The federal government has issued its first call for proposals for a new program dedicated to national Holocaust remembrance, which is also designed to address the rising threat of antisemitism across Canada.
Ya’ara Saks, the associate federal minister of health, announced the project at the Toronto Holocaust Museum on behalf of Kamal Khera, the federal minister of diversity and inclusion.
Saks said the undertaking will aim to amplify the voices of survivors—while also combating hate in all forms.
“The shadow of the Shoah is a stark and harrowing reminder of the cruelty humanity is capable of. It’s a dark shadow that our community continues to live with every single day.”
Saks says initiatives funded under this education program will offer resources to engage Canadians in remembrance, while also seeking to combat denial and distortion. The most recent federal budget, announced April 16, allocated $250 million to support Canada’s Jewish community.
Along with an increase in funding for the Security Infrastructure Program—which will receive $21.5 million over the two years to help Jewish institutions—the budget allocates $273.6 million over six years for Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate, including resources to police training, victim support, and prosecutor education.
The budget further includes a $5-million commitment over five years to the National Holocaust Remembrance Program, which Saks says is imperative when contemporary antisemitism is increasingly echoing the past.
“We must bear solemn witness because we are the last generation that will hear directly the testimony of survivors, and it’s our shared and enduring responsibility to ensure that the horrors of the Shoah and the crimes against humanity from that moment in time are never forgotten,” Saks said.
The Liberal MP also referenced the Nov. 7 attacks in Amsterdam, where Israeli soccer fans were assaulted by demonstrators outside a stadium.
“The (Jewish) community truly feels that ‘Never Again’ is now,” she said, mentioning a “disturbing and horrific rise of antisemitism that has made our places of worship and places that we gather unsafe.
“We can choose to have a moment where we stop fear in its tracks. We can make a call to action and bring others outside our community along with us.”
Saks says her concern resonates more personally because of her two daughters, one of whom is in high school, while the other is now attending university. “I worry for many young Jewish Canadians today who are questioning their ability to stand proudly in their identity in open and public spaces,” she said.
Ottawa’s special antisemitism envoy Deborah Lyons—whose role also extends to Holocaust remembrance—recently unveiled a handbook on the working definition of antisemitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Produced by Heritage Canada and developed with input from experts—including scholars and legal professionals—it serves as a comprehensive resource for combating antisemitism in the country, according to Lyons.
“I remember as a child first hearing about the Holocaust, and I could not believe that the humanity that I belonged to allowed this to happen,” Lyons said during the museum event.
She cited a recent study by the Association of Canadian Studies in conjunction with the Metropolis Institute, which showed one in six Canadians between ages 18 and 24 believe the Holocaust was exaggerated by Jews—and how that is reflected in their propensity towards antisemitic feelings and acts.
Plus, among those of all ages who “strongly agree” in a Holocaust exaggeration theory, Lyons noted that more than 50 percent have a negative opinion of Jews—and 32 percent of them hold positive views of Hamas.
“We have much work to do, and this program is meant to help all of you with that critical role,” she said.
This week, Ontario’s provincial government also pledged a commitment to combatting antisemitism with a a $551,000 investment that will fund resources for educators, students and families. It comes amidst an education ministry investigation into the Toronto District School Board, which was prompted by a controversial field trip that had students engage in an anti-Israel protest.
In a separate interview with The Canadian Jewish News, Lyons said financial resources need to correct deeper problems in Canadian education.
“Our children need to be taught in an environment that does not have antisemitism floating in the hallways, in the classroom, at the school board,” the special envoy said.
“We need to make sure all those who are exposed to our students understand the antisemitism that’s happening in Canada, and understand how we need to be combatting it.”
