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Canadians went to the polls in record numbers not seen since 1993 on 19 October, 2015, electing Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party as Prime Minister. Optimists on the Left see Trudeau as a unifying figure, a champion of native’s rights and progressive social issues.

But skeptics are quick to note, and rightly so, that Trudeau is nothing if not a compromising politician. His campaign was a captivating show of positivity, but Trudeau has put his support behind both developing pipelines through Canada’s forests as well as Stephen Harper’s draconian anti-terrorism bill.

And on Israel-Palestine he may turn out to be an uninvited guest. Former senior policy advisor under the Privy Council Office to both prime ministers Stephen Harper and Paul Martin, Benjamin Shinewald lauded Trudeau’s win, writing in The Canadian Jewish News that throughout Trudeau’s career as the Liberal Party’s leader, he has shown himself to be a staunch Israel supporter.

Shinewald claims that Trudeau proved in a moment in the 2013 Munk Foreign Policy Debate that he supported Israel unwaveringly, therefore clearing up the hesitancy for Jews to embrace the left.

“In failing to refute Trudeau’s assertion, Harper effectively communicated that the Liberal party really did, in fact, have Israel’s back. In one fell swoop, Trudeau neutralized 10 years of wedge politics, and Jews began paying greater attention to the Liberal leader and to the other issues at play in the campaign.”

Going on to explicate the “change so clearly in the air across Canada,” Shinewald concludes that the consensus of the three major parties on the issue of Israel is a net positive for Canadians.

But he ignores the simple fact that support for Israel, especially unambiguous support, is support for the occupation of Palestine. He ignores the upwards of 50 Palestinians killed in the latest round of conflict, and the never-ending yet fruitless negotiations that Canada plays an organizing role in.

It is true that the heavily Jewish ridings returned to the Liberals from Conservative in the latest election, a shift for Jews back to the party which they have historically supported until 2011 when 52% of Jews voted Conservative.

Unfortunately the reality of the continuing 67 year occupation of Palestine by Israel does not unnerve the Canadian Jewish community, nor the so-called Left, enough to mark any significant real change in policy.

Trudeau himself, in talking about the move to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel called it, “demonization, delegitimization and double standards.” He added “that’s just not what we are as a country.”

Canada’s official policy on Israel-Palestine is notoriously progressive, especially compared to the greatest supporter of Israel, the United States.

It does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967; it maintains that the question of Palestinian refugees must be addressed in order to find a just solution to the conflict; and considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

But with a consensus Parliament on Israel, narrow as it may be, the impetus to take actual measures to bring justice to Palestine is absent. (For the record, a just solution in Palestine would equally guarantee the safety and security of Israelis).

Instead, Canada finds itself at the lowest possible bar for a progressive solution to the Palestinian question. And anti-Muslim sentiment is rampant as the Conservatives made it a major wedge issue in the election.

Appealing to xenophobic Canadians, Stephen Harper has often invited the assumption that Muslims and Arab citizens and immigrants are particular drains on the social system, without conforming to the tropes of White Christian Canada.

Harper has made a point to vehemently oppose newly minted Canadians from wearing the niqab while taking the oath of citizenship. The niqab is a traditional face covering worn by Muslim women.

The Conservatives also proposed a phone “tip line” so that Canadians can report to police “barbaric cultural practices.” In other words, a hot line for racist Canadians linked directly to the government.

Trudeau entered the niqab fray on the side of religious freedom, but it is a small gesture among the larger impositions of colonialist and ethnocentric attitudes that he shares with the ousted Harper government.

If the Liberal Party actually wants to stand up for undermined communities in Canada, it needs to protect Canadian Muslims, support Palestinians in lieu of undying support for Israel, and become a refugee friendly place for those fleeing turmoil in the Middle East as a direct result of NATO policies--of which Canada is a part.