Due to scheduling constraints and limited time, Green Party candidates were not invited to participate in the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s roundtable discussions. This article will instead focus on the party’s platform and public statements related to issues of concern to Jewish Ottawans.
Running in the election in the Ottawa-Gatineau area are Claude Bertrand (Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi), Prashanta Dhakal (Ottawa West-Nepean), Nira Dookeran (Ottawa South), Bertha Fuchsman-Small (Argenteuil-La Petite Nation), Greg Hopkins (Nepean), Jaycob Jacques (Orléans), Frédéric Morin-Paquette (Hull-Aylmer), Jennifer Purdy (Kanata), Christian Proulx (Ottawa-Vanier-Gloucester), Thaliwa Riden (Prescott-Russell-Cumberland), Amanda Rosenstock (Ottawa Centre), Mark Watson (Carleton).
Though there is limited information available about the views of each candidate, there are general themes that the Green Party has aligned itself with pertaining to community safety and rising hate crimes, fighting antisemitism, and Canada-Israel relations.
Community Safety and Rising Hate Crimes
The Greens have several policies about protecting marginalized communities, naming Jews as one such group. It includes:
• Strengthening laws against hate speech and hate groups
• Funding community programs that fight discrimination
• Protecting LGBTQ2+ rights and access to gender-affirming health care
• Combatting racist practices in policing and law enforcement
The party’s webpage that discusses these policies says that it is important for all to feel safe and welcome in Canadian society.
The party “will change the law to make online platforms fully responsible as publishers,” the platform says. “This means they’ll be legally responsible for everything they publish, just like newspapers and TV stations.”
Social media has been a cesspool of antisemitic and anti-Israel hate since long before October 7 but has certainly come more into focus following the start of the war.
Combatting antisemitism at the federal level and as an MP
As already mentioned, the Green Party aims to use its hate crime policy to fight against all forms of hatred, including antisemitism.
However, the party has previously been in hot water with accusations of antisemitism following the ousting of former leader Annamie Paul and her advisor, Noah Zatzman, based on their personal stances regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Canada-Israel Relations
Six Green candidates have signed on to the Vote Palestine platform, including Fuchsman-Small (Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation), Proulx (Ottawa-Vanier-Gloucester), Purdy (Kanata), Riden (Prescott-Russell-Cumberland), Rosenstock (Ottawa Centre), and Watson (Carleton).
The Vote Palestine movement aims to do the following:
• Impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel
• End Canadian involvement in illegal Israeli settlements
• Address anti-Palestinian racism (APR) and protect freedom of expression on Palestine
• Recognize the state of Palestine
• Properly fund relief efforts in Gaza, including UNRWA
While most candidates have endorsed all these points in the platform, Rosenstock endorsed all but the third point.
The Green Party also adopted the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) position regarding Israeli policy and supports decreasing ties with Israel in the long run.
To read the full Green Party platform, click here