Canada’s “Crisis Of Antisemitism”
Prime Minister Mark Carney finally delivered a long overdue public statement on the unsettling spike of antisemitic incidents in Canada.
On June 1, in a candid speech at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he condemned these assaults, acknowledged that the Jewish community faces “a surge of antisemitism to levels not seen in the postwar period,” and announced the formation of a ministerial council “to combat racism and hate in all its forms.”
He made his announcement amid complaints by Jewish organizations that the federal government has not taken sufficiently strong measures to protect Jewish Canadians. Jews, comprising one percent of Canada’s population, are the victims of more than two-thirds of all religiously motivated hate crimes in this country.
Last year, B’nai Brith Canada recorded about 6,800 antisemitic incidents, the highest number in almost 50 years.
Antisemitism has risen dramatically in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia since Hamas’ one-day invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. This atrocity triggered the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and led to the current war in Lebanon pitting Israel against Hezbollah, Iran’s principal proxy in the Middle East.
Shortly after Carney’s appearance in Toronto, the city with Canada’s largest Jewish community, The Gazette, a Montreal daily, published a story symptomatic of the times. It reported that Dr. Emmanuel Moss, the chief of cardiac surgery at the Jewish General Hospital, had resigned and planned to move to Atlanta, Georgia, in September. He ascribed his decision, in part, to rising antisemitism in Montreal.
While Moss declined to be interviewed or to explain his reasons for leaving Montreal, sources close to him told The Gazette that he and his family had “grown disillusioned with growing antisemitism in Montreal and what they viewed as a failure by authorities to crack down on incidents of Jew hatred – from physical assaults on Jews to vandalism of Jewish-owned businesses and the firebombing of synagogue entrances, as well as the firing of bullets at a yeshiva.”
According to the daily, Moss is the second high-profile Montreal Jew to leave the city following a sharp increase in documented antisemitic incidents in the past three years. Concordia University professor Gad Saad left Montreal to accept a position at the University of Mississippi.
In the wake of Carney’s speech, a man identified as Steven Luu tried to firebomb Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, a synagogue in the Westmount neigthborhood of Montreal. Luu, 38, faces six charges, including arson and possession of incendiary and explosive materials.
Carney, in a post on X, condemned the incident. “I am appalled by the attempted arson of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom … I am relieved nobody was injured and that a suspect has been apprehended. Across our country, antisemitism has surged. Nothing can justify the hate, discrimination and violence that Jewish Canadians are experiencing right now. It is up to all of us to name this hate and confront it.”
Carney was acutely aware that antisemitism has spun out of control when he decided to focus on this problem at Holy Blossom Temple.
In his speech, he was remarkably frank.
“Across our country, antisemitism has surged to levels not seen ing the post-war period,” he said, citing fire-bombs thrown at synagogues and community centers, bullets fired at Jewish schools, and threats levelled at Jewish-owned businesses.
Describing these attacks as a “crisis of antisemitism,” Carney said they threaten Canada’s pluralistic identity.
Carney said that the government will “always protect the inalienable right of the Jewish people to live openly in freedom, safety and dignity. Protection is fundamental, but not sufficient. The Jewish community must be able to flourish in every aspect of Canadian society.”
He added that Canada is a nation where Jewish Canadians “can be visibly, fully, joyfully Jewish in public life.”
Carney disclosed that the newly formed Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion is intended to combat “racism and hate” in all its forms and guide the government to build “a fairer, more just, and more inclusive country.”
It is chaired by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller and headed by former senator Marc Gold.
The council will replace the offices of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, which was led by Deborah Lyons, and the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, which was headed by Amira Elghawaby.
Carney said that the government has introduced six pieces of legislation over the past year to combat antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
Foremost of these is Bill C-9, he noted. “It significantly strengthens the Criminal Code by creating new offences for intimidation and obstruction at places of worship, schools, community centers and other institutions used by identifiable communities.”
Through the Canada Center for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence, the government will advance work to confront hatred and violent extremism, he said.
Carney went on to say that an additional $75 million has been committed to the Canada Community Security Program, which provides funding for communities at risk of hate-motivated incidents and crimes.
These are steps in the right direction, but several Jewish organizations were disappointed that Carney’s announcement did not include more sweeping enforcement measures against antisemitism.
Rich Robertson, the director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, called his speech a “missed opportunity.”
B’nai Brith believes that a task force should be established to respond immediately to antisemitic incidents, and that a commission of inquiry should be created to identify their root causes.
“We were hoping for true tactical changes that could positively be actioned to change the lived experience of Jewish Canadians, and unfortunately, that is not what we received today,” Robertson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Simon Wolle, B’nai Brith’s chief executive officer, said that “anti-Zionist manifestations of antisemitism have become increasingly legitimized and normalized. A government cannot successfully fight antisemitism while refusing to confront one of its most prevalent contemporary forms.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada, said that Canadians needed to hear Carney address anti-Zionism: “It is essential to recognize anti-Zionist extremism as a driver of hostility toward Canadian Jews since the Hamas-led October 7 terrorist attacks.”
On the eve of Carney’s speech, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs recommended that law enforcement should be strengthened.
“Government and law enforcement must address the drivers of this crisis, including radicalization, promotion of terrorism, and terrorist entities operating here in Canada,” CIJA said in a statement. “The Prime Minister has an opportunity to set the tone from the highest office to make clear that nothing can justify the hatred, intimidation, and violence Jewish Canadians are experiencing and that every tool at the government’s disposal will be used to confront it.”
Melissa Lantsman, a Conservative party parliamentarian, said that Canada’s “civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians.”
Another critic, Jesse Kline of The National Post, wrote, “We already know the ideology and groups that are driving antisemitism in Canada, but the prime minister refuses to call them out by name. We already have data showing a sharp increase in hate crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions.
“What we need is action to ensure that Canada’s immigration system is not fuelling antisemitism; that educators are training students to become productive members of society, not anti-Israel activists; and that police are enforcing the law to show those who are bringing anarchy to our streets that actions have consequences.
“Carney should be commended for calling out the ‘crisis of antisemitism’ as something that is ‘specific, severe and demands a targeted response.’ This is the kind of language that he and his predecessor shied away from for far too long. But merely setting the tone and calling on Canadians to be better people is not enough. It is not going to change the minds of those who think it’s acceptable to shoot at Jewish schools. It’s not going to overcome the indoctrination and radicalization that’s taking place on social media and in our school system.”
While Carney’s message will assure some Jewish Canadians, still others will continue to be troubled by his approach to Israel.
Last September, Canada recognized Palestinian statehood. A month later, Carney said he would fulfill the commitment of his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits Canada. (In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip in 2024.) Carney has yet to speak to Netanyahu, though he has spoken to President Isaac Herzog. The Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable status of several Jewish organizations linked to Israel.
These issues have not gone unnoticed.
As Jesse Kline pointed out in a column, “Before Prime Minister Mark Carney took to the podium to outline the steps his government is taking to address antisemitism, the synagogue’s senior rabbi, Yael Splansky, told the audience that when Canadian elected leaders ‘publicly condemn Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, Jewish Canadians pay the price.'”
Judging by the upsurge of antisemitism in Canada since the Israel-Hamas war, Splansky’s observation may well contain a significant element of the truth.