and Jew-sympathizers to various positions in his government. But the overall picture is sordid. The Jews in Canada are in the position that Jews everywhere in the diaspora have always been: a tiny, insecure, imperilled and politically homeless minority.
You are correct. I do, however, see this as a moment of opportunity (not the election even so much as the post-election period (especially if the Liberals win) for Jews and allies to work to take back the Liberal Party and make fighting antisemitism and anti-Zionism a cross-partisan political consesnus again. The NDP, for now, is too far gone. The Liberals, I think, may be salvageable. We'll see.
I too have been watching Canada with deep interest and growing alarm. I appreciate your thoughtful metaphor of the bus, and I’m grateful that you call out, as always, what is morally repugnant. Yours is a voice of sanity and kindness.
Mulcair, by the way won against, but ultimately lost to the current Minister of Immigration, Rachel Bendayan, of Moroccan Jewish heritage. I think it would be news to her that the Liberal Party of Canada is rabidly anti-semitic: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Bendayan. Every party has its nut-bars and people with axes to grind, but that’s why it’s necessary to get involved and try to persuade the other members not to be seduced by such nonsense.
Otherwise put, we have to try and diminish the weight of the ultra-woke and jihadist-lovers, as we do that of reactionary conservatives. Just a simple point of fact: if you don’t properly support the population economically and socially they risk becoming radicalised and start blaming the Jews for their economic problems, as they do frequently in South America - or Hungary. If Montreal were in the US, it would be dangerous and boiling over with social tensions. Instead, trust in the government overall remains high, and there is a high degree of social peace and safety on our streets. Successive left-wing social policies produce more harmony. It helps as well that we also don’t have a woke provincial government. So do I wish the Liberal party would be as frankly supportive of Israel? Yes. But not at the expence of having a mediocre and deliberately divisive government.
Interesting point. Yes, I would say Canadians still have general trust in our governments. That is an important variable in this and many other factors.
Simply because the Liberals have some Jewish members of parliament in their caucus does not make the Liberal government less anti-semitic. It simply makes those Jewish members of parliament traitors to Jews and to Israel and makes Jews who find excuses to vote Liberal cognitively and morally blind.
I am increasingly agreeing with David's perspective. This is a time of opportunity. It is also a time of potential danger. The Liberal party may be on a precipice. They are not (I don't care what you say about this, Stephen) monolithically antisemitic. It is too big a tent to be dismissed that way. There is a potential at this moment of flux in the party to have an influence. For Canadian Jews to put all their eggs in one basket is dangerous. I think Jews and allies who are inclined toward the Liberals should become more active now -- esp if the Liberals win. Then it becomes an absolute imperative.
Their PM was antisemitic. Their new one tweeted first off about the need to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians. Their foreign minster hates Israel. People who think Jews should suck up to the Liberals do not want to shed their left-wing sense of self even after denouncing all the antisemitism of progressives. Something wrong with this picture, no?
Thomas Mulcair's wife of many years is a Sephardic Jew and he represented two very heavily Jewish ridings in his career. The flood gates opened after he was forced out. So effective in the house of commons and so terrible on the campaign.
Anyone who cares about Jews, intellectual honesty, free speech, responsible and intelligent government and a growing economy in Canada should vote Conservative. There is no other option. Carney is as antisemitic as Trudeau, witness his first tweet on the need to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians. One issue voting in this case is a necessity, which happens to dovetail with all the other ones. Progressive gays, like the progressive NDP, are doing what they do best - ruining people's lives.
OK Stephen. (See: eggs/basket) But point taken. I do not think the Liberals are monolithically antisemitic, as you seem to. Perhaps I am being too hopeful. As a single example, how do you account for Mendocino as chief of staff? Would he work for an antisemite? Hardly.
The old saying does apply here. You reap what you sow.
The NDP (Not a Damn Party) hopefully will be relegated to non party status with little or no voice in the new parliament. The former manchild Priminister is gone. The actual gaul to speak about Islamaphobia in Canada while Jews are being attacked and intimidated in the streets,universities, synoguges, business, and homes.There is gone thing that we can about the former Priminister, he knows how to count, there are definitely more muslim votes than Jewish votes.
So you have a combination of the two, one Party leader who endorses antisemitism and one gutless narcissistic, arrogant former Priminister who puts votes ahead of morals and country. A morally bereft individual.
So that somes up two thirds of the countries political parties.
Now for the last third? An individual who has blown a twenty four percent lead in the voter intention, in a matter of weeks.
A man who seems hell bent to piss off as many people as possible. So to sum up the conservatives, the jews last best hope at some protection and stability are in the process of blowing an election that was gifted to them. You can speak to Kamala Harris and the Democrats they know a thing or two about that.
I have been following the goings-on in Canada with great interest. I would say that before Trump declared economic war on Canada, a majority of Jews I know were going to vote PC, because they were furious with the Trudeau Government's lack of support for any Jewish causes, let alone Israel. Trump changed the dynamic completely, as did Carney's ascension to PM. Even though most of those same people acknowledge that Carney will be (at best) as bad as Trudeau with respect to Israel, the dominating factor for them, as you noted for Canadians in general, is who will be best positioned to stand up to Trump. The only factor that hasn't changed: NONE of them will ever vote NDP again (and yes, some of them have).
Despite not being a Democrat, I recognize that Trump wants people to grovel and kiss the ring. Even if I agree with some of his agenda, he's a very unpleasant person, and I wish the GOP had someone better on the White House.
What do you think it represents? If you thought it was too far left, people are suggesting Carney is moving it to the right (these are not exact sciences, I know) so where would you put it on the spectrum?
That is a very good question. My starting position is that the centre is currently vacated (both in Canada and the US). A left of centre (true) progressive is politically homeless today. I think the Liberal party has veered way to the left. Just because Carney is trying to bring it a bit to the right, it does not mean it is back in the centre. I heard today an interesting point: Liberals tend to campaign left but govern right, but Carney seems to be campaigning right with the view of governing left. I guess we won't know until we actually see it. I have a less of a line of sight on how far to the right the Conservatives are from the centre.
I wonder if a Conservative victory in Canada would cause Trump to lose interest in punishing Canada. Hard to say, because even the Conservatives will have to stand up to Trump on some issues in order to represent Canadian interests.
Hard to say what might affect his thinking. LOL. But, yes, the consensus across all parties is that Canada needs to stand up to Trump. A few weeks ago, I thought there might be an alternative approach, in which some people said, We need to make nice with him That idea has gone out the window.
It's sad that our Canadian counterparts are in the same boat as American Jews, and perhaps in even more dire straits than we are at the moment. And Canada was always the place to which we thought we could flee if we needed to. I admit this is the closest I've watched Canadian politics, largely out of concern for our Jewish Canadian mishpucha. On that note, both you and Bret Stephens are calling it:
"Few minorities have been more conspicuously attached to progressive causes than American Jews: Samuel Gompers and labor unionism; Betty Friedan and feminism; Harvey Milk and gay rights; Abraham Joshua Heschel and civil rights; Robert Bernsteinand human rights. A proud history, but whatever we poured of ourselves into the pain and struggle of others was not returned in our days of grief. Nor should we expect much understanding: In an era that stresses sensitivity to every microaggression against nearly any minority, macroaggressions against Jews who happen to believe that Israel has a right to exist are not only permitted but demanded." - Bret Stephens, "The Year American Jews Woke Up"
And the Democratic Party here may well pay the price too.
Brilliantly stated.
Well said. It’s so disheartening to see the progressive movement be filled with the rot of Jew hate.
The Liberal Government of Canada just dropped a taxpayer-funded unmistakable dog-whistle to Canadian Jew-haters, Muslims, jihadism sympathizers and Islamists themselves in the form of 1/4 or 1/3 of billion dollars of funding for Gaza etc. The same Liberal Government is maintaining an arms embargo (albeit symbolic, but politically very harmful) against Israel as it defends itself against terror onslaughts including thousands of rockets and ballistic missiles being waged against it by entities, movements and organizations that are prominent on Canada‘s list (also the UK‘s and the US’s) of terrorist entities. Some of these Liberal Government initiatives have even attracted the thanks of Hamas. The PM may appoint one or two Jews and Jew-sympathizers to various positions in his government. But the overall picture is sordid. The Jews in Canada are in the position that Jews everywhere in the diaspora have always been: a tiny, insecure, imperilled and politically homeless minority.
You are correct. I do, however, see this as a moment of opportunity (not the election even so much as the post-election period (especially if the Liberals win) for Jews and allies to work to take back the Liberal Party and make fighting antisemitism and anti-Zionism a cross-partisan political consesnus again. The NDP, for now, is too far gone. The Liberals, I think, may be salvageable. We'll see.
I too have been watching Canada with deep interest and growing alarm. I appreciate your thoughtful metaphor of the bus, and I’m grateful that you call out, as always, what is morally repugnant. Yours is a voice of sanity and kindness.
Mulcair, by the way won against, but ultimately lost to the current Minister of Immigration, Rachel Bendayan, of Moroccan Jewish heritage. I think it would be news to her that the Liberal Party of Canada is rabidly anti-semitic: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Bendayan. Every party has its nut-bars and people with axes to grind, but that’s why it’s necessary to get involved and try to persuade the other members not to be seduced by such nonsense.
Otherwise put, we have to try and diminish the weight of the ultra-woke and jihadist-lovers, as we do that of reactionary conservatives. Just a simple point of fact: if you don’t properly support the population economically and socially they risk becoming radicalised and start blaming the Jews for their economic problems, as they do frequently in South America - or Hungary. If Montreal were in the US, it would be dangerous and boiling over with social tensions. Instead, trust in the government overall remains high, and there is a high degree of social peace and safety on our streets. Successive left-wing social policies produce more harmony. It helps as well that we also don’t have a woke provincial government. So do I wish the Liberal party would be as frankly supportive of Israel? Yes. But not at the expence of having a mediocre and deliberately divisive government.
Interesting point. Yes, I would say Canadians still have general trust in our governments. That is an important variable in this and many other factors.
Simply because the Liberals have some Jewish members of parliament in their caucus does not make the Liberal government less anti-semitic. It simply makes those Jewish members of parliament traitors to Jews and to Israel and makes Jews who find excuses to vote Liberal cognitively and morally blind.
I am increasingly agreeing with David's perspective. This is a time of opportunity. It is also a time of potential danger. The Liberal party may be on a precipice. They are not (I don't care what you say about this, Stephen) monolithically antisemitic. It is too big a tent to be dismissed that way. There is a potential at this moment of flux in the party to have an influence. For Canadian Jews to put all their eggs in one basket is dangerous. I think Jews and allies who are inclined toward the Liberals should become more active now -- esp if the Liberals win. Then it becomes an absolute imperative.
Their PM was antisemitic. Their new one tweeted first off about the need to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians. Their foreign minster hates Israel. People who think Jews should suck up to the Liberals do not want to shed their left-wing sense of self even after denouncing all the antisemitism of progressives. Something wrong with this picture, no?
Thomas Mulcair's wife of many years is a Sephardic Jew and he represented two very heavily Jewish ridings in his career. The flood gates opened after he was forced out. So effective in the house of commons and so terrible on the campaign.
Anyone who cares about Jews, intellectual honesty, free speech, responsible and intelligent government and a growing economy in Canada should vote Conservative. There is no other option. Carney is as antisemitic as Trudeau, witness his first tweet on the need to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians. One issue voting in this case is a necessity, which happens to dovetail with all the other ones. Progressive gays, like the progressive NDP, are doing what they do best - ruining people's lives.
OK Stephen. (See: eggs/basket) But point taken. I do not think the Liberals are monolithically antisemitic, as you seem to. Perhaps I am being too hopeful. As a single example, how do you account for Mendocino as chief of staff? Would he work for an antisemite? Hardly.
Hi Pat!
The old saying does apply here. You reap what you sow.
The NDP (Not a Damn Party) hopefully will be relegated to non party status with little or no voice in the new parliament. The former manchild Priminister is gone. The actual gaul to speak about Islamaphobia in Canada while Jews are being attacked and intimidated in the streets,universities, synoguges, business, and homes.There is gone thing that we can about the former Priminister, he knows how to count, there are definitely more muslim votes than Jewish votes.
So you have a combination of the two, one Party leader who endorses antisemitism and one gutless narcissistic, arrogant former Priminister who puts votes ahead of morals and country. A morally bereft individual.
So that somes up two thirds of the countries political parties.
Now for the last third? An individual who has blown a twenty four percent lead in the voter intention, in a matter of weeks.
A man who seems hell bent to piss off as many people as possible. So to sum up the conservatives, the jews last best hope at some protection and stability are in the process of blowing an election that was gifted to them. You can speak to Kamala Harris and the Democrats they know a thing or two about that.
297 of the 1,507 people (1 in 5) interviewed apparently IDENTIFIED themselves as being UNDECIDED.
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However 28% of them agreed with the statement “Most of the news is biased, depending on who pays for it”.
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And how much do they trust Pollsters ???
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From that I believe we can assume we will only know who they truly support on APRIL 28th, when they cast their anonymous ballot.
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https://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=kdt&document=index&lang=e
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Yes, for sure. Polls are bunkum. But they're all we've got until the REAL polls close on April 28.
I have been following the goings-on in Canada with great interest. I would say that before Trump declared economic war on Canada, a majority of Jews I know were going to vote PC, because they were furious with the Trudeau Government's lack of support for any Jewish causes, let alone Israel. Trump changed the dynamic completely, as did Carney's ascension to PM. Even though most of those same people acknowledge that Carney will be (at best) as bad as Trudeau with respect to Israel, the dominating factor for them, as you noted for Canadians in general, is who will be best positioned to stand up to Trump. The only factor that hasn't changed: NONE of them will ever vote NDP again (and yes, some of them have).
You seem to have observed pretty much what I have observed. And summed it up quuite rightly, I think.
Despite not being a Democrat, I recognize that Trump wants people to grovel and kiss the ring. Even if I agree with some of his agenda, he's a very unpleasant person, and I wish the GOP had someone better on the White House.
Except that I don't think that the Liberal Party represents the centre.
What do you think it represents? If you thought it was too far left, people are suggesting Carney is moving it to the right (these are not exact sciences, I know) so where would you put it on the spectrum?
That is a very good question. My starting position is that the centre is currently vacated (both in Canada and the US). A left of centre (true) progressive is politically homeless today. I think the Liberal party has veered way to the left. Just because Carney is trying to bring it a bit to the right, it does not mean it is back in the centre. I heard today an interesting point: Liberals tend to campaign left but govern right, but Carney seems to be campaigning right with the view of governing left. I guess we won't know until we actually see it. I have a less of a line of sight on how far to the right the Conservatives are from the centre.
Haha. A lot of variables.
I wonder if a Conservative victory in Canada would cause Trump to lose interest in punishing Canada. Hard to say, because even the Conservatives will have to stand up to Trump on some issues in order to represent Canadian interests.
Hard to say what might affect his thinking. LOL. But, yes, the consensus across all parties is that Canada needs to stand up to Trump. A few weeks ago, I thought there might be an alternative approach, in which some people said, We need to make nice with him That idea has gone out the window.
Make nice with Him and Putin at your own risk
Dream on.