Alghabra Denies He Ever Lobbied to Keep Hezbollah Legal

Former Liberal cabinet minister Omar Alghabra is pushing back against criticism of his appointment to the federal government’s new Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion, which has been tasked in part with tackling antisemitism.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Alghabra of having personally lobbied him to “keep Hezbollah legal.”

Alghabra now says the allegation is “obviously false,” calling it “absurd political gamesmanship.”

He argues that after more than 20 years in public life, there is no evidence of him ever advocating such a position, and says that if Poilievre truly believed the allegation, it should have been raised while Alghabra was serving in cabinet.

Alghabra also rejected criticism based on his former involvement with the Canadian Arab Federation, while stressing that his own record includes publicly describing Hamas as a terrorist organization and condemning antisemitism.

*_Which raises an obvious question: Does that mean that if the accusations are proven to be true, he'll agree to resign from the council immediately?_*

Source: The Hill Times