While both Montreal and Toronto have ridings where a Jewish candidate for the Conservatives is mounting a challenge to unseat a Liberal who’s also Jewish, the story is different in Winnipeg. Marty Morantz has been the Conservative MP for the riding now known as Winnipeg West since 2019 while Ben Carr followed in the footsteps of his late father Jim Carr as Liberal MP for Winnipeg South Centre by winning a byelection in 2023.
So, even though these two aren’t running against one another, questioning them on topics relevant to the community provides a perspective on what their respective parties might do for the Jewish community if they prevail in the federal election—along with how these MPs may address local concerns.
(Roydon Brosseau is a Conservative on the ballot against Carr, while former Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson—the physician who Morantz initially beat to take the seat—is back for a third-time rematch after his narrow loss in 2021.)
Protest scenes outside buildings
It was on April 1, shortly after this federal election was called, when the Rady JCC was the site of an organized demonstration outside of a speaking tour stop involving two veterans of the Israel Defense Forces. The fact that the building also hosts the Gray Academy of Jewish Education day school and the Winnipeg Holocaust Museum raised alarm about the appropriateness of the protest.
Carr believes that ‘bubble legislation’ in Winnipeg would provide similar protection to all buildings targeted for reasons linked to their culture or faith, whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Christian, or any other group. “I do not believe that, in particular, innocent children from any religious group should have to have their schools, daycares or community centres be the focal point of political protests.”
Morantz says government legislative buildings should be the only place where such demonstrations are permitted—because they are where the laws are actually made. He also believes the legislation is better handled locally, while the federal government should focus on restoring Criminal Code laws that were repealed under Justin Trudeau: “The glorification of terrorism was actually a crime.”
Wider concerns about antisemitism
Morantz believes Canadians should recognize that there is a legal right to protest in this country. “Not all protests are illegal, and we do need to be careful about protecting people who are legitimately peacefully protesting,” he said. But what crosses the line are demonstrations that lead to incitement to hatred, and feature terrorist paraphernalia: “This has been going on since before Oct. 7.” He says the Criminal Code needs to give “police and Crown prosecutors the tools they needs to properly prosecute these types of things.”
Carr acknowledges the “irrefutable evidence” that antisemitism has been on the rise in Canada—along with the rest of the world. He hopes his party can increase funding to the Security Infrastructure Program, continue to support education about antisemitism, and work alongside law enforcement to ensure that hateful activity and hate crimes are dealt with. More attention to these issues emerged in local media after Morantz had his election signs defaced with graffiti on private property and bus benches in the Tuxedo neighbourhood.
The illegal state of kosher meat
Carr has taken note of how safety regulations now require that animals must be stunned before they are killed—which is prohibited in the shechita process that renders meat kosher. When these laws were enforced starting in June 2023, Jewish organizations filed a lawsuit in March 2024—arguing the regulations violated Charter rights, and a Federal Court injunction temporarily halted enforcement.
We are gratified the court validated shechita as a legitimate and humane approach that takes full account of animal welfare and meets the scientific standards established by @InspectionCan. All segments of the community and its institutions collaborated in this effort, and the… pic.twitter.com/cSkOuoawzh
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) July 25, 2024
Morantz is more vocal about this issue, as he views it as a case of the Liberals changing course on something that has resulted in the amount of domestic kosher meat production being reduced by 50 percent. “A lot of these inflammatory policies affecting the Jewish community are completely unacceptable,” he said, noting that a Conservative government plans to reverse the stunning requirement.
What should our Israel policy be?
Where have you been for the last year while Hezbollah has been lobbing thousands of rockets into Israel killing Israeli citizens and displacing at least 80,000 Israelis from their homes?
— Marty Morantz 🇨🇦 (@marty_morantz) September 23, 2024
Only now that Israel is defending itself you call for de-escalation? https://t.co/0pptDvPZPH
Morantz says he’s been “really on the front lines” of fighting antisemitism in the House of Commons alongside deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman. Both have been emphatic about targeting UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinians, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He is critical of the Liberal position to continue funding UNRWA after some employees were linked to the Oct. 7 attacks and were reported to be involved in holding hostages in Gaza. “If we were to form a government, we would defund UNRWA and look for other ways to help Palestinian people.”
While the IRGC was declared a terrorist entity in June 2024, he argues it only happened when the Liberals were in a tight byelection race in the St. Paul’s riding in midtown Toronto, which has a Jewish population of around 11 percent.
Carr advocates an immediate return to a ceasefire, the pursuit of a two-state solution, a release of all hostages, and a Middle East without Hamas. Regarding the ties between Israel and Canada, he said, “The bonds will always run deeper than the relationship we may have with the particular government of the moment.”
The political rookie was one of three Liberal MPs who voted against an arms embargo for Israel in March 2024. A year later, he believes Canada’s role includes diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and supporting the right for Israel to defend itself.
A third Winnipeg MP is Jewish
Leah Gazan has represented Winnipeg Centre for the NDP since first winning the seat in 2019. But recent poll numbers have shown Liberal candidate Rahul Walia mounting a formidable challenge to turn the riding red again. Gazan’s positions have been consistent with NDP views on the war in Gaza.
