51 Facts About Anthony Housefather

From 2015 to 2019, Housefather served as the Chair of the Justice and Human Rights Committee.

Anthony Housefather was first elected to office in 1994 as a municipal councillor in the Town of Hampstead.

Anthony Housefather was first elected to Parliament in the Canadian federal election of October 2015.

On February 16,2016, Anthony Housefather was unanimously elected Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Anthony Housefather returned to competitive swimming in 2010, and earned seven medals in swimming masters events at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and five at the 2017 Maccabiah Games.

Anthony Housefather was considered intellectually gifted as a child, and attended McGill University's Summer School for Gifted and Talented Children at the age of 11.

Anthony Housefather went to Herzliah High School, and is fluent in Hebrew.

Anthony Housefather became active in the Mount Royal Liberal Association as a teenager.

Anthony Housefather was elected as Policy Vice President of the Young Liberals of Canada's Quebec wing in 1991, and in 1992 was elected to the Liberal Party's national executive as Policy Vice President of the Young Liberals of Canada.

When his term on the national executive ended, Anthony Housefather ran for Hampstead Town Council and was elected in 1994, defeating two other candidates.

Anthony Housefather was re-elected in 1998, and served in this capacity until 2001, when the Quebec government forced all cities and towns on the Island of Montreal to merge.

Anthony Housefather was involved in organizations working on behalf of Quebec's English-speaking minority in the 1990s.

Anthony Housefather served on the Board of Directors, and then as the Executive, of Alliance Quebec.

Anthony Housefather was elected President of Alliance Quebec in 2000 and served until 2001, when he ran for office in the new mega-city of Montreal following the forced mergers.

Anthony Housefather was alone amongst the three elected Councillors in Cote Saint-Luc-Hampstead-Montreal West to support the demerger of the three communities.

Anthony Housefather was a member of the Hampstead Demerger Committee and the Montreal West Demerger Committee.

Anthony Housefather was a very popular and well-respected Mayor, and was re-elected by acclamation to a second term as Mayor of Cote Saint-Luc on October 2,2009, in advance of a November 1,2009, vote.

Anthony Housefather was acclaimed again on October 4,2013, in advance of a November 4,2013, vote.

Anthony Housefather led the fight by bilingual municipalities against the Parti Quebecois' government's Bill 14, which amongst other things would have deprived many Quebec municipalities of bilingual status.

Anthony Housefather drafted and presented a brief with Town of Mount Royal Mayor Philippe Roy at the National Assembly of Quebec on Bill 14 on March 11,2013.

Anthony Housefather held a rally at Cote Saint-Luc City Hall for religious tolerance, and led in the opposition to the PQ's Charter of Values which sought to bar any employee from wearing religious gear in schools, hospitals, municipalities and provincial government.

Anthony Housefather worked with Councillor Dida Berku and environmental groups to help preserve the Meadowbrook Golf Course as a green space.

Anthony Housefather was a member of the island-wide Montreal agglomeration council and the agglomeration's Public Security Commission.

When Liberal Party of Canada MP Irwin Cotler announced he would not run in the 2015 federal election in the Mount Royal riding, Anthony Housefather was supported by most of the elected officials in the riding when he declared his intention to run.

Anthony Housefather said his 20 successful years in municipal politics were excellent preparation for the role of MP.

Anthony Housefather ran a vigorous door-to-door campaign, and managed to assemble support from a wide variety of communities within the riding as well as the majority of elected officials at the municipal and school board election.

However, Anthony Housefather debated against Conservative candidate Robert Libman on CTV and Radio Shalom, and all three candidates debated on CJAD.

Anthony Housefather was profiled as one of 10 rookie MPs to watch in the new parliament.

Anthony Housefather was again reelected in Mount Royal with the highest percentage of votes in the riding since 2006.

Later that month, Anthony Housefather earned international media attention for a speech he delivered in support of an anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions motion put forward in the House of Commons.

On March 24,2016, Anthony Housefather echoed Foreign Minister Stephane Dion's criticism of the UN Human Rights Council's decision to appoint University of Western Ontario law professor Michael Lynk as its Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine.

Anthony Housefather received considerable acclaim for his chairing of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, with committee members from all parties praising his handling of the difficult committee hearings on the assisted dying bill C-14.

Anthony Housefather helped lead several unanimous reports through the committee, including the Human Trafficking in Canada Report, Report to Better Support Mental Health for Jurors, and Access to the Justice System including via Legal Aid and the Court Challenges Program.

Anthony Housefather led the fight in passing the Bill S-201, An Act to prohibit and prevent genetic discrimination.

On December 12,2019, with MP Rodger Cuzner no longer a sitting Member of the House of Commons, Anthony Housefather took on the role of reciting a poem and parody of the Night Before Christmas that took good-humoured jabs at political rivals just before the House of Commons rose for their annual holiday break.

In 2021, Anthony Housefather assumed the chairmanship of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group and in 2022 the role of vice-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.

Mr Anthony Housefather has been active on the issue of bilingualism and the protection of minority language rights.

In February 2016, Anthony Housefather relayed the support of the constituents in his riding for the Cavendish Boulevard extension between Cote St Luc and St Laurent in the House of Commons.

In May, Anthony Housefather announced that over 270 summer jobs had been created for students in the riding, with more than double the number of jobs created than in 2015.

Anthony Housefather has written several opinion pieces for Canadian newspapers, and has been interviewed on local and national news networks, sharing his views on subjects including his experience as a member of parliament, minority language issues, and his support of more permissive surrogacy laws in Canada.

In November 2020, Anthony Housefather published an op-ed in CNN alongside his co-members of the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Combatting Online Antisemitism.

In 2021, Anthony Housefather published an op-ed in the National Post discussing the need for a new independent institution in Canada to combat online disinformation.

In May 2022, Anthony Housefather published an op-ed in the Montreal Gazette expressing his concern with the bill.

Anthony Housefather later joined Rosemary Barton on Rosemary Barton Live to discuss his concerns with the legislation.

Anthony Housefather was the Chair of The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights which, on March 13,2019, voted to adjourn rather than debate whether Jody Wilson-Raybould should reappear before the committee to provide additional testimony on the SNC-Lavalin affair and, on March 19,2019, ended the study into the affair without calling further witnesses.

In February 2019, Anthony Housefather apologized after suggesting during multiple media interviews that Jody Wilson-Raybould was likely shuffled for her inability to speak French.

In May 2018, Anthony Housefather distanced himself from his own government and strongly disagreed with Justin Trudeau, when he made a statement that condemned the Israeli military for using excessive force against unarmed civilians and called for an independent investigation into Israel, after an Israeli sniper shot a Canadian physician, Dr Tarek Loubani in Gaza.

On January 19,2024, Anthony Housefather appeared on CBC's Power and Politics and stated that Canada should categorically reject South Africa's genocide claim against Israel while saying that Israel was merely "defending itself".

Anthony Housefather was a competitive swimmer in his teens, and then a competitive water polo player.

In July and August 2013, Anthony Housefather won seven medals, five silver medals and two bronze medals, in the Masters category in swimming at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Anthony Housefather won five medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals, in a number of Masters swimming events at the 2017 Maccabiah Games.