Liberal MP Housefather Says Deep Leftward Shift in Party Since 2019 Has Left Him Feeling Alienated

Liberal member of Parliament Anthony Housefather talks to reporters as he arrives to a caucus meeting in Ottawa on Nov. 8, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The Liberal Party’s further shift leftward since 2019 and deviation from its traditional roots has made Anthony Housefather feel like he doesn’t quite fit in the party, the Montreal MP said in a recent media interview.  

“I believe that I am a liberal who would have been very comfortable in the Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien Liberal parties,” he said during a March 24 interview on the Roy Green Show.

“I was comfortable in our caucus in the 2015 to 2019 period. Since then, I feel that things have happened that have left me on the outside. I’m very much a centrist. I’m not too far to the left.”

Mr. Housefather, who is Jewish, became more vocal about his future with the Liberals after a March 18 vote on a non-binding NDP motion that called on the Liberal government to recognize Palestinian statehood. The motion, which was heavily amended by the Liberals, passed with a standing ovation from his caucus colleagues. Even though the motion was amended, Mr. Housefather said it has left him “pondering whether or not I still belong in the Liberal caucus.”

“I believe in a pro-American foreign policy. I believe in a principled foreign policy. I believe in standing by our allies. I’m concerned about the threats facing the world, including Iran and totalitarian regimes,” he said.

“And I think that this vote, which was a slap in the face to our ally Israel, at a time when Israel is at war with a terrorist organization that attacked it on Oct. 7 and killed over 1,000 people, took people hostages that are still in tunnels under Gaza—that’s exactly why I’m reflecting.”

Other former Liberals have also lamented their party’s leftward shift.

Former Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who represented southern Ontario ridings from 1993 to 2011, said in 2021 that his former party is now Liberal in name only.

“This is the NDP on steroids ... a party that has outflanked the NDP itself, has pretty much stolen the talking points of the Greens, created a coalition on the far left,” he said in a previous interview with The Epoch Times.

Mr. McTeague said he left the party over its policy stance on a number of social issues, including its energy policy and “identity politics.”

Stephen LeDrew, the former president of the Liberal Party from 1998 to 2003, also expressed regret about the Liberal party’s leftward shift.

“It has not only tilted toward the left, but it has actually geared toward the left because of the leadership,” he said in a 2021 interview. “We have a government in Ottawa which is completely running untrammelled across the rights of citizens and financial accountability.”

Mr. Housefather expressed hesitation when asked if he had made up his mind on whether to depart from the Liberal Party.

“If I abdicate my role in the Liberal Party, who will be there speaking out for Israel, who will be there calling for the Liberal Party to return to its roots in terms of strong robust support for Western democracies?” he said. “I have a lot of things to think about.”

Lee Harding contributed to this report.