Canadian parliamentarians and protesters alike are descending on the U.S. capital for what’s being billed as a massive international effort to confront the growing spectre of antisemitism and demand the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Organizers say they hope Tuesday’s “March for Israel” on Washington’s National Mall will rival similar protests that took place in D.C. in 1987 and 2002, when more than 100,000 people turned up.
At the same time, U.S. lawmakers will sit down with a host of international counterparts from around the world for three days of meetings hosted by the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians and the World Jewish Congress.
It’s the first in-person meeting in eight years for the council, which Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) helped to resurrect in 2021 as a response to a mounting tide of authoritarianism and anti-Jewish sentiment around the world.
“I never faced any antisemitism growing up, I don’t remember any antisemitism when I was in college, and I never faced it in my professional career,” said Anthony Housefather, a Liberal MP from Montreal who is in D.C. for the meetings.
“The first time I’ve really confronted it has been in the last seven years as a federally elected MP.”
One particular spike came in May 2021 at the height of fresh clashes between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, but Housefather said it doesn’t compare to the vitriol that has emerged over the last month.
“I can say shocked, appalled — there’s really almost no words to see what’s happened this time,” he said. “I never would have thought this could happen in Canada and the United States, ever.”
Also rounding out the Canadian delegation are Ya’ara Saks, a Toronto MP and newly appointed Liberal government cabinet minister, as well as Sen. Marc Gold, the government’s representative in the upper chamber.
A spate of recent incidents in Montreal, including attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and a protest at Concordia University last week that turned violent, have been difficult, said Housefather, whose riding is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Canada.
“Students on campus are feeling afraid to go to school,” he said of the Concordia aftermath. “This is something like I’ve never seen before, and I think it’s probably the most difficult emotional time that I’ve ever had as an elected official.”
A number of Canadian protesters are also on their way to take part in the rally in D.C., where organizers, police and security officials are bracing for crowds that could exceed 100,000 people.
Sam Mogil, 16, attends a Jewish high school in Toronto that he said is just one of several similar institutions that are cancelling classes Tuesday and sending busloads of their students to the U.S. to take part in the protest.
“Judaism cuts across borders. we have strength in numbers … and we want to work together,” Mogil said in a brief telephone interview.
“We are going to witness history, but we are also going to change history. We want people to act, to take action after seeing how much pain this has caused our community.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2023.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
