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House Hansard - 59

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 27, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 59 - Apr/27/22
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Apr/27/22 2:54:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tonight is indeed the beginning of Yom HaShoah. Anti-Semitism and hatred in any form have no place in Canada. We have held a national summit on anti-Semitism to hear directly from community leaders on their concerns, and budget 2022 provides funding to support the special envoy, the construction of a new Holocaust museum and the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, and proposes to prohibit the promotion of anti-Semitism through the denial and downplaying of the Holocaust. We will always be steadfast in our support for Canada's Jewish community, and I look forward to seeing many parliamentarians tomorrow at the memorial for the Holocaust.
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Context: House Hansard - 59 - Apr/27/22
Mr. Anthony Housefather (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Lib.)
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for putting forward this bill. Rarely has a date ever been so apt to debate legislation, as this evening is the beginning of Yom HaShoah. Yom HaShoah is a sacred day. It is a day when we remember with reverence the over six million Jews who were slaughtered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. It is a day when we remember all of the victims of the Holocaust, regardless of their origin, whether they were from the LGBTQ+ community, the Roma community or any other community. It is a day when we honour the survivors, including those many survivors who came to make their homes in cities like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. It is a day when we thank the rescuers, the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save others. It is a day when we remember atrocities, and it is a day when it is totally appropriate to talk about how we can prevent this from ever happening again. On Monday I had the incredible honour of standing with my friends from Thornhill and Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke at the B'nai B'rith press conference, where it brought forward its audited anti-Semitic incidents for last year. As my friend from Saskatoon mentioned, there was yet another increase in incidents after multiple successive years, with many more violent and threatening incidents. In my province of Quebec, there was a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents. In British Columbia there was an important increase in anti-Semitic incidents. We as a country need to confront why this is happening. Last spring, the month of May was when many of these incidents happened, which occurred as a flare-up from the war, or incidents of violence, occurring in the state of Israel when they were attacked by Hamas, which is a terrorist organization under Canadian law. For whatever reason, that turned into anti-Semitism here in Canada. It turned into rock-throwing in Montreal. It turned into a time when families in my riding were scared to let their children go to the park because they were afraid somebody would see them wearing a kippah and that they would attack them. That same month, Holocaust survivors in my riding came to see me to ask if they should take down the mezuzah from their doors, for fear that people would see this Jewish symbol and find out they were Jewish. I never would have believed that this could happen in Montreal, in Quebec, in Canada. That is unbelievable. It has been 262 years since the Jewish community has been in Canada. We have contributed so much to this country in every facet, whether it is politics, the judiciary, the arts, sports or the military. Canadian Jews are not victims. We are strong and proud. It is unacceptable that in a great country like ours we see incidents of Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. One of the things that makes me very proud is that, when there are international polls about anti-Semitism, Canada always ranks among one of the lowest countries for incidents of anti-Semitism. Only about 8% or 9% of Canadians are anti-Semitic, versus much higher percentages in other countries. Last week, when Angus Reid did a poll about how people perceive different religious communities in Canada, the Jewish community finished as the most favourable. How is it that, with so few anti-Semites in this country, 61% of religious hate crimes in this country are against Jews, when we make up only 1.25% of the population? Something is wrong with this picture. From the Protocols of the Elders of Zion through to disinformation online today, for some crazy reason, Jews are always the first victims but never the last. Somebody who is capable of disliking Jews is capable of disliking people because they are part of any group. We know it sometimes starts with Jews but does not end with Jews. We are all here to see what we can do to fight not only anti-Semitism, but also racism, francophobia and all forms of discrimination in our society. It starts with education, but education is not always enough. I always believe that we err on free speech. We always try to make sure that we do not unreasonably take away someone's right to say something, but it is clear from all kinds of evidence that denial of the Holocaust and minimization of the Holocaust is actually one of the most effective tools for increasing anti-Semitism and directing hatred and violence against Jews. Our Constitution is clear. While freedom of speech is an incredibly important right, protected under section 2 of the Canadian Charter— That right is also protected by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and many other charters in this country. We, under section 1, have a right to place reasonable limits on freedom of speech. Hate speech is not necessarily free speech. The courts in Canada have determined that we are allowed to prevent people from inciting genocide and from inciting hatred against identifiable groups. Today, when people go online and look at Holocaust denial on all of the platforms, it is but a start of where people go when they start hating Jews. I support this bill or whatever frame this bill takes, because it is so important to not allow people in Canada to minimize or to deny the Holocaust. It is a historical truth. It is not a subject for debate. Someone who claims that six million Jews did not die in the Holocaust does not know what they are talking about. It happened. Everyone in Parliament has a duty here and now. Regardless of our political party, we are all united in saying that we do not want anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia or any other form of discrimination in Canada. We may not always agree on how to go about it, but we agree that it should not exist. Holocaust denial is one thing we can unanimously condemn. It is so bad and causes so much hate that it should be against the law. I would like to finish by adding one other thing. Yom HaShoah comes on the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut. Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israeli Independence Day. It happens next week. In Canada, part of the hate comes from the extreme right and part of the hate comes from the extreme left. Nobody has a monopoly on it. Everybody could be part of it. One of the things that I have seen, and one of the things that I am the most afraid of, is that when somebody denies the existence of the state of Israel or incites hate against the State of Israel, it leads to anti-Semitism against Jews in Canada. Israel is a democratic country: it is the only Jewish majority state in the world. It has a right to exist. It has a right to exist behind secure borders. I really hope that we can also join together, in addition to condemning anti-Semitism, to agree that BDS, all forms of Israel Apartheid Week, all forms of heinous attacks against Jewish students on campus, and all the places where hate of Israel leads should also not exist in this country. I thank my friend for Saskatoon—Grasswood. He has brought forward an important issue that we all need to work together to confront.
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