Liberal Anthony Housefather elected to fourth term in Mount Royal riding

Montreal Gazette

29-04-2025

Canadian Politics
By
First there was the silence, then came the worried anguish, and in the end Anthony Housefather held on to his seat to be elected to a fourth term in the Mount Royal riding.
CBC declared he had won the race around 12:30 a.m., but Housefather still said he was 'cautiously optimistic.'
Polls closed at 9:30 p.m., and the nervous Liberal incumbent retreated to a back room where he spent most of the night either alone or with a small number of staffers in the office converted from a former Bétonel paint shop on Décarie Blvd. at the corner of Bourret Ave.
He emerged for about a minute during the night as volunteers watched the results come in on a television that was set up. He said a quick 'thank you' to his campaign staff and then returned to his back office.
Information coming from the poll observers was bad at first, with Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead polling stations voting overwhelmingly for the challenger, Conservative Neil Oberman.
If successful, it would have been the first time the riding went Blue in 90 years. In the time since, the riding was held by six MPs, including Pierre Trudeau, Sheila Finestone and Irwin Cotler.
With the second-largest plurality of Jewish voters in the country, the question of rising antisemitism was identified as one of the key issues by many voters. While some voters harboured resentment toward Housefather and the Liberal party for perceived inaction against rising antisemitism, others applauded the longtime MP for standing up for the community.
He was the lone MP to vote against Bill C-13, a major revamp of Canada's Official Languages Act in 2023. He was also among three Liberal MPs to vote against an NDP motion last year recognizing Palestinian statehood. After the vote, Housefather said he was reflecting on his future with the Liberal party, but he ultimately decided not to cross the floor to join the Conservatives.
Households were divided, including that of former MP Cotler, who supported his successor, while his wife, Ariela, publicly supported the Conservative.
In an interview granted during the campaign, Cotler said he, too, lost the Jewish vote in Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead, but ended up winning the riding twice with strong showings in Town of Mount Royal and Côte-des-Neiges. It appears that is how Housefather's votes also played out in this campaign.
Oberman, a local lawyer, was thrust into the spotlight in January 2024 when he represented a Concordia student who sent a letter to the university's administration to demand it take immediate steps against antisemitism and violence directed at Jewish students. In March 2024, he represented the Jewish community at large in its quest to have a court order an injunction against protesting outside schools and synagogues. He declared his candidacy for the Conservatives early — having campaigned since June 2024.
With just an hour before polls closed, a Hampstead resident took the time to cast the first ballot in his life, and he voted for change.
'I'm happy I did it,' said Ben, 18, who declined to give his last name, standing outside Hampstead School. 'The biggest issue that drew me was crime and how crime is going to be reduced. I like Poilievre's three-strikes policy that he's proposing.'
Ben added that he also voted with antisemitism in mind.
'I'm a Jewish person, and I see what's going on in Montreal,' he said. 'There hasn't been a change, and Poilievre has said he would advocate for that.'
Both Ben and his father, Michael, said they held Housefather in high esteem, but said they were angry with how the party as a whole handled several issues.
'My vote is against the Liberals because (Housefather) was very poorly treated by the Liberals,' Michael said. 'He's an excellent candidate, and he stood up for us, and he was treated like garbage. That's the reason my vote was anti-Liberal.'
At the campaign headquarters for Oberman, there was a party atmosphere in the last minutes of the voting process.
'I'm very proud of everyone who has worked with me,' Oberman said. 'I'm very honoured to have been in a race with people who stood up and did something. When you get out onto the street, knock on the doors and meet people, you realize how privileged we are in Canada to be able to do this.'
Volunteers reported that there were more than 30 teams walking on the streets to get out the vote and several dozen working the phones throughout the course of the day.
Speaking to The Gazette in the minutes after the victory, a visibly exhausted Housefather said he was frustrated by a dirty campaign waged by his Conservative opponent.
'It was the nastiest election campaign I ever faced,' Housefather said. 'It was a tough election to deal with that, and I will do my best to serve all people in my riding with the conviction they are used to from me.'