ARCHIVED – Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2009-2010

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Combating Anti-Semitism in Canada and Around the World

Concern is growing about an increase in anti-Semitism both in Canada and around the world. More than 1,100 violent incidents against Jews around the world were recorded in 2009, representing an increase of more than 100 per cent over 2008. Data gathered by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics shows that hate crimes against persons of the Jewish faith comprise 64 per cent of crimes based on religion and 16 per cent of all hate crimes recorded in 2008, even though Jews comprise less than 1 per cent of the Canadian population.

The Government of Canada, through the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, encourages cross-cultural dialogue at national and international levels to combat all forms of discrimination and racism, including anti-Semitism. To support this commitment, the Government of Canada:

  • recognizes January 17th as Raoul Wallenberg Day;
  • recognizes April 11th as the Canadian Holocaust Memorial Day;
  • co-sponsored the 2005 UN resolution that led to the recognition of January 27th as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust; and,
  • co-sponsored the 2007 UN resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust.

Anti-Semitism is a pernicious evil that must be exposed, that must be confronted, that must be repudiated, whenever and wherever it appears. Fuelled by lies and paranoia we have learned from history it is an evil so profound … that it is ultimately a threat to us all.

—Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, March 2009.

Under the leadership of the Honourable Jason Kenney and Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler (Co-founder of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA)), a delegation of 11 Canadian Parliamentarians attended the inaugural ICCA Conference in London in February 2009. Issued at the conference, the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism calls on governments to take action on specific issues to combat anti-Semitism.

Canada hosted the second ICCA Conference in Ottawa in November 2010. Parliamentarians from around the world came together to develop mechanisms to combat the global phenomenon of anti-Semitism. Among other issues, the conference addressed anti-Semitic propaganda in the media and on the internet and the creation of a more sustainable framework for the ICCA. By unanimous consent, Parliamentarians issued the Ottawa Protocol which seeks commitments from governments to collect and report data on hate crimes, including anti-Semitism; to monitor and share best practices; to propose a common working definition for anti-Semitism; and, to engage further with the United Nations.

Canada also recognizes the scourge of a new form of anti-Semitism which includes the notion that the Jews alone have no right to a homeland. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has condemned this phenomenon, saying that "unfortunately in some countries, hatred of the Jews is still preached from religious pulpits and still proclaimed from political podiums. There are still people who would perpetrate another Holocaust if they could. That’s why we must resist the error of viewing the Holocaust as a strictly historical event."

Canada was the first to withdraw from the United Nations Durban Review Conference in 2001 due to profound concerns about manifestations of anti-Semitism at the Conference. In 2009, Canada boycotted Durban II due to the participation of overtly anti-Semitic regimes in its planning and has lost faith in the Durban process. This decision was vindicated when Durban II was used by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a vehicle for Holocaust denial and xenophobia. Canada will not participate in the September 2011 events planned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, also known as Durban III.

 

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