(Ottawa) An NDP motion on Israel and Gaza could cost the Liberals one of their own: MP Anthony Housefather reflects on his future within the Liberal Party, the day after the adoption of the amended motion at the eleventh hour by the Government House Leader, Steven MacKinnon.
The elected official was visibly unhappy Monday evening when 14 liberal amendments were presented without warning, after several hours of debate in the House of Commons.
He now says he is in a “period of reflection”.
“Yesterday’s vote [lundi] “Evening was a very difficult moment for me,” he said in the press scrum.
“I think this is the first time in my parliamentary career that I have had a thought like that. I really felt, last night, that a line had been crossed,” added the MP.
He was particularly shaken when he saw his colleagues rise to give a standing ovation to Heather McPherson, who carried the motion for the New Democratic Party (NDP).
“I wondered if I was in my place,” he said.
The amendments put forward at the last minute allowed the Liberals and New Democrats to find “common ground,” as Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly described it.
The maneuver greatly displeased Anthony Housefather and the Conservative Party.
“Arriving five minutes before the end of the debate with an amendment that no one has seen, no one has studied or debated and that is bad parliamentarism,” criticized the elected official from Mount Royal.
Asked why the amendments were not distributed to elected officials before being revealed on Tuesday, Steven MacKinnon replied that it was simply because negotiations were underway.
He did not want to say how long the two camps had been in talks about this motion, the content of which had been in the public domain since 1er last March.
According to our information, the negotiations date back to last weekend, and Minister Joly played a central role in the conclusion of the pact on Monday.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly
“She spent the day running from the Liberal lobby to the New Democratic lobby,” relates a Liberal source who requested anonymity, not having authorization to speak openly about the negotiations.
Two other Liberal MPs, Ben Carr and Marco Mendicino, voted against the motion.
Although they did not hide their disappointment at the turn of events, they nevertheless said they were not considering changing sides.
Liberal Minister Ya’ara Saks, of Jewish faith, supported the watered-down proposal.
“I will always defend Canada’s position and my position that a two-state solution is the best way to guarantee the security of Israel alongside a Palestinian state,” she insisted.
The Toronto elected official specified that the original motion was “unacceptable”.
End of approval and transfer of weapons
The motion at the heart of this case has been significantly amended.
It was concluded, in particular, to withdraw the passage on the recognition of the Palestinian state, but also to “cease the approval and transfer of other arms exports to Israel”.
On January 8, the Canadian government put on hold the issuance of export licenses for non-lethal military equipment intended for Israel.
What is new is the word “transfer,” said a New Democratic source who spoke on condition of anonymity, not being authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
“Our understanding is that ‘transfer’ means that material that was to be sent under existing contracts will not be sent,” the source said.
At the same time, “the motion is non-binding, it is not legislation,” adds this person who is well versed in the matter.
This passage of the motion angered the ambassador of the Jewish state to Canada, Iddo Moed. In interview with the Globe and MailOn Tuesday, the diplomat argued that this undermined Israel’s ability to defend itself.
The motion was adopted by 204 votes to 117. The Bloc voted for it, while the Conservatives opposed it as a whole.