The one-year anniversary of Canada’s first National Summit on Antisemitism passed quietly on July 21. Last year, after violence resurged between Israel and Hamas, and Canadians saw a spike in antisemitic incidents, the government convened this emergency summit under the guidance of Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.
The summit lasted seven hours, during which time Cotler and Jewish leaders met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers. Since then, Parliament has outlawed Holocaust denial and made progress toward an anti-hate-speech bill that would cover antisemitism, while Ottawa has earmarked at least $30 million for Jewish issues, including millions pledged for new Holocaust museums across the country.
Yet with all these resources devoted to fighting Jew-hatred, has antisemitism actually quieted down? To give a sense of the progress that’s been made so far, and what still needs to be done, The CJN Daily sat down with Cotler for a candid self-reflection and assessment.
What we talked about:
- Listen to our podcast about the National Summit on Antisemitism from July 22, 2021
- Read our coverage of the summit
- See the Canadian Heritage video about what has been accomplished in the last year
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.