ARCHIVED – Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2010-2011

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Part Two: Combating Anti-semitism in Canada and around the World

The Government of Canada encourages cross-cultural dialogue at national and international levels to combat all forms of discrimination and racism, including anti-Semitism, as a means of addressing the continued increase of hate crimes in Canada and around the world.

In November 2010, Minister Kenney led Canada in hosting the second Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-semitism conference in Ottawa. Officials from over 50 countries came together to develop mechanisms to combat anti-Semitism and issued the Ottawa Protocol. The Ottawa Protocol seeks commitments from governments to address hate crimes, counter hate speech, improve anti-Semitism education, uphold the Genocide Convention (1948) and take foreign policy stances on issues related to anti-Semitism when necessary.

On September 19, 2011, Minister Kenney and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird signed the Ottawa Protocol as a demonstration of the Government of Canada’s support and commitment to its goals.

Minister Kenney is an ex-officio member of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-semitism (CPCCA), which is a coalition of concerned parliamentarians aiming to confront and combat the global resurgence of anti-Semitism. From November 2009 to January 2010, the Inquiry Panel of the CPCCA held a series of ten domestic hearings into anti-Semitism in Canada. Released in July 2011, the CPCCA’s report focuses on identifying and defining the nature of anti-Semitism in Canada, analysing the extent of the problem and making recommendations on how it can be addressed. For further information, visit www.cpcca.ca.

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs on initiatives that aim to combat anti-Semitism internationally. Canada has been a member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) since June 2009, and continues to demonstrate commitment to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust. In March 2011, the Government of Canada signaled interest in assuming the chair of the ITF in 2013 and was accepted in December 2011. For more information, visit www.holocausttaskforce.org.

The Department also works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs on supporting Canada’s membership in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In June 2010, the former Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism, Dr. Alice Wong, represented Canada as Head of Delegation at the OSCE’s High-Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination in Astana, Kazakhstan, and delivered statements on behalf of Canada. For further information on the OSCE, visit www.osce.org.

On March 25, 2011, the National Holocaust Monument Act received royal assent. The Government of Canada has pledged to establish a National Holocaust Monument, to be located in the National Capital Region, to ensure that Holocaust victims and lessons are never forgotten in Canada. The hope is that by teaching current and future generations of Canadians the roots and causes of this atrocity, future acts of genocide will be prevented. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration supports the Department of Foreign Affairs as a key partner in this initiative.

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The Honourable Jason Kenney (left) and the Honourable John Baird sign the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Anti-semitism (Ottawa), September 2011. Photo courtesy of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

The Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust

The members of the Task Force are committed to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, which reads as follows.

  1. The Holocaust (Shoah) fundamentally challenged the foundations of civilization. The unprecedented character of the Holocaust will always hold universal meaning. After half a century, it remains an event close enough in time that survivors can still bear witness to the horrors that engulfed the Jewish people. The terrible suffering of the many millions of other victims of the Nazis has left an indelible scar across Europe as well.
  2. The magnitude of the Holocaust, planned and carried out by the Nazis, must be forever seared in our collective memory. The selfless sacrifices of those who defied the Nazis, and sometimes gave their own lives to protect or rescue the Holocaust’s victims, must also be inscribed in our hearts. The depths of that horror, and the heights of their heroism, can be touchstones in our understanding of the human capacity for evil and for good.
  3. With humanity still scarred by genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils. Together we must uphold the terrible truth of the Holocaust against those who deny it. We must strengthen the moral commitment of our peoples, and the political commitment of our governments, to ensure that future generations can understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences.
  4. We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education, remembrance and research about the Holocaust, both in those of our countries that have already done much and those that choose to join this effort.
  5. We share a commitment to encourage the study of the Holocaust in all its dimensions. We will promote education about the Holocaust in our schools, our universities and our communities, and encourage it in other institutions.
  6. We share a commitment to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to honour those who stood against it. We will encourage appropriate forms of Holocaust remembrance, including an annual Day of Holocaust Remembrance, in our countries.
  7. We share a commitment to throw light on the still obscured shadows of the Holocaust. We will take all necessary steps to facilitate the opening of archives in order to ensure that all documents bearing on the Holocaust are available to researchers.
  8. It is appropriate that this, the first major international conference of the new millennium, declares its commitment to plant the seeds of a better future amidst the soil of a bitter past. We empathize with the victims’ suffering and draw inspiration from their struggle. Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity’s common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.

 

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