The Prime Minister’s Speech on Antisemitism: A Missed Opportunity
- Mark Sandler
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Yesterday, the Prime Minister delivered a speech at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto setting out the Liberal government’s response to antisemitism. It was broadcast to all Canadians, representing a real opportunity for the Prime Minister to counter pervasive antisemitism that plagues our country.
He started well. He acknowledged that the Jewish community is being “particularly and brutally targeted.” He admitted that “Canada’s civil compact is failing Jewish Canadians.” He described the surging levels of antisemitism not previously seen in the post World War II era and personalized it through what he has witnessed. He later added that while all forms of hatred break Canada’s civil compact, “the crisis of antisemitism in Canada is specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response.” He called upon all Canadians to protect their fellow Jewish citizens.
Nonetheless, his speech represented a huge missed opportunity. It omitted – undoubtedly deliberately – any reference to Zionism or Zionists; antizionism or antizionists. This was in stark contrast to Prime Minister Trudeau’s declaration (despite his flawed leadership) that he is a Zionist and no one in Canada should ever be afraid to say that they are.
Contemporary antisemitism often occurs when Canadian Jews are held collectively responsible for Israel’s perceived actions – a point the Prime Minister Carney made – but equally importantly, when Jewish and Israeli Canadians are demonized for being Zionists – that is supporting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish democratic state in our ancestral lands. “All Zionists are racist, evil and genocidal” or “All Zionists are terrorists” are now normalized on Canada’s streets, on our campuses and online. “Zionism” has become a dirty word. Defenders of Israel, even against specious libels are branded as racists.
Indeed, Anti-Palestinian racism (APR), sought to be introduced into anti-racism strategies, is defined by its proponents so as to label anyone as a racist who even disputes Palestinian narratives about Israel’s creation or who refuses to acknowledge that the entirety of Israel represents occupied lands. This delegitimization targets the vast majority of Jews and Israelis. It is a source and inspiration for many of the attacks on Jewish places of worship, schools and businesses, and plots to kill Jews.
This isn’t about suppressing criticism of Israel, its government, politicians, conduct or policies – although most Canadian Jews believe that this government’s criticisms of Israel have displayed, at best, a serious lack of balance. This is about vilifying, detesting and attacking Jews and Israelis who support Israel’s very right to exist. This is about inciting hatred against Zionists for being Zionists. This should be no more acceptable than saying “All Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians are terrorists.”
We needed the Prime Minister to say this – clearly, unequivocally – to the entire nation. That there will be zero tolerance for those who promote hatred against the vast majority of Jews and Israelis for supporting Israel’s right to exist. Instead, he never uttered the words, “Zionist” or “Zionism.” He never mentioned the toxic impact of antizionism on Canadian Jews. Those who hate us are emboldened by the equivocal messages coming from government. Prime Minister Carney needed to take ownership of his government’s own role in allowing contemporary antisemitism to flourish, including its funding of training initiatives on APR by the very organization that created the toxic definition of that term. He needed to acknowledge the existential risk posed to Canadian society by radical Islamism, the increasingly mainstream far-left and the far-right. When will we stop avoiding these issues?
The Prime Minister announced the launch of Canada’s new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, headed by the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. This Council was previously announced when the government terminated the Office of the Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. During the Prime Minister’s speech, he only identified Senator Marc Gold as one of the Council members, undoubtedly a worthy single voice.
The Prime Minister said he was directing the Council, as its first responsibility, to address antisemitism. Only after the speech did attendees learn that the Advisory Council contains no other Jewish voices and includes several appointed members unlikely to support the federal government’s own anti-racist strategy that adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism. A “curious” approach to a Council purportedly mandated to prioritize antisemitism in light of the acknowledged “crisis” facing our “particularly and brutally targeted” community.
In the Senate Human Rights Committee’s recently released report on antisemitism, it recommended that the position of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism be reinstated. It expressed its concern that the Special Envoy position was replaced on February 4, 2026 with the new Advisory Council. The Committee stated that it “shares the new [C]ouncil’s goal of combatting all forms of racism and hate, but questions whether it will be able to adequately continue the specialized work of the Special Envoy.”
The Prime Minister forged ahead anyway. I have little confidence that the newly composed Council will effectively and in a timely way address contemporary antisemitism, despite the Prime Minister’s direction to prioritize that issue.¹ We have already accumulated recommendations from House and Senate Committees that studied antisemitism. The time to act is now.
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Endnotes
1. In the spirit of full disclosure, my name was put forward as a potential member of this Council, as were others, Jewish and non-Jewish whose work included combatting antisemitism.
About the Author
Mark Sandler, LL.B., LL.D. (honoris causa), ALCCA’s Chair, is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal lawyers and pro bono advocates. He has been involved in combatting antisemitism for over 40 years. He has lectured extensively on legal remedies to combat hate and has promoted respectful Muslim-Jewish, Sikh-Jewish and Black-Jewish dialogues. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees and in the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions on issues relating to antisemitism and hate activities. He is a former member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, a three-time elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, and recipient of the criminal profession’s highest honour, the G. Arthur Martin Medal, for his contributions to the administration of criminal justice.