An organizer who encouraged Jewish residents to vote against the Liberals in this week’s Toronto byelection suggests a rise in anti-Semitism has motivated many people to turn out at the polls.
Andrew Kirsch, the riding’s Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2018 provincial election, helped launch the Jewish Ally group earlier this year in advance of Monday’s vote.
The close race ended in a surprising Liberal defeat and a victory for Conservative Don Stewart, with nearly 600 votes more than his Liberal opponent, Leslie Church.
Mr. Kirsch says members of the Jewish community feel “abandoned” by ruling liberals, and he believes that played a bigger role in the outcome than any opinion on the Israel-Hamas war itself .
Both liberals and conservatives acknowledged that the crisis in the Middle East was a factor in a district where one in six residents identify as Jewish.
During the campaign, the Conservatives made a direct appeal to the Jewish community.
Households received a letter signed by Melissa Lantsman, deputy party leader and Toronto-area MP, herself Jewish.
She said voters should choose the Conservative candidate to denounce Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s alleged “betrayal.”
Mr. Kirsch’s organization, which registered as a third party in the race, advertised in the region and tried to raise public awareness about the by-election.
Like the Conservative Party, he asked Jewish voters to send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau.
The remarkable rise of anti-Semitism
Mr. Kirsch said it is important for people to understand that members of the Jewish community have varied opinions about Israel and the conflict.
But there are guidelines, he suggested.
“What really had a broader resonance was the rise in anti-Semitism that we saw and the government’s response,” he explained.
“We can disagree about how the conflict is being fought, about Israel, about the government, about all of these things. »
Residents have witnessed violence at community hubs, Kirsch noted, including a shooting at a Jewish school. And they observe similar acts happening elsewhere in the country, including in other large cities like Montreal.
The downtown Toronto riding has also been the scene of ongoing anti-war protests, Kirsch added.
“We can debate the legal definitions of hate, but what we can’t debate is that it’s intimidating to the Jewish community, and I think we, the Jewish community, have not felt supported by this government in the way we should have been,” he said.
Support for liberals shaken
Talia Klein Leighton, a spokesperson for the organization Canadian Women Against Antisemitism, said there was more to interpreting the results than a possibility that some Jewish voters wanted to support Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for his outspoken support for Israel.
Some people who have always voted Liberal may have stayed home, she said, because of perceived inaction from the government.
“There are conservative Jews and liberal Jews. I think this election suggests that that is changing,” she said.
Sue Goldstein, a resident involved with the organization Independent Jewish Voices Canada, questioned the idea that the by-election result could be explained by a shift of Jewish voters toward the Conservatives.
She noted that, generally speaking, many residents in the constituency were motivated by economic concerns.
She believes, however, that many Jews with progressive views have been disappointed by the government’s response to the conflict.
Klein Leighton, who once lived in the riding, also said she has spoken with people who have struggled to maintain their long-standing support for the Liberals because of what they describe as a “lukewarm” response to anti-Semitism. .
The prime minister and other senior Liberal officials have repeatedly spoken out against the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia during the conflict.
It stood out, Ms. Klein Leighton said, when Mr. Trudeau said last month that “Zionism is not an insult.”
Yet many people view her response as lip service, she said.
Justin Trudeau has attempted to take a nuanced stance on the war unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which killed some 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of 250 others. Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 37,600 people in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tally.
Divisions in the Liberal Party
The Toronto—St. Paul’s by-election was the first federal election since the start of the war. The district, which has the fifth highest percentage of Jewish voters in the country, had been vacant since the resignation of longtime MP Carolyn Bennett in January.
Liberal MPs from several other ridings with strong Jewish representation were among the most vocal during the conflict.
They include former minister Marco Mendicino and current minister Ya’ara Saks, who represent the Toronto ridings of Eglinton-Lawrence and York Center respectively, as well as Ben Carr, MP for Winnipeg South Centre.
Anthony Housefather, the Liberal MP for Mount Royal in Montreal, considered leaving his party over government MPs’ support for an amended NDP motion calling on Canada to end “arms exports” to Israel.
The Conservatives have their eyes on the riding. It was the first stop on Mr. Poilievre’s tour of Quebec after the House of Commons adjourned for the summer break.
He appeared on stage at a rally with party candidate Neil Oberman, a lawyer who represented Jewish students in a lawsuit against the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University.
Talia Klein Leighton says she is not partisan and believes it is important that voices like Housefather’s continue to remain within the Liberal Party “even if they end up in opposition.”
But she suggested it might be difficult for some in the Jewish community to continue supporting the Liberals under her current leadership.
“Maybe this is a wake-up call. »