Police stand between counter-protesters and a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at McGill University’s campus in Montreal on May 2.Peter McCabe/Reuters
Canada’s antisemitism envoy says foreign conflicts – such as the one between Israel and Hamas – need not lead to Canadians fighting with each other “in our backyard” as she warned that Jewish students are facing “a tsunami of antisemitism” on Canadian campuses.
Deborah Lyons, speaking to the Commons justice committee during an inquiry into antisemitism, said the conflict in the Middle East is having an impact in Canada.
“Conflicts that happen in many parts of the world – and I have been present for a number of those – need not end up in our backyard with us fighting with one another,” she said. “This not what Canadian values suggest nor is that what Canadians are.”
Her remarks came as concerns were raised by a range of witnesses Thursday about the rise of antisemitism, including how Jewish students and university academics are being intimidated and harassed.
Ms. Lyons, a former diplomat, said universities cannot be considered bastions of free expression so long as Jews are not safe on campuses.
She said antisemitism should be a non-partisan issue, adding that it affects all Canadians, whether Jewish or non-Jewish.
“Capitulation to those engaging in hate-filled activities corrodes the very values on which institutions of higher education are built, and where all students must be able to learn without fear,” she said.
Ms. Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, said Canadians are quite capable of seeing both points of view in the Middle East conflict.
“We have not had our brains shrunken, neither by COVID nor by social media. We are capable of holding two thoughts in our brain,” she said. “It is possible to be pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian at the same time – Canadians have that capacity.
She said she was currently discussing with the Department of Justice whether changes should be made to the Criminal Code to stop religion from being used as a defence for hate speech.
Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin has said the defence could allow a person who incites or promotes hatred, based on religious beliefs or a religious text, to escape prosecution. He asked Ms. Lyons whether she thought this exemption should be struck from the Criminal Code.
Ms. Lyons said she was “impressed” by the recommendation from the Bloc and is “very interested in exploring this as an option.”
Earlier this month, the Quebec prosecution service decided that a Montreal imam who at a pro-Palestinian rally in October led a public prayer calling for the extermination of “Zionist aggressors” will not face prosecution.
The RCMP had investigated whether Adil Charkaoui, at an Oct. 28 protest, had committed a hate crime. The imam’s comments drew condemnation from politicians – including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet – and Jewish groups.
“We have seen with this recent case in Quebec, the implications of using a religious defence,” Ms. Lyons said. “Certainly, I think that it’s something we’ve got to continue to examine.”
Richard Marceau, vice-president, external affairs, at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said “religion is not and should not be a form of acceptable defence for a charge of provoking hatred, period.”
Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, senior director, policy and advocacy, at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said she agreed and “every Canadian has to be subjected to the same laws and the same standards and nobody’s religion should excuse them from engaging in any kind of hate speech.”
The committee heard how Jewish academics have had insults hurled at them and experienced a range of discrimination on campuses, including having job offers withdrawn.
Deidre Butler, associate professor at Carleton University a member of the Network of Engaged Canadian Academics, said since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas last October Jewish students have been seeing an upsurge in abuse. She recounted how one student, who was called a “dirty Jew” by his lab partner, was told by his professor, after he appealed for help, to stop complaining.
“On one campus, graffiti depicted a star of David on a scaffold with a swastika. On another, a Jewish student’s mural that called for peace after Oct. 7 was defaced with threats including ‘I am going to kill you,’” she said.
Deputy Conservative Melissa Lantsman said equity and inclusion policies meant to protect people from discrimination and abuse were failing to include Jews, or sufficiently protect them.