Tom Mulcair: NDP facing some tough decisions over its policies on Israel
At its policy convention this weekend, the NDP will be facing some tough decisions. The party has been signalling that “now is not the time” to push for even more anti-Israel positions than those it has already adopted since Jagmeet Singh became leader.
With the horrific terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens as backdrop, Singh has wisely chosen not to make those proposals a priority. But an impending attack by the Israeli Defense Forces within Gaza may change things rapidly.
Singh may have succeeded in pushing back those motions for now, but the party’s rules allow for emergency resolutions to be brought forward and debated nonetheless. That could lay bare some ugly anti-Israel sentiments that have been recently on display within the party and with some of its close allies.
At the height of the Hamas terrorist attacks last Saturday, one key union, CUPE local 3906, posted “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance” on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. After a public outcry, that post was taken down before a new post with the union’s official statement was issued, in which they refuted the “conflation between support for Palestine as condoning violence against civilians.”
There are, and have always been, divergent voices within the NDP. One senior member of caucus expressed support for BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel and was reeled in by then leader Jack Layton. In politics, you get to have your own viewpoint; you don’t get to invent your own policy.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles has had to deal with a situation similar to the one Jack Layton successfully handled. As full news of the current horrors against Israeli civilians was becoming known, one of her MPP’s sent out a post on X that was tilted against Israel and didn’t reflect party policy. Stiles at first insisted she apologize and withdraw her post. She did indeed apologize but thus far has refused her leader’s request to withdraw it. Stiles appears inclined to back down from the requirement to withdraw the comment.
The official policy of the NDP had always been to work with partners for justice and peace in the Middle East towards a two-state solution.
13-POINT PLAN
Beginning in 2021 and continuing last year, that fair and balanced approach has been gradually supplanted by a 13-point plan that got favourable reviews from anti-Israel activists but raised red flags within Israel itself.
These complex issues will always be vexing for progressives who fight for social justice and, for many, reflexively decide that there is an underdog and throw their support that way.
This week's butchery of Israeli men, women and children -- including hundreds of young people who died while attending a large music festival -- has been an eye opener for many.
Israel has been trying for years to explain that terrorist groups like Hamas want to not only destroy Israel, they want to kill Jews. Iran’s official policy is to destroy the state of Israel. Period.
The boast in the slogan often chanted at demonstrations that “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” means that from the Jordan to the Mediterranean there would be no more Israel. That chant is often relayed by Canadian activists who apparently never really gave serious thought about what it means.
They no longer have that excuse.
The coming days will likely bring even more sadness and bloodshed on all sides.
Netanyahu, for now, gets to beat his chest about the punishment that he’s about to unleash. It’s useful to him as he hopes it’ll help Israelis forget his abject failure of intelligence and preparedness.
His plans could cost much of the support the horrors of the past week have brought to Israel and, even more dangerously, spark a much wider conflict with no predictable outcome.
Across Israel and the Palestinian territories, average families will continue to want nothing more than peace for themselves and future generations. Those voices need to be heard now more than ever.
Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.
Local Spotlight
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.