Poilievre backs Montreal candidate's call to cut university funding over antisemitism

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has thrown his weight behind withholding federal funding from Canadian universities who don’t do enough to fight antisemitism.

Speaking in French at a news conference in British Columbia on Sunday, Poilievre said public funds should not be used to support hate.

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“We should never give our money to subsidize antisemitism,” he said. “There will not be a cent from my government to subsidize antisemitism, the extremism we see in the streets, the harassment of Canadian Jews, or the terrorist attacks against synagogues. It’s disgusting.”

Earlier in April, Neil Oberman, the Conservative candidate in Montreal’s Mount Royal riding, said in an interview with the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) that universities which fail to act on antisemitism “will not get a single penny from the federal government until they clean up.”

It comes as tensions have risen on Canadian campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza. Montreal universities have seen student encampments, vandalism and legal disputes over pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Oberman, a civil and commercial litigation lawyer at Spiegel Sohmer, and a shareholder in the firm, previously represented some McGill University students who obtained an injunction to limit such demonstrations.

In the interview with the JNS, Oberman called for international students who “are not studying and who are participating actively in order to destroy minorities, communities” to be identified and potentially deported.

“We will first identify them. We will then apply the law through due process. Then, if a tribunal or other regulatory body decides they are not in conformity with their permit or visa, they will be deported,” he said.

Oberman also urged Jewish voters to reconsider their political loyalties, saying: “If the Jews vote for the Liberal Party, they vote for their demise.”

The remarks drew criticism from Mount Royal Liberal candidate Anthony Housefather, who has represented the riding since 2015 and remains the front-runner in this election, according to projections from 338Canada.

“In Mount Royal, all communities know that in me they have a champion. Someone who has fought for their rights for 30 years, not just in the last year. Fought for their right to stay Canadian, fought for their language rights, their religious rights and their right to be whoever they want to be,” he told the Gazette.

Housefather, who was previously appointed by former prime minister Justin Trudeau as the government’s special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism, pointed to the previous federal government’s funding efforts for synagogue security and the Montreal Holocaust Museum.

“My constituents know that I will represent them with passion and with class — and not using insulting and inflammatory rhetoric similar to President Trump,” he added.

Last week, the Trump administration announced the suspension of more than US$2 billion in grants to Harvard University after the institution refused to comply with its demands related campus antisemitism, along with diversity and equity programs.

The Liberal Party, under leader Mark Carney, has made standing up to Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats as one of the key issues of its election campaign. The party has also accused Poilievre of ‘Trump-style politics’ in its political advertising.

Asked about Oberman’s remarks, the Liberal Party referred The Gazette to its election platform, which includes a pledge to criminalize the wilful obstruction of places of worship, schools and community centres, as well as the intimidation of individuals attending those sites.

Projections from 338Canada suggest the Liberals remain on track to win the most seats nationally, despite tightening polls.

Oberman hinted to the JNS that he has aspirations beyond the backbenches.

“When the Conservative Party becomes the next government under Pierre Poilievre, and when I am a Member of Parliament sitting at the cabinet table — because this riding deserves a seat at the big table — it will not be happening,” he said, referring to continued funding for universities he believes have failed to curb antisemitism.

The Conservative Party has not said whether Oberman is being considered for a cabinet post.