ROBINSON: Enough with the empty promises — Canadian Jews need real leadership

Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney set the stage for a national announcement on the “scourge of antisemitism," noting that the Canadian Jewish community is 1% of the Canadian population but is on the receiving end of two-thirds of religious hate activities, and growing.

Just days earlier, BC Premier David Eby was asked a series of questions about his government’s responses to the rise of antisemitism here in British Columbia.

Both leaders acknowledged the real fear and anxiety that Canadian Jews are experiencing. Carney and Eby recognized that this fear and anxiety arise from a real place considering the fire-bombings of synagogues, schools being riddled with bullets and Jews being harassed in our streets, on campuses and in workplaces.

Both leaders talked about the importance of "fighting antisemitism." They both readily point to how they are helping to fund the rising costs of the Jewish community’s security needs — even though BC’s Jewish community still has to fundraise $100,000 a month to fully cover security costs, and now they have to pay PST on these services, too.

They both acknowledged that their governments are continuing to adhere to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Both Carney and Eby talked about protecting places of worship and helping police departments better understand this form of racism 

The similarities of their responses don’t just end there given that neither of them are really "fighting" antisemitism, they are merely responding to the safety needs of a community under siege, a community that is being shunned from our civic spaces. They both note that antisemitism is harming Jewish Canadians in our public school system, on our campuses and in our public services — but neither of them are taking any significant action to actually stem the hate being directed at Jews.

During his estimates debate last week, the premier identified meetings with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs a lobby group, as a hallmark for addressing antisemitism in his caucus and his government, continuing to refuse to actually run an educational antisemitism seminar and training for senior staff and caucus.

Carney announced that he has formed an Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion to further study the urgent problem of out-of-control antisemitism, the likes of which we haven’t seen since WWII. In other words, he announced a plan to plan a response. Forming a council to research the problem, a problem that has been documented by the now defunct Special Envoy on Antisemitism, the Canadian Senate and a myriad of others does not speak with urgency to the problem. 

With responses like these from both Carney and Eby, it is no wonder that the Jewish community feels abandoned by their leaders.

Canadian Jews have been targeted by a hateful campaign that is organized and well-orchestrated for three years. The campaign is well funded and has been operated through our campuses, public sector union leadership, professional bodies and others. Carney noted in his speech that “a country where Jewish schools require security guards, where synagogues need barriers, and where Jewish children attend schools secluded within a protected perimeter is a country that protects its citizens but fails to uphold its civic duty.”

If our leaders were really interested in fostering a country and province that upholds its civic duty and "fighting" antisemitism they would be focusing their efforts on how the problem is being perpetuated. 

During his speech, the prime minister noted that “when you come to Canada, you bring your faith, your tradition, your language, your story. You leave behind your wars and your animosities.” 

Given this statement I would think that government would be engaging with immigration policy to better tackle how antisemitism is being imported into Canada and looking to settlement services and international education to help newcomers better adapt to Canadian culture. 

Given how antisemitism is manifesting on campuses I would think that the premier would direct his Minister of Post Secondary Education to be having conversations with post-secondary boards and presidents about how campuses are being used to foment hate.

Mark Carney noted that this hate is manifesting in our professional bodies, at least he acknowledges that. But when MLA Claire Rattée asked the premier for his perspective on the BC Teacher’s Federation recent resolution castigating Israel as a pariah with its Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution on the only democratic state in the region and the world’s only Jewish state, he declined to answer. 

Hardly an endorsement for "standing up to hate in all its forms" — a refrain often repeated by the premier and his MLAs.

I have been a politician long enough to recognize that both leaders see this issue as a hot potato — neither really wants to address the propagation of the world’s oldest hatred because there might be some political backlash for actually standing up and standing with the Jewish community — and that is a failure of leadership.

Selina Robinson MA was a family therapist for over 25 years before entering politics in 2008, first as a city counsellor, then as an MLA. She held several cabinet portfolios in the BC government, including municipal affairs & housing, post-secondary education, and finance. Amid rising antisemitism following the October 7 terrorist attacks, Robinson, a Jew, found herself targeted by anti-Israel activists and was fired from cabinet by Premier Eby. She wrote about her experience as a progressive Jew in government in her memoir Truth Be Told.