NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and candidate Craig Sauve, left, campaign Sept. 6 in Montreal. A federal by-election will be held in the riding of Lasalle-Emard-Verdun Sept. 16.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Conservative MPs attacked the NDP Sunday over a Montreal by-election flyer that shows the NDP candidate in front of a Palestinian flag, criticism the NDP quickly dismissed as ludicrous.
Several Conservative MPs and staffers posted the campaign image showing NDP candidate Craig Sauvé in front of a Palestinian flag, which the NDP confirmed was used on the cover of a campaign leaflet. The flyer says in French that a vote for Mr. Sauvé is a vote “to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
In one post, Conservative MP Marty Morantz asks why the flyer features a Palestinian flag and not a Canadian one.
“Why did Jagmeet Singh approve this?” he said of the NDP Leader.
The NDP defended the image and criticized both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their positions on the Israel-Hamas war.
The NDP released a statement saying the party has been clear in its support of a ceasefire and the release of all hostages “because we believe in protecting both Israeli and Palestinian lives.” The NDP response included an image of Mr. Poilievre posing with the Israeli flag on Parliament Hill.
The statement also said the NDP condemns “Pierre Poilievre’s unconditional support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s push for war regardless of how many innocent Israeli and Palestinian people die,” in reference to the Israeli Prime Minister.
“We condemn Justin Trudeau’s mealy-mouthed weak refusal to take action in support of a ceasefire and steps toward lasting peace,” it added.
Regarding the flyer, the NDP said the leaflet also included a maple leaf and that Mr. Sauvé frequently poses with Canadian and Quebec flags.
“It’s ludicrous to suggest that when a politician is seen with another flag it’s un-Canadian, whether that’s the Ukrainian flag, Israeli flag, Palestinian flag or other nations,” said the statement from the NDP, which was not attributed to a specific spokesperson.
Mr. Singh and his caucus of NDP MPs are scheduled to meet this week in Montreal for a strategy session ahead of Parliament’s return on Sept. 16. That same day, a by-election will take place in the Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, where the NDP is hoping to win the riding long-held by the Liberals.
A by-election will also take place that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona, where the NDP and the Conservatives are in a battle to win the seat after the NDP’s Daniel Blaikie resigned from the House of Commons in March.
The Prime Minister is meeting the Liberal caucus this week in Nanaimo, B.C.
The Nanaimo meeting will be the first in-person meeting of the national Liberal caucus since the party was defeated in the traditional party stronghold of Toronto-St. Paul’s in a June by-election.
The NDP caucus is meeting in person for the first time since Mr. Singh announced last week that he has pulled his party out of its supply-and-confidence agreement with the minority Liberal government.
Government policy on the Israel-Hamas war has been one of the most high-profile sources of tension between the Liberals and the NDP. In March, an NDP motion on the issue threatened to split the Liberal caucus before the NDP agreed to a last-minute amendment that removed a clause calling on Canada to recognize a Palestinian state.