Table of Contents
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR AND CEO
For nearly 147 years, B’nai Brith Canada has advocated on behalf of the grassroots Jewish community from coast to coast to coast. History has proven time and again that the Jewish community needs a strong, proud, and effective voice in the realm of public affairs to ensure that community interests, concerns, needs, and rights are afforded, ensured, guaranteed, and secured no matter what party is in power. This above all is part and parcel of our commitment to securing the Jewish future in Canada, but it cannot be done without you.
B’nai Brith gets its marching orders from the Jewish community. We are an organization that exists solely to better the lives of Canadians nationwide, be it by fighting antisemitism, promoting Holocaust education, awareness and commemoration, providing anti-bias training to schools, police agencies, and others, by bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, providing affordable housing to our most vulnerable, or by promoting social interaction for Jews of all ages through our many sports leagues and seniors’ programs, we are committed to fostering a well-rounded and fulfilling Jewish life in Canada both now and well into the future.
Since the 2019 election, the Jewish community has seen a continuous rise in antisemitic incidents in Canada, capping off at a historic record of 2,610 incidents in 2020. We have seen the growth of the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and the mainstreaming of antisemitism in the public sphere. During the COVID-19 crisis, our community has faced three new threatening waves of hatred: one blaming Jews for the pandemic itself, another lashing out at our community during the Israel-Hamas fighting of May-June 2021, and another just as the election campaign began.
That is why not only do we need to hear from you about your priorities, needs, and concerns, but so too do our elected officials. It is not only a matter of holding our elected representatives accountable, but rather, is a matter of engagement with them so that our leaders – regardless of party affiliation – are aware of what matters to us as a community, and act in the best interest of the community. That is why we need to take an active role in the election process leading up to Election Day on September 20, 2021.
We therefore urge you to use this guide as a resource that will inform your activism. Whether by writing letters to local candidates and party leaders, or by organizing virtual meetings and town halls, familiarizing yourself with the issues that matter most to us as a community and making it known to today’s leaders and our future leaders is as critically important as it ever has been.
As always, B’nai Brith Canada is here to help and we are grateful for your support and attention over the years and urge you and your families to get active in the political process.
Yours truly,
FRANKLIN SWITZER
CHAIR OF THE BOARD
B’NAI BRITH CANADA
MICHAEL MOSTYN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
B’NAI BRITH CANADA
MEET THE PARTY LEADERS
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU
LEADER OF THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA
Elected in 2015, Justin Trudeau is Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister. He has served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada since 2013. Mr. Trudeau was initially elected as the Liberal Party candidate of the Montréal riding of Papineau in 2008 and has been re-elected to represent that riding ever since.
Mr. Trudeau is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and worked as a teacher prior to his entry into public service.
_
ERIN O’TOOLE
LEADER OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA
Erin O’Toole has acted as the Member of Parliament of Durham region since 2012. He first served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade before becoming Minister of Veterans Affairs.
After serving as the Conservative Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs for two years, Mr. O’Toole became the Leader of Canada’s Conservatives. Before his involvement in politics, Mr. O’Toole served for 12 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He retired to pursue a decade-long career as a corporate lawyer.
_
JAGMEET SINGH
LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Since October 2017, Jagmeet Singh has served as the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, and is currently the Member of Parliament for Burnaby South in British Columbia.
Mr. Singh began his political career as an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament between 2011 and 2017 before taking up the leadership of the federal NDP. Prior to Mr. Singh’s entry into public life, he earned a law degree from Osgoode Hall at York University and practiced as a criminal defence lawyer.
_
ANNAMIE PAUL
LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY OF CANADA
In the 2019 federal election, Annamie Paul represented the Green Party of Canada as its candidate in Toronto Centre. She previously served as International Affairs Critic in the Green Party Shadow Cabinet.
Prior to seeking the leadership of the Green Party of Canada, Ms. Paul worked in international affairs. She has served on the Board of, and advised, a number of international NGOs. Ms. Paul is the first Jewish woman and the first Black woman to lead a major federal political party in Canada.
COMBATING ANTISEMITISM
Combating antisemitism is at the core of the work that B’nai Brith Canada undertakes. Without focusing on securing the Jewish community first and foremost, we cannot expect Jewish life in Canada can thrive and flourish to its greatest potential.
B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights operates Canada’s only Anti-Hate Hotline to report antisemitic incidents, tracks and documents antisemitic incidents across Canada in our internationally-cited Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, and regularly intervenes legally and legislatively in matters of public interest to the Jewish community.
Canada is not immune to the global rise of antisemitism. Recent events, particularly since the impact of the COVD-19 pandemic and Israel’s defensive actions to counter Hamas attacks from Gaza, have driven home the corrosive nature of antisemitic thought and conspiracy theories.
Of the 2,610 incidents of antisemitism documented in 2020, each represents an individual affront to the fraternity, humanity, and decency expected of all Canadians. Antisemitic incidents increased by over 18% since 2019, translating to some 217 incidents per month, 50 incidents per week, and 7 antisemitic incidents per day. May of 2021 bore witness to at least 61 violent incidents of antisemitism, the highest monthly total recorded since the Audit began in 1982. The most recent police-reported hate-crime data inform us of the same trend—that Jews remain, relatively speaking, the most targeted religious community for hatred in Canada.
The question remains, what should elected officials and candidates do to aid in combating antisemitism?
Here are our recommendations, crafted in the wake of Canada’s National Summit on Antisemitism in July and in the lead-up to the October Global Forum on Antisemitism in Malmo, Sweden:
- Adopt B’nai Brith Canada’s Eight Point Plan to Tackle Antisemitism as a basis for a national strategy and action plan to combat antisemitism, coupled with specific action pledges at the Malmo Summit.
- Urge the adoption of the IHRA non-legally binding Working Definition of Antisemitism at all levels of government, within federal government agencies, post-secondary institutions, elementary and secondary schools, and across civil society.
- Standardize and make mandatory anti-bias education across Canada to ensure that secondary schools have a common understanding of antisemitism and all other forms of bigotry, and how best to combat the phenomenon.
- Advocate for the laying of charges against promulgators of antisemitism that violate the Criminal Code of Canada.
- Call-out antisemitism whenever and wherever it appears and have public officials adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in political parties, condemning individuals and organization that engage in hate.
- Prevent antisemitic activities from taking place on public property and levy fines against organizers of events, as appropriate in accordance with relevant bylaws.
- Support the work of Canada’s Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism by providing sufficient resources to implement his mandate.
- Enhance security commitments to Jewish institutions such as synagogues, schools, and community centres through application of criteria that meet the specific needs of Jewish communities at risk.
CONFRONTING HATE CRIMES AND HATE SPEECH
As of 2020, the Jewish community remains the most targeted community in Canada in terms of hate crimes on a per capita basis, despite making up less than 1% of the total population in Canada with nearly 1 in 5 hate crimes being directed against the Jewish community. Shockingly, barely a day goes by without a hate crime being perpetrated against Canadian Jews.
However, hate crimes in general have increasingly impacted the lives of other minority communities both in Canada and around the world. Much of these crimes are precipitated by hate speech which falls below the criminal threshold for prosecution, but are indicative of increasingly hateful attitudes that flourish on various social media networks and – disturbingly – ever more in the mainstream.
Aside from ensuring that hate crimes laws, when breached, are properly enforced and charges are laid leading to fairly adjudicated convictions, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies record antisemitic incidents that fall below the criminal threshold in order to better understand and monitor antisemitic trends taking hold among certain sectors of Canadian society.
With this in mind, our recommendations to elected officials and candidates on combating hate crimes and hate speech in Canada, include:
- Utilize the universally-recognized IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as part of the ‘Uniform Crime Reporting System’ used by law enforcement agencies across Canada.
- Instruct Statistics Canada and law enforcement agencies to record and report antisemitic incidents, and other forms of hatred, including those that fall below the criminal threshold, to more accurately gauge the state of antisemitism and hatred in Canada.
- Ensure that law enforcement agencies in major municipalities across Canada have dedicated hate crimes units with adequate and standardized training curricula and protocols to recognize and react to hate crimes.
- To regularly liaise with communal organizations, such as B’nai Brith Canada, in order to maintain contact with affected communities and enhance the exchange of information.
- Work with social media companies and internet service providers (ISPs) to better monitor the phenomenon of hate crimes online, in conjunction with all levels of government, to both prevent and combat the promulgation of illegal hate-related activity on the Internet.
HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION AND EDUCATION
Holocaust commemoration and education is an important part of the work of B’nai Brith Canada, especially in the context of its ongoing efforts to combat contemporary antisemitism in Canada.
Understanding the Holocaust, and its unique nature as an internationally coordinated form of industrialized genocide, is essential to the recognition and prevention of genocides around the world, as well as subsequent punishment where appropriate. Moreover, as more Holocaust survivors pass away, the less opportunity the next generation will have to hear their first-hand testimony, leaving the door open even further for contemporary Holocaust deniers to exploit the situation for their own nefarious ends.
Currently, Holocaust education in Canada is not standardized, with provincial bodies enjoying significant latitude over the quality and character of such education. This uneven level of education poses disadvantages to those students that are exposed to inadequate Holocaust education which can lead to the growth of Holocaust Denial, which we have seen emerge as a significant problem not only in Canada, but in the United States and elsewhere around the globe.
As such, and provided Canada’s recent recognition of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as part of the federal Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022, B’nai Brith Canada recommends that elected officials and candidates commit to:
- Advocating for the adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism by all provincial ministries of education and school boards as part of their internal policies and curriculum materials.
- Advocating for the standardization and mandatory inclusion of Holocaust education materials and curricula across Canada in cooperation with recognized Holocaust scholars, the IHRA – of which Canada is a member state – and civil society organizations like B’nai Brith Canada.
TACKLING THE THREAT OF TERRORISM
In our turbulent world, ideologically-motivated violence remains a serious threat to Canadians, and especially to Canadian Jews. The deadly potential for terrorism in Canada was driven home by two events in particular in 2021: the brutal killing of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont. by a hate-filled motorist, and the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, whose connections to global terror groups such as al-Qaeda are well-documented.
Canada’s Jewish community is particularly vulnerable to terrorist outrages, given the virulent antisemitism displayed by both far-right groups and Islamist extremists, among others. Indeed, it has become depressingly common to see terrorist flags waved at anti-Israel and anti-Jewish demonstrations in Canada. Over the course of 2021, the Government of Canada designated 17 new terrorist entities under the Criminal Code, but additional steps are required in order to safeguard our communities.
This being the case, B’nai Brith makes the following recommendations to help keep Canadians safe from terrorism:
- Support making it a criminal offence to join a terrorist group in Canada.
- Call for the immediate removal from Canada of individuals who lied about their terrorist past in order to gain entrance into the country.
- Revoke the charitable status of organizations that promote terrorism or glorify terrorist leaders/groups.
- Ensure that proxies of designated terrorist entities are not allowed to function in Canada.
- Unequivocally support the right of Israel and other Canadian allies to defend themselves against terrorist organizations.
- Root out terrorist members and sympathizers from the Canadian Armed Forces and other federal agencies.
ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS AT THE UN AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL BODIES
For decades, various Member States within the UN have successfully utilized the forum as an instrument through which to discriminate against and delegitimize the State of Israel and expound antisemitic views and policies. Through its various agencies, the UN is regularly misused in a manner which threatens its own credibility and extends far beyond the scope of its subsidiary agencies’ mandates.
By way of example, B’nai Brith Canada has long expressed its concern over the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s standing ‘Agenda Item #7’ which singles out Israel for unfair critical attention—an item not applied to any other country in the world. Similarly, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization has a similar standing Agenda Item #14 singling out Israel.
Additionally, the United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) denies the Jewish People’s historical ties to key sites such as the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These examples are not exhaustive, but merely illustrative, of a deeply biased trend at the UN.
Given these realities, we recommend that elected officials and candidates ensure that:
- Canada publicly repudiate and call for the permanent removal—alongside likeminded countries which have already done so—of the UNHRC’s Agenda Item #7 and the World Health Assembly’s Agenda Item #14.
- Openly denounce UNESCO resolutions that seek to deny the Jewish People’s historical ties to their indigenous and ancestral homeland.
- Reject any politically motivated abuse of international forums to single out Israel for unique and unfair criticism not similarly levelled against any other Member States.
- Utilize any leverage following a potential election by Canada to the UN Security Council to counter antisemitism internationally and institutional anti-Israel bias within the UN system as a whole.
- Speak out to ensure that no further Canadian funding provided to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is misappropriated towards terrorist activities or any other activity that is beyond the specific scope and mandate of the organization, and that any further funding is conditioned on UNRWA schools refusing to implement a curriculum that inculcates hatred towards Israel and the Jewish People.
- Call for greater oversight and transparency over Canada’s ‘enhanced due diligence’ process to generate greater transparency over Canada’s contributions to UNRWA in accordance with the commitments agreed to in Point #5.
- Call for an international discussion among UN Member States to gradually devolve UNRWA services to host governments, or other international or local NGOs as appropriate.
BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS (BDS)
B’nai Brith Canada believes that criticism of the State of Israel, akin to criticism levied against any other country, is not necessarily antisemitic. However, the global BDS movement is inherently antisemitic in that it delegitimizes, demonizes, and employs a double standard against the State of Israel.
Its objective is not the advancement of peace, but rather the destruction of the State of Israel and employs dangerous false narratives to achieve that goal. Moreover, the BDS movement rewards Palestinians for their refusal to engage in constructive dialogue with Israel and puts off any possibility of peaceful resolution.
The BDS movement has increasingly been criticized and recognized for the pernicious and dangerous force that it is by elected officials of all stripes, both in Canada and around the world. Where the BDS movement thrives, we see that invariably—and without exception—Jewish students and communities suffer increased antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and in some cases, violence. The direct connection between BDS and other expressions of antisemitism is undeniable, and the countenance of BDS is therefore incompatible with any meaningful effort to combat antisemitism.
As such, we recommend that all elected officials and candidates:
- Reject BDS as a movement that prevents good faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and a just and equitable peace agreement that is to be negotiated between the two parties.
- Support the 2016 motions passed in the House of Commons and Ontario Legislature condemning the BDS movement and calling for such motions to be adopted in all provinces and territories.
- Strip organizations that promote BDS of their charitable status, in line with the 2016 motion passed by the House of Commons.
- Support the adoption and implementation of legislative initiatives preventing racist boycott activities such as BDS.
- Work to prevent BDS-related activities from taking place on public property.
- Prevent the allocation of public funds to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or academic institutions that advocate for or support BDS, both domestically and internationally.
IRAN’S DESTABILIZING INFLUENCE
The Iranian regime is the world’s largest state sponsor of global terrorism.
For decades, the regime has not only underwritten the operations of listed terrorist organizations such as Hizballah, but has used Hizballah, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations to wreak havoc across the Middle East, Europe, and even as far away as Latin America, where Hizballah—at the behest of the Iranian regime—orchestrated and carried out the attack against the AMIA Community Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994, murdering 85 innocents and injuring hundreds of others.
The regime has repeatedly threatened the State of Israel with annihilation, orchestrated attacks against foreign Israeli and Jewish targets, as well as Iranian dissidents and their relatives and associates abroad in a campaign of intimidation intended to strengthen the regime’s stranglehold on the country.
B’nai Brith Canada has long been a supporter of implementing the strongest possible sanctions on the regime, including designating the entirety of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity and applying Magnitsky-like sanctions where warranted until the regime relinquishes the use of terror as an element of its foreign policy, and abides by international norms and laws.
The need for action has grown even more urgent following the IRGC’s murder of Canadians aboard PS752, recently declared an act of terrorism by an Ontario court.
Given this position, B’nai Brith Canada recommends that in order to curb Iran’s international influence, elected officials and candidates resolve to:
- Support Canada’s refusal to establish diplomatic relations with Iran until it fully recognizes Israel’s right to exist, refrains from materially, logistically, and ideologically supporting international terrorism, and desists from using its diplomatic power to intimidate the Iranian-Canadian community and the Canadian Jewish community.
- Accept the series of benchmarks, as proposed in recent legislative initiatives in Canada, to be applied to Iran’s behaviour and evaluated on an annual basis as a means to guide Canada’s possible reengagement with Iran.
- Refrain from supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) unless broadened in scope and strengthened to deal with challenges posed to global security by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capability and other threatening activities such as development of ballistic and cruise missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
- Publicly endorse the listing of the IRGC, in its entirety, as a designated terrorist entity.
- Support using Canada’s Magnitsky Act sanctions against Iran’s human rights offenders.
DEALING WITH WAR CRIMINALS AND NAZI GLORIFICATION
B’nai Brith Canada believes it is essential for the continual investigation and prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and where circumstances require it, to strip such war criminals of their citizenship and immediately remove them from Canada.
To support such action, B’nai Brith Canada has called for greater access to Canadian historical records and files dealing with war criminals in Canada, including the records of the 1986 Report of the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals (also known as the Deschenes Commission), which remain unavailable to the public. We have also called for the immediate removal of Nazi Helmut Oberlander from Canada—a process which has yet to take place despite the exhaustion of all legal appeals by Oberlander to stay his deportation.
Additionally, B’nai Brith Canada has openly called for Canada to condemn manifestations and parades which seek to glorify Nazi sympathizers and supporters—including by individuals, institutions, and governments who were complicit in the deaths of Jews during World War II. These calls have been met with a positive response, but we believe that more must be done.
To that end, we recommend that all elected officials and candidates resolve to:
- Make public all closed Canadian records dealing with war criminals, including files of the War Crimes Unit of the Department of Justice, with specific exceptions for active cases and personal information about informants and confidential sources.
- Make public all of the confidential proceedings of the 1986 Report of the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals (Deschenes Commission), with specific exceptions for active cases and personal information about informants and confidential sources.
- Call for the immediate removal of Helmut Oberlander from Canada.
- Call for Canada to vigorously speak out and condemn events that serve to glorify individuals, military units, and governments who sympathized with or supported the goals of Nazi Germany, particularly its efforts to destroy world Jewry during World War II.
CANADA-ISRAEL RELATIONS
B’nai Brith Canada believes we have a moral and humanitarian imperative to strengthen the Canada-Israel relationship. Israel is the sovereign homeland of the Jewish People, providing both a refuge from persecution and the sole opportunity for the Jewish People to exercise their right to national self-determination in their indigenous and ancestral homeland.
Israel is a vibrant, fully functioning democracy, where diverse opinions compete actively in the marketplace of ideas and the rights of all of its citizens are protected by a robust and independent judiciary. Our role is not to judge the outcome of such debates, nor favour particular voices in them, but rather to ensure that Israel remains safe so its people can make the often-tough decisions about peace and security.
B’nai Brith Canada believes that Jerusalem is the country’s undivided capital and that the Canadian embassy should be relocated there. Additionally,
B’nai Brith Canada believes that the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement, recently modernized, provides an essential underpinning to the bilateral relationship, supporting as it does the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding.
As such, we recommend that all elected officials and candidates resolve to:
- Commit to the concept and content of the need for a close bilateral relationship with Israel, as set out in the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding.
- The full and complete implementation of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
- Reject any discrimination between goods and services trade with Israel, including those involving firms operating in territories controlled by Israel since 1967.
- Recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and endorse the moving of the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem.
- Recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
- Become members of the Canada-Israel Parliamentary Group.
- Support ongoing normalization efforts between Israel and Arab/Muslim states with which it does not yet have full diplomatic relations.
SOCIAL SERVICES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Since 1979, B’nai Brith Canada has been a respected and leading provider of sustainable affordable housing in Canada. We began our Affordable Housing Program in an effort to provide and maintain affordable, secure, and welcoming housing for low-to-moderate income residents.
B’nai Brith Canada’s Affordable Housing Residences provide seniors, community members, and persons with disabilities from all walks of life an opportunity to live with independence and dignity while still residing within their communities, close to family and friends.
B’nai Brith Canada has long believed that social service agencies are critical to the delivery of many of the programs and services provided by the federal government. These include seniors care, disability services, and many social activities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious impacts on Canada’s charitable sector: demands for services have risen at a time when charitable contributions, the lifeblood of our organizations, have been constrained. Throughout, B’nai Brith Canada has sustained its activities in support of those most vulnerable. In particular, we have focused on emergency food donations for those most in need and providing assistance to socially isolated members of the community.
In working closely with governments at all levels, and with key partners, we have emphasized the importance of innovative approaches to encourage charitable giving and equitable access to financial resources both to address immediate COVID-19 impacts and to support post-pandemic recovery.
B’nai Brith Canada takes seriously its obligation to be a responsible steward of the environment. To that end, we engage in recycling and waste diversion programs, such as the collection and distribution of gently used clothing from those who might otherwise dispose of it in landfills.
To further our work in the field of social service provision and environmental stewardship, we recommend that elected officials and candidates commit to:
- Integrating the local views of Jewish organizations into approaches to the delivery of social services, including consulting with organizations such as B’nai Brith Canada, when considering approaches to support the charitable sector and sustain post-pandemic recovery.
- Ensuring that providers of affordable housing have a voice in developing and implementing a long-term housing strategy that is government-led or influenced.
- Supporting social and environmental initiatives such as those undertaken by B’nai Brith Canada though its clothing donation and emergency food programs.
- Maximizing the opportunities for access by charities to pandemic support funding and post-pandemic recovery resources.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
B’NAI BRITH CANADA’S EIGHT-POINT PLAN TO TACKLE ANTISEMITISM
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
- INSTITUTE DEDICATED HATE CRIME UNITS IN EVERY MAJOR CITY
The lack of investment in hate crime-specific units contributes to both a perceived sense of impunity for the purveyors of hate crimes and generates frustration on the part of affected communities. Dedicated hate crimes units could produce more substantive results in the field. - PROVIDE ENHANCED TRAINING FOR HATE CRIMES OFFICERS
What often appears to be a clear-cut case of a hate crime can be interpreted differently among police services.
A standard understanding of what constitutes a hate crime is critical, as well as proper liaison functions between police services and civil society organizations representing affected communities, such as the League for Human Rights. - PUBLISH THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S GUIDELINES FOR SECTIONS 318 AND 319
The Attorney-General’s decision-making process on hate propaganda prosecutions is not public and therefore open to charges of political bias. B’nai Brith believes revealing the internal guidelines elucidating this process will help the public know when to submit complaints to law enforcement, and clarify what is and is not legal. - DECLARE A ZERO-TOLERANCE APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF ANTISEMITISM
Government funding has again found its way to organizations that have promoted antisemitism in the past. Government must be vigilant when dispensing public funds to such organizations, and take swift action when such instances come to its attention, including an immediate withdrawal of all publicly-provided funds. - INTRODUCE ANTI-SLAPP LEGISLATION IN ALL PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES
Only B.C., Ontario and Quebec have enacted legislation against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or “anti-SLAPP” legislation, which is meant to prevent frivolous libel lawsuits designed to dissuade groups engaging in issues of public interest by using lawsuits to intimidate and deter critique or inquiry. B’nai Brith encourages all provinces and territories to enact this legislation so this protection can be extended to the benefit of all Canadians. - HOLD UNIVERSITIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM
Universities recently surfaced as significant breeding grounds for antisemitism in Canada, including through an increase in far-left activism against Israel. Universities must do more to combat antisemitism, as do provincial ministries of education, including enforcing existing anti-discrimination policies and ensuring that appropriate disciplinary measures are employed. - ADOPT A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR ANTISEMITISM
Canada must adopt a National Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism, as have France and Norway, in recognition that adequate resources must be offered to strategically combat anti-Jewish rhetoric. Such a plan would involve all levels of government, which could help law enforcement, communities, and schools prevent and respond to antisemitism. - DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN TO COUNTER ONLINE HATE
B’nai Brith believes that the federal government, along with social media platforms and other stakeholders, can work in tandem to establish a viable strategic plan to counter online hate. Government must examine how to strengthen laws against perpetrators of online hate and improve law enforcement training in how to respond.
