
Feature, Musings —10.12.2024 11:43 AM
—My latest: profiles in cowardice
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, 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.
Said Poilievre: “Let’s unify our people…Let’s secure our borders. Let’s keep terrorists out of our country. 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 October 7, 2023. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and two dozen politicians from all levels were there. But not Chow.
She – who is 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.”
[To read more, subscribe here.]
Why in the world does Joly still have her cabinet position? And why did Trudeau name her foreign affairs minister in the first place? She is the absolute worse person to ever hold that position.
It is possible to hold the view that what Hamas did was abominable and what Israel is doing is also abhorrent. One does not negate the other. Picking sides is easy, understanding how both can be wrong and what can be done about it is a much harder task. I don’t see PP taking his stand based on any kind of principled approach.
I do agree with your comments regarding Olivia Chow.
Pierre Poilievre will ban abortion and gay marriage and bring back prima nocta and sell orphans for medical experiments cause he will obey the church and ban rubber thingy’s for he end of men’s penises and wear black face and not know how many times he………I have forgotten where I was going with this….Pierre Poilievre bad, Prime Minister Zoolander good.