MONTREAL — The nomination of a Conservative candidate in Montreal’s Mount Royal riding has become a two-man race with Beryl Wajsman’s confirmation that he is seeking to run for the party in the next federal election.
The editor of the weekly Suburban newspaper for the past seven years, Wajsman is an ex-Liberal organizer who says he switched allegiances in 2006 after Stephen Harper first became prime minister.
Wajsman said he was approached to run earlier, but would not oppose Liberal incumbent Irwin Cotler, for whom he served as executive assistant during the former justice minister’s first term.
Wajsman is gracious toward the other three people – all Jewish – who so far have announced they want to be the next MP for Mount Royal – fellow Tory Robert Libman and Liberals Jonathan Goldbloom and Anthony Housefather. “This riding has produced four people who could all do the job well. That speaks well for Mount Royal.”
His admiration of Harper is not limited to the prime minister’s staunch support for the State of Israel, said Wajsman, whose newspaper is unwaveringly pro-Israel.
Wajsman has been won over to the Conservatives by Harper’s defence, economic and social policies. “The differences between the two parties has never been starker,” he said. Under Harper, Canada has been in the forefront on the international stage in defending democracy, and, at home, has done much to “roll back the nanny state,” said Wajsman.
He likes the Harper government’s tax breaks for the middle class, and thinks tax credits should be even greater for caregivers because of the aging population.
But he especially admires Harper for his refusal to engage in “moral relativism and political equivalency.”
“There is good and there is evil, and the Harper government stands against evil.
“Canada has been first up to the plate in standing with its NATO partners.”
Wajsman said he is not opposed to maintaining “social safety nets,” but does take exception to “the centre-left’s” adherence to certain “politically correct” programs.
Among these he cites multiculturalism. While laudable in many aspects, Canada cannot “bend every universal value to please every group,” Wajsman said.
“Honour killing, for example, is barbaric, and Stephen Harper has said so.”
As for the economy, Wajsman believes the Conservative government’s “stewardship is the envy of the G8.”
Wajsman, 60, is a lawyer by training and has been active for many years in civil rights and in the media, both print and broadcasting. He believes the strongest skill he would bring to Parliament is being an advocate for his constituents.
He is founder and president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, described as a national advocacy organization bringing together leaders of business, labour and community action. It has brought to Montreal such speakers as former CIA director James Woolsey and controversial anti-Islamist activist Brigitte Gabriel.
Among the honours he has garnered, Wajsman points to the Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Community Service, and a parliamentary certificate of recognition for his contributions to Canadian democracy issued by Liberal MP Marc Garneau.
“I have been on the frontlines – in the media, in the streets and in the legislatures – on every issue of import so that we not only survive but thrive as a community,” Wajsman said in his formal remarks launching his bid.
“From language laws to Israel, from protecting individual rights from state abuse to reforming revenue and consumer legislations, from feeding the hungry to protecting our seniors to fighting racism.”
He also stated: “This nation stands, unhesitatingly and unequivocally, with the family of free nations fighting an existential challenge to our very civilization… We have opposition parties and leaders who mouth platitudes that we should understand terrorists not only condemn them, and too often choose the dangerous paths of moral relativism and political equivalency.”