Liberal power couple back Harper on Mideast

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA -- Liberal power couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz have publicly broken with the Liberal Party line on the Middle East crisis and are turning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper because of his support of Israel.

Mr. Schwartz, a confidante of former prime minister Paul Martin and one of Canada's most influential businessmen as the head of Onex Corp., is one of the eight signatories of an advertisement placed in a newspaper in Cornwall, Ont., where the Conservatives are holding caucus meetings.

The ad welcomes the caucus to Cornwall and expresses appreciation to Mr. Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and Conservative MPs for "standing by" Israel. It also lauds other G8 leaders and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for their stands on the war.

Mr. Schwartz's wife, Ms. Reisman, says she is leaving the party to support the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060804.LIBERALS04/TPStory/

Wonder what the next chapter will bring?

[Spazito]

1. Awwww, too bad, NOT, imo

If they are leaving the party because of Israel then they were only party supporters on the surface anyway, the kind of supporters who always go which ever way the wind blows.

When the faux cons are forced to moderate their view re Israel because of continued poll slippage, will this couple still support them, I suspect not.

[Hoping4Change]

2. Welll its no mystery now where their loyalty lies.

What might seem peachy for Israel is certainly not in Canada's interest.

[tuvor]

3. Globe: "Oh, and we almost forgot to mention...They're Jewish."

It's not until the 21st paragraph out of 23 that any mention is made that this couple is Jewish, and even then it's written as though it had been mentioned already in the article.

The Liberal Party has traditionally enjoyed strong support in Canada's Jewish community, but now there are questions as to whether Mr. Harper's stand may win their backing. The movement of prominent lifetime Liberals like Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Reisman suggests that is a very real possibility.

Seeing as how that might have had something to do with their decision to back Harper's stance with Israel/against Lebanon, you'd think it'd warrant being noted earlier in the article.

Why would G&M bother to do that? If I can notice how it's an awkwardly-written story at best, their editors surely should.

[CHIMO]

4. Wouldn't

Have anything to do with advertising. No, never.