Foreign Affairs Minister Demands Apology Following Poilievre’s Accusation of Pandering to ‘Hamas Supporters’

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 3, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby) Isaac Teo

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is calling for an apology from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre after he accused her of catering to “Hamas supporters.”

Tensions escalated early in question period Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attack against Israel, when Poilievre denounced “genocidal chants from hateful mobs,” and called on Joly and her government to do the same.

“Our Jewish friends and neighbours have been doubly victimized as anti-Semitic mobs take to the streets shouting ‘From Palestine to Lebanon, Israel will soon be gone. There’s only one solution, Intifada revolution,’” Poilievre recounted. “Will the government clearly and unequivocally condemn these genocidal chants from hateful mobs on our streets?”

Joly responded by reading a prepared statement which listed the names of the Canadian victims of the Oct. 7 attack and promised to “stand” with Jewish Canadians.

“We won’t relent until the last hostage returns home,” she said.

Poilievre stood again to ask Joly to denounce anti-Semitic chants but it was Justice Minister Arif Virani who answered, saying that Canada as a whole needs to “stand up” against “hatred in support of Jewish people.”

The next time Poilievre was given the floor, he criticized Joly, saying she failed to condemn anti-Jewish slogans being chanted by pro-Palestinian protesters and accused her of focusing on replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party rather than fulfilling her responsibilities as foreign affairs minister.

“She continues to pander to Hamas supporters in the Liberal Party as part of her leadership campaign, rather than doing her job. So I'll give her another chance,” Poilievre said.

“Will she publicly support Israel’s right to retaliate against the tyrants of Tehran and the terrorists in Hezbollah and Hamas to protect itself? Yes or no?”

Joly responded by accusing Poilievre of politicizing the anniversary of the attack.

“If there’s a day where we don’t do politics about people’s lives being taken or people being killed, it’s today. We are all against any form of anti-Semitism, I hope, in this House, any form of discrimination,” she said, and called on Poilievre to apologize.

The Conservative leader rose again and issued the same challenge, asking the government to break its “radio silence” on condemning anti-Semitic chants.

“If there was ever a day when we needed a government to stand up for what was right this would be that day,” he said.

Remembering Oct. 7

MPs observed a moment of silence in the House after question period to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack.

The House also passed a unanimous motion, introduced by Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, denouncing the attack and expressing solidarity with the victims and their families.

Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage during the violent Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel last year. War has been raging in Gaza ever since with the exception of a brief ceasefire last November.

An estimated 100 hostages are believed to remain in Hamas captivity.

In Canada, hate crimes against the Jewish community have risen substantially since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. A Statistics Canada report identified Jews as the leading target of hate crimes in 2023, despite comprising less than one percent of Canada’s population.

Anti-Semitic incidents have continued into 2024, including shots being fired at multiple Jewish schools and synagogues.

Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters have taken to the streets across the country to protest and counter-protest the war in Gaza. Encampments also popped up at multiple universities last spring to protest Israel’s continued retaliation against Hamas. Many of the encampments were dismantled by police or security forces.