MONTREAL — Irwin Cotler, Liberal MP for Montreal’s Mount Royal riding since 1999, has announced officially that he will not seek re-election in 2015.
Cotler, who will be 74 in May, is the Liberals’ human rights critic and was justice minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Paul Martin from 2003-2006.
The former McGill University law professor and international human rights activist said in a Feb. 5 statement: “I will remain a vocal and engaged member of Parliament serving constituents until the next general election. Beyond that, I look forward to remaining active in public life, lecturing and writing on the issues of the day, advancing the causes of human rights and international justice, and advocating on behalf of political prisoners – efforts in which I have been engaged for over 35 years.”
Cotler was first elected in a byelection in 1999 with 92 per cent of the vote, after his predecessor, Sheila Finestone, was appointed to the Senate.
About 36 per cent of Mount Royal’s 99,000 residents are Jew, making it the riding with the second largest number of Jewish voters after the Toronto-area riding of Thornhill.
Mount Royal was held for almost 20 years by former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s late father.
With the growing popularity among Jewish voters of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Cotler’s share of electoral support had declined to 41 per cent in the 2011 general election, with the runner-up Conservative candidate, Saulie Zajdel, coming within 2,200 votes of winning.
Despite many cabinet ministers and other Tories voicing their respect and admiration for Cotler, the Conservatives vigorously campaigned to unseat him during and outside the election period, sometimes resorting to underhanded tactics. For example, the party distributed flyers in 2009 that portrayed the Liberals as weak in fighting anti-Semitism and support for Israel. And in 2012, many Mount Royal constituents were shocked to told by telephone pollsters hired by the Tories that Cotler was about to step down.
Côte St. Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather is the first to indicate publicly he is interested in the Liberal nomination in Mount Royal, a process that reportedly could begin as early as this spring. He is a former Liberal party vice-president.
Cotler’s chief of staff for 10 years, Howard Liebman, put to rest rumours that he would seek the nomination in a statement concurrent with Cotler’s Feb. 5 announcement.
There’s also keen interest about who the Tories will pick. Zajdel, a former Montreal city councillor, is currently facing fraud and corruption charges.
Cotler told The CJN that he decided some time ago that he would not run again, and is making his intention known at least a year ahead of the next election to give those who hope to succeed him maximum time to organize.
“I am one of, if not, the oldest MPs in the House – [Natural Resources Minister] Joe Oliver is about two weeks younger than me,” he said. “I’ve had a good run…
“It’s ironic, but the longer I stayed here [in Ottawa], the more comfortable I became. I came to realize that if you keep focused and have your priorities straight, you can get things done.”
He said he was sorry that Liebman, who had been a student of his, has decided not to seek the nomination because he believes he has the knowledge of the riding and how things work in Ottawa to be a good MP.
Housefather, Cotler said, would also make a good MP, but he will wait to see who else wants the job before and whether he will endorse anyone.
Cotler believes Mount Royal will be a safer Liberal riding than it has been in the last two elections due to the leadership of Justin Trudeau.
“The Trudeau name has a great deal of resonance in this riding. It has a storied history,” he said.
With or without Harper at the helm of the Conservatives, Cotler thinks Israel will not be “the defining issue” it was in Mount Royal in the election three years ago. In any event, Cotler added Liberal policy is really no different than that of the Conservatives on Israel.
Among Cotler’s achievements as a cabinet minister and MP were the legalization of same-sex marriage and initiating the first prosecution under the Canadian War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Act for incitement to genocide in Rwanda. In recent years, he has been particularly active in trying to hold the Iranian regime accountable for incitement to genocide and blatant human rights violations.
Currently, he is advocating for the release of Jonathan Pollard, the former American intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel who received a life sentence in 1987.
Outside of politics, Cotler is best known for his efforts to free Soviet Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky in the 1970s and ’80s, and later South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, as well as for trying to determine the fate of wartime Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
More at home in academia, Cotler always appeared to be a reluctant politician.
“When I first ran in 1999, I viewed coming to Parliament as a temporary sabbatical from being a law professor and human rights lawyer. However, given the support and encouragement of my family, constituents, and parliamentary colleagues, I continued to serve in Parliament, which I consider to be one of the highest forms of public service.”
Speaking of his time in cabinet, Cotler said he is particularly proud of helping craft the Civil Marriage Act, which enabled gays and lesbians to legally marry while guaranteeing the freedom of religious institutions to forgo sanctioning such unions.
He also introduced Canada’s first law to combat human trafficking, made the quashing of wrongful convictions a priority, and democratized the process of Supreme Court of Canada appointments.
Liebman, a lawyer by profession, said he had received encouragement from constituents, party volunteers, community leaders and Cotler himself to stand for the Mount Royal nomination, but decided against it, because he feels being an MP would take too much time away from his three young children.
“Throughout these 10 years, it has been a privilege for me to serve a most distinguished parliamentarian, minister, a leading jurist, a national icon and an internationally renowned scholar-advocate,” he said.
“Prof. Cotler is like a father to me, and I am proud to be treated like a son.”