By Joseph Marshall
Côte Saint Luc residents finally have a chance to make a real change. The upcoming municipal election is more than a local contest over budgets and bylaws. It is a test of conscience. It is a chance for this community to decide whether it will continue serving as a satellite of the Liberal Party that has turned its back on Israel and on Jewish Canadians. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said clearly that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Canada, he would be arrested. He said yes without hesitation. The leader of the Jewish state would be treated as a criminal in a country once considered one of Israel’s closest allies. And the people who helped that government rise to power now want another mandate from Côte Saint Luc voters.
This council has long wrapped itself in community pride while working hand in hand with the Liberal establishment. Nearly every councillor publicly endorsed Liberal MP Anthony Housefather in the last federal campaign. Some even went door to door with him, asking residents to vote Liberal. Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, until this campaign began, was not just a supporter. He was the president of the local Liberal riding association. He used his position to promote Housefather’s reelection and strengthen the very political machine that now threatens Israel’s legitimacy. Housefather, a former mayor of Côte Saint Luc, remains a loyal Liberal MP. He has said nothing about Carney’s statement. He has not condemned it, not distanced himself from it, not even acknowledged it. He stays quiet while his government aligns itself with the same international court that seeks to humiliate Israel.
The hypocrisy of this city’s leadership is hard to ignore. In August, the Côte Saint Luc council passed a resolution opposing the Liberal government’s recognition of a Palestinian state, warning that it “rewards violence and legitimises extremism.” It was the right vote and the right message. But a resolution means nothing when the same people who passed it helped elect the government they claim to oppose. They want credit for their words while avoiding accountability for their actions. They speak about Jewish values but stay loyal to a party that betrays them.
Brownstein built his image on being the Jewish mayor of a Jewish city, but when faced with a moral crisis he has gone silent. His council follows his lead. They talk about safety and solidarity, but none have called for Housefather to step away from the Liberal caucus or to publicly confront his leader over the arrest remark. They denounce with one hand and campaign with the other. That is not leadership. It is survival politics, and it comes at the expense of the community they claim to defend.
The people of Côte Saint Luc deserve better. They deserve leaders who do not owe their loyalty to Ottawa, who do not rely on a party that has treated Jewish voters as expendable. They deserve honesty, courage and independence. This election is a chance to end the Liberal stranglehold on the city’s politics and to send a message that the Jewish community cannot be used for photo opportunities and then ignored when it matters.
Carney’s statement exposed what this government truly is. Every Liberal who remains silent accepts it. Every local politician who still clings to that party shares responsibility. Côte Saint Luc now has a choice. It can keep rewarding the same people who campaigned for a government that would arrest Israel’s Prime Minister, or it can finally elect leaders who stand for this community without compromise. The next council will either continue this city’s decline into political servitude, or it will begin the work of reclaiming its integrity.
The decision belongs to the voters.
