Part 1: Analysis of the Justice Committee’s Report on Antisemitism
This week, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights issued its report on antisemitism in Canada. This was closely followed by a report by the Committee somewhat differently populated, on Islamophobia. The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois issued dissenting reports in relation to each study. However, both parties endorsed key recommendations contained in the antisemitism report, including the importance of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.
What the Antisemitism Report Says
The report vindicates the deep concerns expressed by the mainstream Jewish community about levels of antisemitism in Canada, particularly on our campuses, and makes 19 recommendations to combat antisemitism. The report represents a strong endorsement of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and explains how anti-Zionism intersects with antisemitism to demonize Zionism and all Zionists. The Report carefully distinguishes, as the IHRA definition does, between criticism of Israel (which is not antisemitic) and hate speech that labels all Zionists (who include 91% of Canadian Jews) as evil and racist.
Recommendation 19, in many ways, captures the most significant message conveyed by the report, and the issue that is at the epicentre of modern antisemitism.
Recommendation 19:
“That the Government of Canada reiterate that, under section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that “[e]veryone has the following fundamental freedoms: freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association,” Canadians have the right to be Zionists, and that it is unacceptable in Canadian society to target Zionists or to deny them fair and equitable access to public spaces for the sole reason that they are Zionists.”
ALCCA was originally created to ensure that the House of Commons Committee obtain a full and accurate record of antisemitism in Canada, in all its manifestations, and that it acquire an understanding of the extremism and radicalism (foreign and domestic) that drives much of what we experience, recognize the inadequacy of existing responses to antisemitism, and make some meaningful recommendations for change. The report does all that.
Our members should be proud of their contributions to this report. Almost half of the written submissions came from ALCCA members, and the reader will see extensive references to our testimony and submissions throughout the report.
I encourage everyone to read the report in its entirety. It is a sobering indictment of the poisoned environment Jews face in Canada, particularly on university and college campuses. I enclose the report’s recommendations here:
The Conservatives, in dissent, adopt much of the report’s contents, but reflect the division that exists both in government and in our community over whether diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) should be reformed to be truly inclusive of all groups at risk, including Jews (the majority report) or should be abandoned altogether (the dissenting report).
Regardless of one’s perspective on this issue, the messaging is unmistakable:
The Jewish community is entitled to equal protection against hate and discrimination;
That equal protection does not currently exist, in part, because of how DEI has been interpreted and applied;
Equal protection includes recognition, acknowledgement, and respect for our core identities as Jews, which for the vast majority of us include our connection to Israel.
The report also endorses the National Respectful Dialogue initiative that commenced with Muslim and Jewish law students at the University of Ottawa and is now being pursued by ALCCA at a national level. It involves recognition of the importance of informed discussion on controversial issues by those who reject hatred against Jews, Muslims and others, as well as the celebration of, or incitement to, violence or barbarity.
Community members, dissatisfied with the responses to rampant antisemitism by governments, law enforcement and educational institutions, will question the usefulness of the report. It is undoubtedly important that the report documents, in unequivocal terms, the levels of antisemitism being experienced by our community. However, its ultimate importance will be determined by what is done with it. It provides all of us, through its recommendations, with one means to measure the response, particularly by the federal government, to the report’s recommendations, and to make the government accountable for any failure to adopt and implement key recommendations as a priority.
This isn’t just about the federal government. The Bloc Quebecois challenged the Committee’s jurisdiction to address matters of provincial jurisdiction at all. However, in my view, the report legitimately articulates some key expectations for provincial and municipal governments and educational institutions and should be utilized to make them accountable as well for any failure to take decisive action. We need to see the political will to act decisively and unequivocally in reversing existing, unprecedented levels of antisemitism.
Pressing governments and educational institutions to take action cannot fall solely, or even primarily, on the shoulders of the Jewish community. Extremism and radicalism are Canadian issues, not just Jewish issues. This is another reason why ALCCA represents a coalition of Jewish and non-Jewish community organizations. When extremists burn Canadian flags, and chant death to Israel, death to Canada, death to the United States, our society is under attack, not just Jews.
The recent publication of the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, and the Committee’s report on antisemitism, viewed together, provide tools for governments and institutions to do the right thing. We must insist that every government and every educational institution, with reference to these documents, develop and publicly disclose what they intend to do to address rampant antisemitism on an urgent basis, while specifically addressing the report’s recommendations.
I urge every Canadian of good will to ask your political representatives, and the administrators of your (or your children’s) schools, universities and colleges a simple question, “what are you personally going to do right now to combat antisemitism?"
In Part 2 of this content series, I address the House of Commons Justice Committee’s report on Islamophobia.
About the Author
Mark Sandler, LL.B., LL.D. (honoris causa), ALCCA’s Chair, is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal lawyers and pro bono advocates. He has been involved in combatting antisemitism for over 40 years. He has lectured extensively on legal remedies to combat hate and has promoted respectful Muslim-Jewish, Sikh-Jewish and Black-Jewish dialogues. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees and in the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions on issues relating to antisemitism and hate activities. He is a former member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, a three-time elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, and recipient of the criminal profession’s highest honour, the G. Arthur Martin Medal, for his contributions to the administration of criminal justice.