Today, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights released its official report, “Heightened Antisemitism in Canada and How to Confront it.” The Report extensively quotes with approval the testimony of our Chair, Mark Sandler, and the testimony and written briefs of our member organizations.
Many of the Committee’s recommendations track those made by ALCCA’s members and other community leaders. The report documents the pervasive antisemitism in Canada, particularly on university and college campuses, and strongly endorses the robust use of the IHRA definition of antisemitism to guide codes of conduct, institutional behaviour and policies. It sends a strong message about the use of the criminal law to combat hate activities and extremism, a major theme of our submissions, while also endorsing the National Respectful Dialogue initiative that represents one of our ongoing activities.
Our next newsletter will outline the report’s findings and recommendations in more detail. The ALCCA Board wishes to thank all those individuals and organizations who provided testimony and written submissions to support the Committee’s work, particularly those students who came forward to describe their experiences on Canadian campuses. They represent our future.
We also extend our thank you to those Parliamentarians who supported this study, and contributed to the final product. We now look to governments at all levels to heed the findings and recommendations in the report, and work with us to alleviate antisemitism and all forms of hate.
You can also access the report on the The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights' website.
About ALCCA
The Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism (ALCCA) is a coalition of 49 organizations and individuals dedicated to addressing the rise of antisemitism in Canada. The Alliance was formed leading up to the May 2024 Parliamentary Hearings on Antisemitism in Canada that led to today's report. The Alliance's mission now extends to a range of initiatives to address antisemitism in Canada.