Leading non-Jewish Canadians condemn antisemitism in open letter

A group of prominent non-Jewish Canadian business, political and education leaders is condemning antisemitism and calling for better enforcement of the country’s anti-hate laws.

“As a group of Canadian business and community leaders who are not Jewish, we ask our colleagues to join us in condemning any act of antisemitism in this country,” reads an open letter published in Saturday’s National Post and other Postmedia papers, including the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun.

Among the 66 signatories are senior executives from Telus, National Bank, Sunlife Financial, Rogers Communications, Scotiabank, emeritus academics from the University of Toronto, former Toronto mayor John Tory and former prime minister Stephen Harper. Andrew MacLeod, the chief executive of Postmedia — the company that owns National Post — is also listed among the co-signers.

“The letter speaks for itself, together with the prime minister’s speech on June 1,” the group told National Post in a statement, referring to Mark Carney’s speech to Jewish community members at Holy Blossom Temple, a Jewish synagogue in Toronto. “This was an ad hoc effort by leaders united by their concern over a rise in antisemitism in our country.”

The letter features two quotes from Carney’s speech: “It requires all of us to raise our voices in disgust and defiance when we see the ugly face of antisemitism…. The time has come. Canadians must stand up for each other.”

The public call to action includes three recommendations for “our roadmaps forward”: “zero tolerance for hate,” “consistent enforcement of anti-hate laws,” and “discipline in public discourse.”

“Words from political leaders matter. This is not about restricting free speech,” the letter says. “No Canadian should be threatened, harassed or attacked because of their faith. In Canada, we need to treat each other equally and with respect, regardless of one’s religion, ethnicity or cultural heritage.”

Pat Johnson, an executive with Upstanders Canada, a mostly non-Jewish organization dedicated to “the fight against antisemitism and anti-Zionism,” applauded the initiative, saying national leadership needs to stand up and speak clearly at this moment.

“It’s a powerful and necessary statement,” Johnson told the Post. “For every name on the letter, we know there are thousands of Canadians who support the sentiment.”

“This letter is a great step in the right direction, but we also need millions of ordinary Canadians,” Johnson continued. “These are business leaders; these are leading figures in society, and that is wonderful — that’s excellent. But we really need ordinary Canadians who agree with this message to stand up.”

Carney’s June 1 speech was criticized by many Canadian Jews for falling flat, particularly given his failure to reference Zionism. Johnson, who is not Jewish and has spent his career advocating for “progressive social causes,” expressed frustration with Carney’s speech for these very reasons.

“That is the elephant in this room,” Johnson said. “We can’t talk about antisemitism without talking about anti-Zionism because anti-Zionism is how antisemitism manifests today.”

“We can’t have this conversation without addressing it,” Johnson continued. “It’s ostensibly in the name of anti-Zionism that Jews in Canada are being vilified, isolated, targeted, attacked, firebombed, shot at and beaten up. There is effectively no point in discussing antisemitism if we’re not gonna confront anti-Zionism.”

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