Bernier defends right-hand man after accusations of anti-Semitism
B’nai Brith cites online work over the years
• Maxime Bernier, leader of the nascent People’s Party of Canada, is defending his right-hand man Martin Masse amid accusations the top party official fomented “antisemitism, misogyny, and racism” in his past writings.
Jewish-Canadian group B’nai Brith Canada released findings from their “independent investigation” of Masse on Wednesday, based on a review of his work for a defunct online media outlet Le Québécois Libre, which published libertarian commentary until 2016. The views Masse expressed in his articles, most of them from more than 15 years ago, include concerns about the actions of Israel and American interventionism in the Middle East, and defences of figures such as France’s controversial Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Less than an hour after the group published a press release, linking to more than a dozen articles from the outlet, the Conservative Party was accusing Bernier of “pandering” to people with hateful prejudices. Both Bernier and Masse, meanwhile, speculated B’nai Brith may have had political motivations.
“Maybe they want to do that because they’re supporting another party,” Bernier told National Post. “I think, doing that, they are not doing a favour to their organization. Because it’s not credible.”
“The statements, to me, are totally ridiculous,” Masse said. “They exaggerate and distort stuff that I wrote like 15, 20 years ago and they take citations out of context to make me say things that I did not say. And especially implying that I’m some kind of neo-Nazi. It’s just, like, totally crazy.”
Still, the Jewish-Canadian group said it holds a “lengthy dossier” of Masse’s comments, beyond those linked to in the media release. It pointed out that Le Pen, for example, has been convicted multiple times of denying the Holocaust, a crime under French law. Masse’s defence of the politician had been published in 2002.
“As a non-profit, nonpartisan human rights organization, B’nai Brith is well known for regularly identifying the promoters of hatred, racism and antisemitism from all sectors of Canadian society,” CEO Michael Mostyn said in a statement to the Post. “One would expect that the leader of a federal party would immediately expunge senior staff members who have expressed such radical and repulsive views when it is called to their attention. We were shocked that, upon presenting this information to Mr. Bernier, he defended his top adviser, Mr. Masse.”
Masse does not dispute that some of the views published by his website were controversial.
Masse had written opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that were sympathetic to the Palestinian view, accused Israel of co-opting Zionism as “just another fancy justification for killing and displacing Palestinians,” argued the philosophy of libertarianism shouldn’t necessitate a pro-Israel position, and accused Western countries of worsening the situation in the Middle East with their interventions. He had accused groups such as B’nai Brith, in 2000, of being “ethnic barons” preoccupied with political power. In a 2008 article that decried “femi-fascists,” he expressed opposition to the concept of forcing men-only drinking establishments in Quebec to allow women, saying there was a double standard since women’s gyms that barred men were still operating.
But Masse said his comments had largely been taken out of context. For example, B’nai Brith wrote that he had tried to discredit LGBTQ groups in publishing a contributor’s article, in 2002, that argued against the politics of the French gay rights movement. “I did attack LGBTQ groups, because I don’t think they represent me as a gay man,” he said. “They imply that I’m anti-gay. No. This is crazy. I’m gay.”
Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Kent admitted he had not yet dug into much of the literature when he spoke with the Post Wednesday afternoon, but said he trusts the research capacity of the B’nai Brith organization.
“I think Max is pandering to the wrong people by defending the exposed hateful prejudices of his policy adviser,” Kent said. “Unfortunately it does seem to be a confirmation of sorts that perhaps it’s a reflection of desperation for votes, perhaps it’s an unwillingness to make hard decisions in a party which is struggling to find its feet.”
Asked for comment on Kent’s assertions, Bernier laughed. “The racist people are not welcome in the party and that won’t change. That’s crazy,” he said, launching into a defence of his party’s ideas. “I’m not surprised, because our party’s doing very well,” he added.
“It’s not a question of pandering to anyone today,” said Masse. “It’s a question of, we’ve been working together very closely for 15 years. That’s why he’s defending me.”
Bernier’s party is running candidates in byelections later this month.