In one of his final expected public appearances as prime minister, Justin Trudeau cautioned that “warning lights are flashing red,” as he described the rising wave of antisemitism, and Holocaust denial in Canada since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“What we, what you, are experiencing is not normal. Antisemites singing the praises of Hamas and Hezbollah while waving their flags in the streets of our cities is not normal,” Trudeau told the National Forum on Combating Antisemitism, a one-day summit organized by the federal Liberals on March 6.
“The term Zionist increasingly being tossed around as a pejorative, in spite of the fact that it simply means believing in the right of Jewish people, like all people, to determine their own future, is not normal,” Trudeau continued. “No one in Canada should ever be afraid to call themselves a Zionist. I am a Zionist,” he said to applause from the audience.
Trudeau: "80 years ago after witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust the international community made a commitment embodied in the two-word phrase 'Never Again.' I think we all know that we are failing in that pledge." pic.twitter.com/dvphy8mhHT
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 6, 2025
Members of mainstream Jewish advocacy groups and smaller grassroots groups, as well as provincial and municipal politicians, officials in law enforcement and prosecutors, attended the one-day event in Ottawa. (Politicians from other federal parties were not among the featured participants.)
Rachel Bendayan, who was appointed associate minister of public security Dec. 20, the day the forum was announced, chaired the meeting.
The security and safety of all Canadians is everybody's business pic.twitter.com/DjwHTXG5ZO
— Rachel Bendayan (@RachelBendayan) March 7, 2025
Jewish advocacy groups had been calling for a national summit for months in order to address antisemitic protests on the streets and university campuses. The week that the summit was announced was a particularly violent one for the Canadian Jewish community: Congregation Beth Tikvah, west of Montreal, was firebombed for the second time since the Hamas attack on Israel on Dec. 18. Two days later, hours before the summit was announced, shots were fired for the third time at Bais Chaya Mushka Girls School in Toronto.
Chief @TPSMyronDemkiw spoke at the National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism in Ottawa today on the urgent need to strengthen our collective efforts to combat antisemitism and all hate. He highlighted the need for a consistent approach and opportunities to strengthen the law, and… pic.twitter.com/aOI5wJ6y2i
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) March 7, 2025
It is the second time the federal government has held a national summit on antisemitism. A first national meeting was held via online platforms in 2021, after an increase in hate during a previous confrontation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
While Bendayan announced new funding for anti-hate and security initiatives as well as possible Criminal Code amendments that would address hate crimes and hate symbols, it is unclear whether the commitments will be fulfilled. The federal Liberals will elect a new leader Sunday and are likely to call an election soon after.
Thank you to federal, provincial, and municipal officials, law enforcement, and stakeholders for the productive discussions today at the National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism. We all have a role to play—never again is now. pic.twitter.com/nWcRZMLQOV
— Arif Virani (@viraniarif) March 6, 2025
Trudeau made a wry allusion to his declining popularity, saying “As you probably know, some of you may be counting down the minutes, I only have a few days left in this job, but I chose to be here today,” he said and he discussed a trip to Poland he took in late January, along with Holocaust survivors, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
“Election or no election, this work must continue,” Bendayan said at the start of the forum.
The government announced new funding, including $26.8 million over four years for police colleges to provide training on hate crimes. Up to $10 million was allocated to the Community Resilience Fund, to address violent extremism in its early stages.
Today the federal government convened representatives of all levels of government, law enforcement and civil society at the National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism. My colleagues and I worked hard to make this day happen & it was a clear call to action. pic.twitter.com/2A7sNN7VSc
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) March 6, 2025
The government also will examine potential amendments to the Criminal Code regarding access to religious and cultural buildings. Across the country, anti-Israel protests have blocked access to synagogues and communal buildings. Students attending a speech by former IDF soldiers at a Federation CJA building in Montreal were trapped inside for hours, after protesters surrounded the site. Several municipalities have passed “bubble legislation” to create protest-free zones, but the results have been ineffective in many cases.
Amendments to the Criminal Code regarding “extreme forms of hate speech” and display of terror symbols are also being considered, Bendayan said.
An additional $1.4 million was designated for seven groups under the Holocaust Remembrance Program. Recipients include the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, the University of Victoria, the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario, the Atlantic Canada Holocaust Education Foundation and Hillel Ontario.
A number of the government’s undertakings call for more cooperation among provinces and the federal government to identify ways to improve the criminal justice’s system prosecution of hate crimes and to develop new legislation. More uniform collection of hate crime statistics and more frequent reporting were also proposed.
1/2 Tackling the rise of antisemitism requires a whole of society approach.
— Ya'ara Saks יערה זקס (@YaaraSaks) March 7, 2025
Today’s National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism brought together federal, provincial, territorial partners, law enforcement and community to take concrete action. pic.twitter.com/2gyIplea4w
Antisemitic incidents have soared over the past 17 months. Jewish community members were targeted in 900 instances of police-reported hate crimes in 2023, an increase of 71 percent from the previous year. Despite representing just one percent of the Canadian population, Jews were the victims in 70 percent of all religion-motivated hate crimes, Statistics Canada reported.
Just a few weeks ago, over $500,000 in damages was caused by antisemitic protesters at McGill University, Bendayan said during remarks before the summit. More than 500 antisemitic incidents have been reported on university campuses.
“I have been targeted as a Jewish politician, as have many of my colleagues,” she said.
During the 2021 federal election, she was walking her daughter to daycare when she saw that her campaign signs had been vandalized with red swastikas scrawled on her picture. Even though her daughter did not understand the meaning of the swastika, she knew that something was “very deeply wrong,” Bendayan said.
“She felt it and if a young child can feel that darkness, we each of us have a responsibility to confront it.”
Citing the explosive rise of antisemitism, Jewish advocacy groups criticized the federal government’s slow response, and expressed their concerns that the forum would not lead to positive changes.
“We appreciate Minister Bendayan’s efforts. It was important for representatives of all levels of government, law enforcement, and crown prosecutors to come together and focus on the explosion of antisemitism that has targeted our community since Oct. 7,” Noah Shack, interim president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in an email to The CJN after the forum concluded.
“But this should have happened a year ago. It is essential that concrete, tangible action flow from today’s meeting.”
On the eve of the Government of Canada’s National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism, it is alarming that the government has published a report that demonizes the internationally recognized definition of antisemitism, which it has adopted, and undermines its own approach to… pic.twitter.com/y81fkLjv5M
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) March 4, 2025
In his address to the forum, Shack referred to all levels of governments’ inability to address antisemitism, and cited the “thousands of anti-Israel protests” which have occurred across the country. The protests are not about political dissent, he said.
“This is about the pro-Hamas mob mobilizing a show of force in our streets, the likes of which we haven’t seen in this country in my lifetime. Jews are the target. And authorities are all too often the bystanders that make it all possible when they fail to act,” Shack told the forum.
“We cannot tolerate a situation where different levels of government, law enforcement and the justice system are pointing fingers at one another or passing the buck, rather than working together to meet this critical challenge.
“While it is clear that additional tools are required to hold antisemites accountable for their actions, it is alarming that many of the existing tools are not being used to full effect.”
B’nai Brith Canada also criticized the federal government for its inaction over the last 17 months. The CJN requested a statement from B’nai Brith following the meeting, but an answer was not received before deadline.
Following the forum, B’nai Brith posted a statement on social media: “Though we welcome the commitments put forward today, it is imperative that the Canadian government engages immediately in the heavy lifting that is needed to combat antisemitism, to hold those responsible for fomenting hate and division accountable, and to introduce concrete measures to protect Canadian values. Canadians demand more from their elected officials.
“The time for platitudes has long passed. Combating antisemitism requires our leaders to practice what they preach. Today, Prime Minister Trudeau described himself as a Zionist and yet many of the groups responsible for perpetrating the Oct. 7 attack remain unlisted as terrorists in this country, despite B’nai Brith Canada’s repeated calls for their listing.”
B’nai Brith had submitted a seven-point plan before the forum, that called for stricter immigration controls and proposals to combat antisemitism on university campuses and in schools, among other actions. It also called for Al-Quds Day to be banned in Canada before the anti-Israel protests promoted by Iran take place on Sunday, March 23.
