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New Brunswick Latest Canadian Province to Adopt IHRA Definition

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (CTV News)

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Oct. 31, 2022

FREDERICTON, N.B. – New Brunswick is the latest Canadian province to adopt the all-important International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

B’nai Brith Canada, who recently made a request directly to New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs to adopt the IHRA definition, is delighted and has sent a letter to him to express our gratitude.

“The Jewish population of New Brunswick is relatively small, yet B’nai Brith’s 2021 Audit recorded 46 incidents of antisemitism in the province in 2021,” said Michael Mostyn, B’nai Brith Canada’s Chief Executive Officer. “The Audit shows the IHRA definition’s effectiveness. Antisemitism has generally declined in the areas where the IHRA definition has been implemented.”

With the inclusion of New Brunswick, the number of provinces to employ the IHRA definition is four. Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba previously adopted it.

Premier Higgs formalized a Declaration embracing the IHRA definition last Thursday, the text of which resolves that New Brunswick “endorses and adopts the working definition of antisemitism as adopted by the IHRA Plenary on May 26, 2016.”

“B’nai Brith is grateful to the Premier for his rapid followup to our outreach, “ said Marvin Rotrand, National Director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights. “The province has told us it is sensitive to antisemitism and is seeking the tools to vigorously combat It. This text applies to the whole of government. A previous motion adopted by the Legislature in March, 2021, while very welcome, was less far-reaching.”

B’nai Brith has offered its expertise to the province to help implement the IHRA definition. The definition is non-legally binding but acts as an educational tool aiding civil servants and law enforcement to better recognize and combat antisemitism.