The New Democratic Party (NDP) is defending its candidate in the federal by-election in Montreal after a campaign leaflet featuring the Palestinian flag and accusations of Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip drew criticism from political opponents and a Jewish organization.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says the flyer by NDP candidate in LaSalle — Émard — Verdun, Craig Sauvé, stirs up anti-Semitism and shows that the NDP has turned its back on the Canadian flag and Canadian values.
In the image posted online by the Jewish organization, a flyer shows Mr. Sauvé photographed against the backdrop of the Palestinian flag. A message urges voters to vote for him on Sept. 16 “to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The NDP responded by saying that Mr. Sauvé “had included a maple leaf on the leaflet in question.” The party added that since the beginning of the war with Israel, the NDP has always been very clear in its support for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
The party says Sauvé regularly poses with the Quebec and Canadian flags and adds that it is ridiculous to suggest that being seen with the flag of another country constitutes an anti-Canadian gesture.
Conservative politicians, including Michelle Rempel Garner, also denounced the flyer, questioning why Sauvé was displaying a foreign flag instead of the Canadian maple leaf.
Asked about the leaflet Monday morning in Ottawa, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said that this conflict required great caution and that his party was banking on preserving the lives of civilians.
“It requires a lot, a lot of dignity,” he said. “And before making political, electoral or ideological use of a symbol linked to that, I would be much more careful and I would show more sense of responsibility.”
Mr. Blanchet also added: “If we make a directory of monsters, there will be [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Hamas.