
Rochelle Wilner President	Frank Dimant Chief Executive Officer	Prof. Stephen Scheinberg National Chair	Ruth Klein National Director of Advocacy

1997 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents

ANTISEMITISM IN CANADA — CURRENT CLIMATE AND TRENDS

Several trends from past years continue to cause great concern to the Jewish community in Canada, specifically the increase of organized hate group activity in British Columbia, where leaders appear to be enjoying greater mobility than in their previous stomping ground in Ontario. As the political rhetoric in Quebec becomes more radicalized and as the province grows ever more deeply divided by the language and ethnic issues spurred by the more extreme elements of the Separatist movement, the political climate in Quebec continues to cause deep anxiety and alienation for many members of the Quebec Jewish community. Despite a lack of visible organization among neo-Nazi hate groups, several serious incidents between skinheads and immigrant communities indicate a continued presence of radical racist youth gangs and may herald the formation of a new band of neo-Nazis under the title of "the Aryan Blitzkrieg". Ontario has also been a target of elevated activity by the "Jews for Jesus" type of missionizing "synagogue" [i.e. churches] and has also seen a proliferation of anti-Jewish missionary pamphleteering. A The number of reported incidents of hate and anti-semitism on college and university campuses indicates that this remains an important issue to be addressed. The campus is often a focused microcosm of activity occurring in the general population. The media has also been a significant arena of antisemitic and anti-ethnic, anti-immigrant sentiment, as there appears to be a growing acceptability of a type of mean-spirited, baiting rhetoric evident in the most mainstream media. This year there were several more cases of covert forms of systemic discrimination in the workplace, public institutions and in schools. Such occurrences, while not necessarily intentionally antisemitic, apply policies which discriminate against and marginalize Jews. For example, this year there was an increase in reported incidents of individuals being threatened with termination of employment for requesting leave on Jewish holidays, as well as, incidents of school or university examinations scheduled on the Jewish holidays. Policies on religious symbols and language issues fit into this category.

THE CLIMATE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

This year the battle escalated against antisemitism in British Columbia. Although the number of reported incidents remained proportionally similar to last year, the two largest gains were a marked improvement in effective anti-hate strategies coordinated between police and community groups, as well as an increase of public awareness of the distinctions between hate speech and free speech issues.

Police at all levels in the Province of British Columbia (municipal hate crimes officers and the RCMP) have made a good beginning towards incorporating the concept of hate motivation as a serious aggravating factor in criminal activity. Both random, individual hate motivated crimes, and organized hate activity are now better understood and to a certain degree more "contained" than ever before.

Several incidents of antisemitic graffiti were reported in Kelowna, while Vernon was targeted with White Aryan Resistance (WAR) and Heritage Front leaflets. Hate monger Jack Mohr went on several leafletting excursions in Victoria. Increased skinhead activity in Victoria and the mid-Island is cause for concern. A report of an older group of neo-Nazi recruiters came out of Nanaimo, and Heinze Koppe continued to publish a white supremacist newsletter "Insight" in Delta.

Great concern is felt over skinhead activity in B.C., as nine skinhead attacks occurred in Vancouver on one weekend in November, perpetrated by a group from Surrey. This came in the wake of a hate rock concert by "Odin’s Law" in Surrey last fall. Also in Vancouver, the Heritage Front has opened a new racist telephone line and has announced that it will be helping to form groups throughout British Columbia.

The Vancouver-based anti-racist group CAERS (Canadian Anti-Racism Education and Research Society), led by Alan Dutton, exposed "Pacific Realm" Grand Dragon Bryan Taylor of the Ku Klux Klan, who was subsequently fired from ADT Securities for twice using office equipment to promote racism, antisemitism and homophobia. While the Klan remains active in B.C., this move has quelled their activities.

The two biggest B.C. "hate" trials, Canadian Jewish Congress vs. The North Shore News, and Doug Collins and Eileen and Klaus Pressler vs. Dr. David Lethbridge, rank with the most critical human rights cases of a decade - for diametrically different reasons:
The North Shore News was taken to a British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, charged under new statutes in law, for a newspaper article that defamed the Jewish community and promoted Holocaust denial. In the build-up to the hearing, public opinion was very sharply divided as to whether any constraints could or should be applied to members of the journalistic professions. In a lengthy judgement, Tribunal chair Nitya Iyer upheld the legislation, but felt that although Mr. Collins had written and the North Shore News had published an article that was antisemitic and hurtful, there was insufficient evidence to charge the defendants under the human rights code as it now stands.

Nevertheless, in the wake of that decision, and with another series of charges against NSN et. al in the offing, major media had ceased the debate about whether to proscribe ethnic invective. It has now become more a question of whether there shall be sufficient evidence for conviction. However, Doug Collins and his poison pen were effectively marginalized. At the same time, radio personality Charles MacLean, was dismissed for his on-air antisemitism as an announcer on AM1040. Regretfully, MacLean has been hired by the North Shore News to replace Doug Collins.

The Lethbridge case, though minimally publicized, is of tremendous concern to the anti-racist and human rights community. During November and December a four-week hearing took place in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, in Victoria. Both sides have been heard, and concluding arguments are scheduled for March 1998. This defamation case concerns Salmon Arm couple, Eileen and Klaus Pressler, who sued a Kelowna television station, CHBC, and psychology professor and human rights activist, Dr. David Lethbridge for defamation on the basis of one eight minute television news story in 1993 that allegedly impugned their reputations, by “unfairly casting them as white supremacists and neo-Nazi hate-mongers.” These are the same people who, under the rubric of the "Council of Public Affairs" regularly sponsored Holocaust denier’s David Irving’s Canadian speaking tours prior to his being deported in 1992/3. In Dr. Lethbridge’s defense, his lawyer, Irvine Epstein Q.C., was cited in the Victoria Times Colonist of November 11, 1997 as saying:

“This case is about efforts to scare off opponents who are dedicated to what they believe to be the truth, and it’s about efforts to disguise how this stifling, this chilling is done, by invoking the very freedoms which they seek to limit,” Epstein said. “This case is about the right, and indeed the duty of a concerned citizen to inform and educate others in opposition to those who preach racial hatred, bigotry and intolerance. It is about the fundamental right to express oneself, not only to espouse causes but to oppose them.”

Another ongoing concern in British Columbia remains the use of public facilities by hate mongers. The Greater Victoria Public Library as well as The West Vancouver Public Library continue to make meeting spaces available to high-profile white supremacists, neo-Nazis and professional bigots. When B’nai Brith and community groups protested this fact, the B.C. Library Association responded by rewarding the Greater Victoria Public Library with the first ever "BCLA Intellectual Freedom Award." Alan Dutton, Executive Director of the B.C.-based Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society (CAERS) wrote in a CAERS press release of May 7, 1997,

“Giving an award to the Greater Victoria Public Library sets a very dangerous trend that ignores the rights of minorities and others to use public facilities. The BC Library Association award to the Greater Victoria Public Library tacitly supports hate. Hate is not protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and should not be honoured, awarded or condoned. Hate speech is not now and should never be considered "free" speech.”

THE CLIMATE IN QUEBEC

In Quebec, 1997 saw an important diminution in clear-cut antisemitic acts of vandalism or harassment. What seemed to prevail however, were antisemitic and racist propaganda or letters, often with political overtones. It is well known that the Jewish community of Quebec overwhelmingly supports Quebec remaining a part of Canada. Former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau even reinforced this notion in 1997 during a speech in Calgary when he attempted to clarify his controversial remarks of the night of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum when he blamed his defeat on “money and the ethnic vote”. In Calgary, he pointed the finger directly at the Jewish community as one of three ethnic groups that he had referred to, along with the Italian and Greek communities. This past year, with the community’s position well-known, and the constitutional debate as a constant backdrop, many individuals of the Jewish community and several targeted organizations received antisemitic letters in French, often referring directly to the community’s traditional opposition to Quebec sovereignty. A portion of one widely distributed missive entitled "Plan B/Harcelement" [Harassment] reads:
“Pourquoi sont-ce surtout les members de la communauté juive de Montréal et d’ailleurs au Canada et a l’étranger qui s’acharnent avec le plus de virulence sur le peuple Québecois...” [Why is it always the Jews of Montreal and elsewhere in Canada and abroad who continually pester in the most virulent way the Quebec people].There were also a number of reports of distribution of pamphlets in various locations around Montreal, written in French, referring to stereotypical conspiracy theories of international Jewish monetary control. This extract is from a letter that was being distributed in numerous locations in Montreal:
“Les Juifs controlent une portion immense de l’argent dans le monde. Leurs banquiers utilisent l’inflation du dollar américain pour détruire leurs ennemis, y compris pro Arab Europe...” [The Jews control an enormous portion of the money in the world. Their bankers use inflation of the American dollar to destroy their enemies, including pro Arab Europe] Some of this activity may be related to the fact that there are a number of high profile individuals from the Jewish community, such as Howard Galganov and the leaders of the Quebec Committee for Canada, who are involved in political activism. In addition, two Montreal area municipalities with predominantly Jewish populations, Côte St. Luc and Hampstead, were the first to adopt "Stay Canadian" resolutions in the event of Quebec secession. For the most part however, the depth of this form of antisemitic reaction to political events is marginal and carried out by a very small part of the population. The only reported overt political intimidation against minority groups, can be traced to the activities of former FLQ terrorist Raymond Villeneuve and his small band of followers. He threatened violent action against many unity activists while the newsletter and web page of his ultra-nationalist group often singles out members of the Jewish community as being anti-Quebec. The year before, the newsletter directly attacked the Jewish community for its long-standing opposition to Quebec separation, warning that Jews could face "confrontations" in an independent Quebec if they continued to vote overwhelmingly to stay in Canada.

Two days after criticizing Villeneuve’s most recent activities in the media, the Montreal office of B’nai Brith received an anonymous antisemitic letter under the heading "FLQ". The letter identified three ethnic community schools, all of which received suspicious packages in the mail the same day. The police are investigating the incident.
Raymond Villeneuve purportedly disbanded his group late in the year.

There were also a few misleading newspaper articles in 1997 which reinforced negative stereotypes. In May, the front page banner headline in one of Quebec’s major French language dailies, identified the entire target group of an RCMP drug raid as a “Jewish criminal organization” because the head of the organization and four of the 30 arrested, happened to be Jewish. There was likely no antisemitic intent on the part of the journalist. However, a B’nai Brith survey of other Canadian newspapers revealed that journalistic standards in Quebec, in the case of ethnic or racial classifications of alleged criminals, falls lamentably short of North American press practices.

In June, a newspaper headline in Le Devoir blared: “Un comité de l’ONU accuse Israël de pratiquer la torture”. [A United Nations Committee accuses Israel of practising torture]. This resulted in an antisemitic fax being sent to a number of Jewish individuals and organizations, concluding with the words: “connaissant votre attachement à Israël il est inquiétant de vous imaginer au pouvoir içi !!”. [Knowing your attachment to Israel, it’s disturbing to imagine you taking over here !!].

In November another sensational headline announced that “Les Juifs se préparent à un exode”. [The Jews prepare for an exodus] The story and headline were clearly misleading when in fact they described a contingency fund being set up to assist members of the Jewish community who chose to stay in Montreal if Quebec voted to separate from Canada. Instead of a message that the community is making a commitment to maintain itself in case of a significant departure of young people, the article implied that the Jews were gathering money to finance a massive exodus. After a show of outrage from the Jewish community and a press conference criticizing the article, the newspaper, on the following day, reported a more accurate portrait of the situation and printed a lengthy clarification from a Jewish Community spokesman.

There are some who believe that incidents such as these are subtle and that the Jewish community may overreact at times to these stories, or that they may unduly inflate the importance of Raymond Villeneuve and his small band of followers, giving him free publicity that he so craves. However, our experience has shown that if incidents such as these go unanswered there are consequences. If we turn the other cheek, we validate by silence or inaction these subtle negative messages and ethnic stereotypes that continue to erode community relations. It is therefore important that society be very clear in its condemnation of antisemitic or racist acts. History has shown, that left unchecked, stereotypes and propaganda can lead to criminal acts and serious disruptions due to political instability or economic decline.

The year was not entirely without graffiti and other forms of antisemitic vandalism in Quebec. There were a few reports of broken windows as well as swastikas and antisemitic epithets defacing Jewish institutional buildings. These incidents were random and not widespread.

THE CLIMATE IN ONTARIO

In 1997 there were several strong initiatives by the Police Hate Crimes Units in Ontario toward fighting antisemitism and racism. As a result, there are several serious hate charges currently being pursued in Ontario courts.

After backlash sentiments were expressed in the press, a rally was held on August 26 outside a motel housing Roma refugee claimants, by a band of white supremacists who called themselves the "Aryan Blitzkrieg" and who sported Nazi and other "skinhead" type symbols. In attendance were known members of the Heritage Front. Five adults and two young offenders are facing charges for various criminal offences including the wilful promotion of hatred, under section 319(2) of the Canadian Criminal Code. Due to regulations protecting the identities of young offenders we are unable to publish the names and affiliations of those individuals, however the five adults in this case are Quinn Mason McFarlane, Ryan Douglas Marshall, Michael Peter Schulz, John Walter Froebich, all of whom are members of the "Aryan Bliztkrieg" and Krzysztof Peter Krymowski of the "Burki Skins", a.k.a. the Polish skinheads who were highlighted in the 1996 Audit. Anti-racist activists are concerned that this marks the resurrection of the previously thwarted organized radical violent right in Toronto.

Mark Harding is also facing charges of willful promotion of hatred for flyers distributed that targeted the Muslim community in a Toronto highschool; and charges have been laid against the purveyors of hate propaganda in Durham region. The League is monitoring the case of Christopher Newhook, a known member of the Heritage Front in Sarnia who has been targeting 15-16 year old youths for recruitment. He has also been charged under 319(2) of the Canadian Criminal Code and has entered a guilty plea. The League is often called upon in these cases to give expert testimony on hate groups and victim impact of hate motivated crimes.

During 1996 and well into 1997, a rash of telephone answering machine messages were left at primarily Jewish-owned and/or operated businesses throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with the message “The Anti-Christ and the Hebrew Satanists are going to be annihilated”. The ominous voice and threat were very frightening to the many people who received it. The perpetrator was apprehended by the police and is now facing charges.

While there has been a definite reduction in synagogue and cemetery desecrations and antisemitic and swastika graffiti, Beth Emeth Synagogue in North York experienced three such incidents in 1997, and York Hill Public School in Thornhill was the site of a serious incident of graffiti and vandalism with swastikas painted on the school walls and racist words painted onto the tarmac. A housing cooperative founded by a Toronto synagogue, Moshav Noam, at Bathurst and Lawrence in the heart of a Toronto Jewish community, was targeted for a series of automobile vandalism, where cars were damaged with swastikas scratched into the paint. A woman at Metro Housing was individually targeted with a swastika on her door. None of these incidents appeared related or suggested the activity of organized hate groups.

Public education programs and anti-hate awareness training by police and prosecuters continue to characterize the climate in Ontario.

CLIMATE IN THE MARITIMES

Following a rash of skinhead activity in the fall of 1996, in January 1997 representatives of the Atlantic Jewish community visited Moncton, New Brunswick in response to the Community Relations Task Force of the Moncton Police Department. Also in 1996, several Jewish organizations had intervened in Moncton. Subsequently, police have cracked down on the skinheads in that community and their activities have ebbed.

The Fredricton, New Brunswick community continues to monitor the Daily Gleaner which has, for a number of years, published articles that border on being antisemitic and anti-Israel. The paper’s handling of issues concerning the community, including Nazi War Criminals and the Israeli government, has been continually negative and the paper has persisted in publishing unsigned, undocumented letters to the editor, which in some cases are purely antisemitic, anti-Israel diatribes.

In April it came to the attention of the Atlantic Jewish Council (AJC) that Paul Fromm was scheduled to speak in Fredericton and Halifax, hosted by a number of right-wing organizations. The AJC contacted the hotels where Fromm was scheduled to appear and both events were cancelled.

No significant incidents were reported this year from Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island.

MISSIONARIES AND "MESSIANIC" CHURCHES

There was major community upset in September when a Messianic Church, calling themselves "The City of David Messianic Synagogue" opened as a storefront at Bathurst and Steeles, an area heavily populated by Jewish people and especially new immigrants from Russia. This "synagogue" is an evangelical Christian proselytizing church group, whose obvious purpose is to target members of the Jewish community regardless of age, and to fraudulently represent themselves as Jews in an attempt to convert members of the Jewish community to Christianity. Thus, these so-called synagogues are elaborately disguised Christian churches. The "City of David" church is by no means the only one of its ilk in the Toronto area. The fact that the leader called himself a Rabbi and the signage included Hebrew lettering caused the Church to be easily mistaken as a legitimate synagogue, in comparison to the "Jews for Jesus" or the "Chosen People Ministries" who do not use such deceptive tactics. The League participated in a formidable community coalition and organized an inter-faith letter writing campaign to the property managers and the media. The sign was removed and an office for the "Jews for Judaism", a counter-missionary organization, was secured in the same plaza. "Jews for Judaism" estimate that there are at least 50 such organizations in Southern Ontario which are actively proselytizing Jews.

This year has also seen an upsurge in missionizing pamphlets distributed at subway stops and in apartment buildings around the city. Some of this activity has also specifically targeted the new Russian immigrant community, whose lack of concrete Jewish education during the Communist era in Russia, left the community ill-prepared to counter the arguments and appeal of the missionaries, particularly those disguising themselves as practising Jews.

CAMPUSES AND SCHOOL YARDS

While the Internet has brought the rhetoric and images of the hate groups into the homes and minds of a wider audience, individual recruitment and the targeting of disenfranchised and vulnerable youth remains a priority for neo-Nazi hate groups. Recruitment by the Heritage Front, and other skinhead groups appears to be regaining some of its past strength as the leadership attempts to rebuild the organizational infrastructure.

This year Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario reported an upsurge in Heritage Front recruitment. This included pamphleteering, person-to-person recruitment and racist graffiti around the Kingston area. Bradley Smith of the "Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust" (CODOH) targeted American and Canadian university newspapers with an advertisement offering $50,000 to anyone who could arrange to have his Holocaust denial documentary shown on cable television. Several incidents where the ad was turned down by the editorial team of the campus papers were reported to the League, including Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the University of New Brunswick in Fredricton. However, in Ontario the ad was published by The Varsity, the main newspaper of the University of Toronto and early in 1998 by The Cord at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Campuses, as the marketplace of cutting-edge ideas and intellectual experimentation, are particularly susceptible to the pseudo-scholarly arguments of the Holocaust deniers. The editorial department of The Varsity was quick to catch its error in publishing the ad and have instituted a tougher vetting process over any advertisements placed in the paper. At the same time, the money paid for the ad was donated to the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Toronto and the following issue of the paper featured a strong apology and several op/ed pieces on the issue of Holocaust denial and hate propaganda. The Varsity continues to work closely with the League on issues of concern and a strong partnership was forged through the events that ensued from the publishing of the ad.

Carleton University reported a serious incident of anti-Israel postering, advertising a speaker on the topic of Israel-Palestinian relations. A similar incident was reported at the University of Toronto during the Spring semester. The posters were deceptive and omitted the fact that the speaker was a member of a Hamas front organization. Hamas is a terrorist organization operating in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank within the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Hamas claimed responsibility for the series of bus bombings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that occurred in 1996. In both of these incidents the Jewish students group on campus attempted to intervene with campus authorities to establish a set of guidelines regarding the acceptability of racist or anti-ethnic propaganda on campuses. While campuses have been generally positive in dealing with these issues, students have by and large mobilized their campus communities in direct protest against these events, and are feeling increasingly vulnerable as a result of such incidents.

The University of Toronto Erindale campus library reported a major increase in racist graffiti which also included antisemitic symbols and slogans.

Dealing with antisemitic incidents on campus is problematic. At most universities, the Jewish Student Unions are commonly the groups that deal with incidents. Unfortunately, these groups are usually ill equipped to do so due to lack of training, not knowing who to report such incidents to, and because of the usual high turnover of individuals in student governments. The League has prepared and distributed Antisemitism on Campus - A Handbook for Student Action to assist groups in countering antisemitism constructively and practically. Also, this year the Anti-Defamation League has released a new handbook entitled, "Schooled in Hate: Anti-Semitism on Campus" which is being distributed by the League for Human Rights to all campuses across Canada. The League has also made Jewish campus groups aware of its hotline (1-800-892-BNAI) to report and seek assistance in handling antisemitic incidents.

TRENDS IN THE MEDIA

The media has played a large role in both adding to and countering the current climate of ethnic tension in Canada. When American radio personality, Howard Stern, was imported into Canada, the benchmark of acceptability of racial stereotyping and other discriminatory language moved into a realm of mean-spiritedness, scapegoating and finger-pointing. This mood was echoed in the Globe and Mail series entitled “Impolite Company” which was strongly challenged for its anti-ethnic bias in several articles. The negative coverage of the Roma refugees reinforced stereotypes and fed into this backlash atmosphere. Despite official editorial policies to the contrary, several mainstream newspapers made gratuitous mention of individuals’ Jewishness when it had nothing to do with the story, and continued to exacerbate ethnic stereotypes. Also in Quebec, the Jewish and ethnic communities have continued to be targets in the media as described above. In Fredricton, New Brunswick the Daily Gleaner has been approached by representatives of the Jewish community for their continued antisemitic and anti-Israel coverage of issues such as Nazi War Criminals and the Israeli government. In 1997 the paper persisted in publishing unsigned, undocumented letters to the editor, which in some cases are purely antisemitic, anti-Israel diatribe. In British Columbia, North Shore News writer Doug Collins is facing his second round of Human Rights complaints resulting from a series of articles which deal with Holocaust denial and other antisemitic themes.

SYSTEMIC ANTISEMITISM

Discrimination in the workplace, in the media , in educational institutions and other public sector agencies is often subtle and quiet. There are many who feel very defensive when the word ’racism’ is applied to the covert types of behaviours and attitudes which occur in these environments. However, in the same way that policies and practices that result in structural discrimination against or differential treatment of people of colour are deemed to be incidents of "systemic racism", so are such incidents of discrimination against Jews documented as "systemic antisemitism". The perpetrators of such incidents do not usually have the same hateful motivation as those who desecrate a Jewish cemetery or vandalize a synagogue; nevertheless, the victims of systemic discrimination inevitably feel hurt, powerless, marginalized and increasingly vulnerable as members of a minority group. Systemic discrimination can reduce economic opportunity for some victims, and inevitably makes the office an uncomfortable place for many. Incidents of this more covert form of antisemitism appear to be on the rise in workplaces, the media and educational institutions. They have been included under the broader category of harassment in the Audit.

When a complaint comes to B’nai Brith Canada, it is often about comments and jokes which make the individual feel uncomfortable. In a number of cases, individuals complained who were not themselves the targets of the slurs, but they found that their third-party complaints to a manager or supervisor were ignored. Complainants indicated that they were discouraged from speaking up because they were being identified as "troublemakers", even in some workplaces where official policies encouraged such reporting.

In Toronto, during the course of the year after a company merger, several lawyers previously retained by the company were let go by the new management. It became clear that all of those dismissed from the roster were Jewish. Compensation was forthcoming after an appropriate complaint was made and evidence presented. In Ottawa there were two incidents of employers’ refusing to give Jewish employees time off for Jewish holidays. Both these incidents were settled without litigation, but it was clear that the managers were uncertain about what to do, and treated each request on an ad hoc basis. There was no written policy in the workplace, and managers tended to "play it safe" by first refusing the leave and referring the employee up the chain of command, making the employee feel increasingly vulnerable. In regional Ontario, a young social worker on probation in a government-sponsored agency, despite making her request for time off without pay well in advance, was told not to bother reporting back to work if she took the two required days off for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. An intervention from the League resulted in a retraction by her employer, and a review of their policies for religious holy day observance to ensure they were in keeping with Ontario government guidelines.

There were several reports of colleges and universities scheduling classes and/or examinations on the Sabbath or religious holy days, in schools where this was previously not the case. Although the administration said that special arrangements could be made, Jewish students felt undue hardship in making up for the discriminatory policies. Several Jewish teachers and professors reported feeling “caught between a rock and a hard place”, afraid to cause trouble for fear of reprisals, but anxious to see something done so that the situation would not revert to the way it was for Jews in years gone by. Incidents described above of student newspapers accepting ads promoting Holocaust denial, and newspapers and radio giving space or airtime to antisemitic diatribes, claiming "free speech" or "freedom of the press", or featuring a person’s race, religion or ethnicity when it is irrelevant to the story, are also incidents of systemic discrimination.

While the motive for applying discriminatory policies may be "to treat everyone the same", such as the rules for language and signs in Quebec, or opening government sessions or other public events with a religious prayer representing only one denomination, such policies are exclusionary and impact significantly on minority groups. Bringing an injunction against Jewish people to prevent their building a Sukkah (a small booth for 8 days to commemorate the festival of Sukkot) because it violates the policy of conformity in a condominium, or continuing to recite the Lord’s Prayer at the opening of non-denominational municipal government sessions or school events, are further examples of systemic discrimination. It is unclear whether there has actually been an increase in these more covert forms of antisemitism, or whether workplace diversity training and greater awareness of anti-harassment policies and employees’ and citizens’ rights have reduced the fear of speaking up and reporting such incidents.

Organizations need clear guidelines on what constitutes "reasonable accommodation" of religious diversity among their employees. Through the Education and Training Centre, the League assists organizations to determine what options they have available for reasonable accommodation, without affecting their effectiveness and efficiency. It is important that minorities are not discriminated against, deliberately or inadvertently, by policies that appear to be uniformly applied, but in fact undermine equality in the workplace. When appropriate policies DO exist, such as in government agencies, and in newspapers that have clearly articulated guidelines about when to mention ethnicity and/or religion, it is essential that these policies are well-communicated to all employees and managers, and subsequently not ignored in handling requests for accommodation and/or complaints about breaches in those policies.