A solitary figure in a blue T-shirt, a tall, slender man in his 50s wearing sunglasses, walked up to a crowd of several hundred pro-Hamas demonstrators. They were blocking Dundas and Yonge streets, shouting pro-Hamas slogans and trashing the Israeli flag.

Our man was visiting Toronto, heard the noise on the street, and came out to confront the crowd. He later said he “took exception to the fact that supporters of a banned terror cult were allowed to brazenly wear their symbols, block streets and frighten Jewish neighbours”.

Standing right in front of the pro-Hamas crowd, he started chanting “Free Palestine – from Hamas!”

Predictably, that line brought about out a quick and angry response.

Our friend was confronted and surrounded by masked thugs wearing Hamas “assassination” symbols. He was kicked, pushed and threatened until the Toronto city police finally stepped in.

And who did they arrest?  Our solo counter-protestor, of course. He was told that police received a complaint he was “disturbing the peace”. He refused to leave, so he was cuffed and bundled into the back of a police car and spent a few hours in a police cell before being released, without charges or conditions.

“The police were professional and courteous,” he posted later on X. “My complaint is not with them, but with the political cowards who arrest peaceful democrats, and not the terror enthusiasts who seize our street at will – this all in the name of ‘tolerance’.”

“Political cowards”. That’s strong language, and maybe something you hear often – but it’s certainly not something you expect to hear from a Canadian politician at any level.

That’s Dominic Cardy for you. Yes, the former New Brunswick cabinet minister was the man in the blue T-shirt last Thursday standing up to the pro-Hamas crowd. Anyone who has followed his political career over the years knows that he is unafraid to call things as he sees them. Or to step up when it’s the right thing to do.

Mr. Cardy is Interim Leader of the Canadian Future Party, which is planning on running candidates in the upcoming September 9^th federal by -elections in Montreal and Winnipeg.

There’s no doubt that Mr. Cardy is the right person to lead a new federal political party designed to shake things up and fill a void that appears to be wide and growing in the centre of the political spectrum. Here’s an example of why so many of us feel that way:

“I’ve been asked why I turned up, by myself, to counter this pro-Hamas rally in Toronto,” he posted afterwards on X.

“Simple: I’d be ashamed of myself if I hadn’t. I tell other people to stand up for their rights. I try to follow my own advice. Stand up for our democracy. Against extremists of all stripes.”

There’s what’s right about last Thursday’s event: a Canadian political leader “walking the talk”. Not only calling out a wrong situation, but stepping up and leading by example, even when it’s uncomfortable, or even dangerous, to do so.

Can you see a leader of any other federal political party saying that or doing what he did? Me neither.

Mr. Cardy was one of the first people who jumped on board when a few of us started a centrist, federal activist group called Centre Ice Canadians in 2022. As chair of our Advisory Board, Mr. Cardy helped us quickly grow our platform across Canada from coast-to-coast.

In September of 2023 we wound-up Centre Ice Canadians. Mr. Cardy and his wife, Julie Smith, then took leadership roles in taking the base that we’d built at Centre Ice and launching our new party – and with the help of a strong and growing team of volunteers across Canada, they got it done.

 Last Thursday wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Mr. Cardy walking the talk. And as we roll out our new federal party shortly, we’re pretty sure it won’t be the last.

Rick Peterson is an Edmonton businessman and was co-founder of Centre Ice Canadians. He is a founding member of the Canadian Future Party.