Canada must insist French President Emmanuel Macron and French politicians exclude the radical left La France Insoumise party (‘France Unbowed’ or LFI) from any role in the new government. If not, Canada should place sanctions on France. French voters delivered a shock election result on July 7 on their second and final round to elect remaining National Assembly deputies. The leftist-green Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) went from second place in the first round to first place in this final vote. The NFP won 182 Assembly seats, far from the absolute majority of 289 required out of a total 577 seats. President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular centrist alliance secured 168 seats. French voters voted this way out of fear of the so-called “Far right” party of Rassemblement National (RN) Party, or National Rally. Mainstream parties encouraged strategic voting across the country to keep out the RN at all costs. However, the voters behaviour allowed NFP to rise and with it hard left parties, including ‘France Unbowed.’ French voters feared that the NR may have come in first place if they did not engage in strategic voting. Mainstream countries in Western Europe have imposed a ‘cordon sanitaire’ (sanitary cordon) around parties deemed on the extreme right to prevent them from forming governments or achieving political success. Western European parties justifiably exclude parties too close to past fascist parties or neo-Nazi groups. National Rally emerged from the National Front, led by the father of the current NR leader. The original National Front flirted too closely with remnants of France’s Second World War Vichy Regime that collaborated with Nazi Germany. The Vichy Regime also facilitated the Holocaust. The original Le Pen notoriously called the Holocaust a “detail of history” to the horror of France’s large Jewish community.National Rally attempted to distance itself from its antiSemitic and quasi-fascist legacy. Instead, it focused on protecting French culture and curbing immigration. National Rally — to everyone’s surprise — adopted a strong pro-Israel and pro-Jewish stance in the face of the Gaza War. Many Jews took were encouraged by this re-alignment and supported NR. However, while strongly opposing the LFI over its antiSemitism, many French Jews still do not trust the NR. Jews always face the tragedy of not knowing who to trust. The NR’s changes are welcome. However, it must prove it purged its antisemitic and fascist roots before deserving of full trust. European voters face the conundrum where mainstream parties ignore problems associated with immigration and adopt elitist thinking on national identity, so voters feel they must support "far right" parties. Mainstream parties too often label parties that stray outside elitist consensus as ‘far right.’ French far-left parties like the LFI promote the tired old “soak the rich” mentality and predictably promote massive tax and spend policies. They also repudiate free trade agreements and economic liberalism. LFI — to the interest of Canadians — wants France to withdraw from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that created free trade between Canada and the European Union. Canada should not censure and sanction France for including LFI on economic grounds or even that LFI would have France withdraw from NATO. Politicians should never exclude parties lightly. France must exclude LFI because LFI flirts too closely to overt anti-semitism and support for the terrorist organization Hamas. LFI has not limited itself to simply showing sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza or calling for a Palestinian state. The party would be holding legitimately mainstream — albeit often misguided — views if they did. Canada’s NDP, Bloc, and Green Parties hold these positions as do some within the Liberal Party of Canada. LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon — a left-wing firebrand — stunned other French lawmakers including from the France’s mainstream left — for steadfastly refusing to condemn the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. He also declined to show sympathy with the Israeli civilian victims of those deadly attacks. LFI was roundly condemned for referring to Hamas as ‘the Palestinian armed forces’ suggesting an equivalency between the professional Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (that is accountable to the Israeli Knesset and Israeli courts) and an Arab Palestinian terrorist group that has no problem slipping in and out of civilian and even press attire in combat operations. Rima Hassan — a French-Palestinian lawyer who has become one of LFI’s most prominent figures — has called Hamas’s October 7 onslaught a “legitimate action.” French politicians should understand the gravity of providing legitimacy to an organization that France, the European Union, and indeed much of the civilized world has branded as terrorist. France makes it illegal to support Hamas or any other terrorist entity. Canada must call upon Europe to impose a new ‘cordon sanitaire’ around parties that endorse or downplay terrorism. Hassan did not run in the recent election, but it was noted she stood next to LFI Leader Melenchon — garbed in a Palestinian keffiyeh of course — during his concluding speech after the first ballot. The American Jewish Committee in Europe released a poll showing an astounding 92% of French Jews believe France Unbowed has contributed to rising antisemitism. Many are considering moving to Israel out of fear for their safety. Macron is not bound by anything in the French constitution to seek to include LFI in its government. In fact, he is not bound to even ask the broader NFP coalition to help form the government, despite winning the most seats. He would be bound by convention to include the NFP at least given their showing. Macron could easily cobble together a moderate coalition excludes LFI, as well as the National Rally if he still wants to do that. No matter what, Canada must use all its diplomatic muscle to implore France to exclude the antisemitic, pro-terror LFI. Joseph Quesnel is a policy commentator based in Nova Scotia.
Canada must insist French President Emmanuel Macron and French politicians exclude the radical left La France Insoumise party (‘France Unbowed’ or LFI) from any role in the new government. If not, Canada should place sanctions on France. French voters delivered a shock election result on July 7 on their second and final round to elect remaining National Assembly deputies. The leftist-green Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) went from second place in the first round to first place in this final vote. The NFP won 182 Assembly seats, far from the absolute majority of 289 required out of a total 577 seats. President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular centrist alliance secured 168 seats. French voters voted this way out of fear of the so-called “Far right” party of Rassemblement National (RN) Party, or National Rally. Mainstream parties encouraged strategic voting across the country to keep out the RN at all costs. However, the voters behaviour allowed NFP to rise and with it hard left parties, including ‘France Unbowed.’ French voters feared that the NR may have come in first place if they did not engage in strategic voting. Mainstream countries in Western Europe have imposed a ‘cordon sanitaire’ (sanitary cordon) around parties deemed on the extreme right to prevent them from forming governments or achieving political success. Western European parties justifiably exclude parties too close to past fascist parties or neo-Nazi groups. National Rally emerged from the National Front, led by the father of the current NR leader. The original National Front flirted too closely with remnants of France’s Second World War Vichy Regime that collaborated with Nazi Germany. The Vichy Regime also facilitated the Holocaust. The original Le Pen notoriously called the Holocaust a “detail of history” to the horror of France’s large Jewish community.National Rally attempted to distance itself from its antiSemitic and quasi-fascist legacy. Instead, it focused on protecting French culture and curbing immigration. National Rally — to everyone’s surprise — adopted a strong pro-Israel and pro-Jewish stance in the face of the Gaza War. Many Jews took were encouraged by this re-alignment and supported NR. However, while strongly opposing the LFI over its antiSemitism, many French Jews still do not trust the NR. Jews always face the tragedy of not knowing who to trust. The NR’s changes are welcome. However, it must prove it purged its antisemitic and fascist roots before deserving of full trust. European voters face the conundrum where mainstream parties ignore problems associated with immigration and adopt elitist thinking on national identity, so voters feel they must support "far right" parties. Mainstream parties too often label parties that stray outside elitist consensus as ‘far right.’ French far-left parties like the LFI promote the tired old “soak the rich” mentality and predictably promote massive tax and spend policies. They also repudiate free trade agreements and economic liberalism. LFI — to the interest of Canadians — wants France to withdraw from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that created free trade between Canada and the European Union. Canada should not censure and sanction France for including LFI on economic grounds or even that LFI would have France withdraw from NATO. Politicians should never exclude parties lightly. France must exclude LFI because LFI flirts too closely to overt anti-semitism and support for the terrorist organization Hamas. LFI has not limited itself to simply showing sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza or calling for a Palestinian state. The party would be holding legitimately mainstream — albeit often misguided — views if they did. Canada’s NDP, Bloc, and Green Parties hold these positions as do some within the Liberal Party of Canada. LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon — a left-wing firebrand — stunned other French lawmakers including from the France’s mainstream left — for steadfastly refusing to condemn the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. He also declined to show sympathy with the Israeli civilian victims of those deadly attacks. LFI was roundly condemned for referring to Hamas as ‘the Palestinian armed forces’ suggesting an equivalency between the professional Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (that is accountable to the Israeli Knesset and Israeli courts) and an Arab Palestinian terrorist group that has no problem slipping in and out of civilian and even press attire in combat operations. Rima Hassan — a French-Palestinian lawyer who has become one of LFI’s most prominent figures — has called Hamas’s October 7 onslaught a “legitimate action.” French politicians should understand the gravity of providing legitimacy to an organization that France, the European Union, and indeed much of the civilized world has branded as terrorist. France makes it illegal to support Hamas or any other terrorist entity. Canada must call upon Europe to impose a new ‘cordon sanitaire’ around parties that endorse or downplay terrorism. Hassan did not run in the recent election, but it was noted she stood next to LFI Leader Melenchon — garbed in a Palestinian keffiyeh of course — during his concluding speech after the first ballot. The American Jewish Committee in Europe released a poll showing an astounding 92% of French Jews believe France Unbowed has contributed to rising antisemitism. Many are considering moving to Israel out of fear for their safety. Macron is not bound by anything in the French constitution to seek to include LFI in its government. In fact, he is not bound to even ask the broader NFP coalition to help form the government, despite winning the most seats. He would be bound by convention to include the NFP at least given their showing. Macron could easily cobble together a moderate coalition excludes LFI, as well as the National Rally if he still wants to do that. No matter what, Canada must use all its diplomatic muscle to implore France to exclude the antisemitic, pro-terror LFI. Joseph Quesnel is a policy commentator based in Nova Scotia.
