Further debate? The member from Kitchener–Conestoga.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for recognizing me for debate on this motion. I quickly want to read through the motion and then get into a little bit of my deliberations here. I’m just going to read the motion here:

“That this House condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors, and recognize the inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.”

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to talk about this afternoon. I’ve had a chance to visit Israel twice; it’s a beautiful country. It’s really neat to be able to see how the interplay between so many faiths can come together in one place—obviously, a lot of that coalescing around Jerusalem. I know there are some other colleagues here who have had a chance to visit Israel as well, and I know they probably had as much admiration for the country as I do.

It reminded me of something that happened about three or four years ago. I think it was about a year after we had taken government in 2018, pre-pandemic. I was meeting with a group of individuals from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, better known as CIJA. We were speaking in a boardroom with about four or five members, and we were just talking about some of the different challenges that Jewish people face here in Canada and some of the backstory, the history, and where CIJA thought things were moving as we went forward.

We were having a great, very open dialogue and discussion, and I asked them a very poignant question. I didn’t mean it in a derogatory way, but I thought it was something that—you know, we were in kind of a safe place to be able to ask this question, and the question that I asked, that I posed to this group was, “Do you think that sometimes CIJA and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and some of the different organizations that we see here in Canada are out there too much talking about anti-Semitism? Are they really being that proverbial squeaky wheel?” The response to me was, “Mike, we don’t ever, ever, ever want anybody to forget the atrocities that happened during World War II, where over six million Jews were systematically exterminated during the Holocaust.” I thought, “Okay, well, sure, that’s a valid point. I don’t see something like that ever happening again in the future.” But here we are today, talking about this very issue, where just a short couple of weeks ago, we’ve seen a terrorist group that was formed in 1988—this isn’t all that long ago—known as Hamas, that has now perpetrated the second-largest killing of Jewish people, outside of the Holocaust.

It struck me to think, “Well, you know, maybe these guys are being a little bit over the top with what they’re doing,” but, clearly, they had a little bit of foresight to think that just because things have calmed down in the region or that people are much more educated about these types of issues, that they still couldn’t happen today. I thought that would be an interesting thing to open up today’s debate with, or at least on my end of today’s debate, because I think it really hits home what a lot of these organizations are trying to do.

When we saw what happened during World War II, starting in the late 1930s and into the early 1940s of people being rounded up and sent into areas and identified—the member for Peterborough–Kawartha was talking about the book that he read about the tattoo artist who was putting those tattoos on people to say that they were Jewish and their number is what would be displayed in the ghetto so they couldn’t leave and come back and forth freely like other citizens were able to do. It’s a bit sad.

We talk about the indiscriminate killing and rape and slaughter of innocent people in Israel. And these aren’t just Jewish people; these are people of Palestinian and Arab origin. These are Christians. They’re people who have left these other areas of strife where they’re often being held down by oppressive regimes and have moved to Israel because they want to have an opportunity at a better life for their family, their kids, their grandchildren.

I haven’t really heard that brought up in the conversation yet, and I think it’s really important to note that Israel is not just made up of people from Judaic origin. This is an area where, for thousands and thousands of years, you’ve had people of different ethnic groups, different races, different faiths coming together and being able to celebrate one another in that space.

When I had toured through Israel back in the early 2000s, I had a really great opportunity to go there with my father, obviously former Premier Harris, as an Ontario company was actually building the Cross Israel Highway, which was pretty neat. So we got to tour the country; we got to look around. It’s not a very big country, so it is fairly easy to navigate. But it was really neat to go through Jerusalem. I know the member for Essex hopefully will get a little bit of a chance to speak about some of the things that he saw while he spent three months in Israel. I was there for about a week, and it was really neat to be able to go through Jerusalem and see all the different quarters and how everybody interacted together and how there wasn’t animosity toward each other. Everybody truly was able to get along.

But when you mix in organizations like Hamas, and I’ll quote from their founding document, who are there to “obliterate Israel”—that is their sole mission. I thought the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke was quite eloquent when he spoke about that, because that is their sole mission. Their sole mission is to destroy the lives of Israelis, but I think that’s, again, what’s lost in this conversation. It’s not just the Jewish people who are being persecuted by Hamas, it’s anybody that lives within Israel.

I’m very hopeful that members of the opposition are listening to this and are hearing what we have to say on this side of the House. I’m sure many of them feel the same way, that they want to see peace, that they want to see everybody being able to raise their families, work on their farms, be able to enjoy music festivals, for example—we’ve heard about that today, Madam Speaker—without having to look over their shoulder any time they wake up in the morning or any time they go out of the house.

As Canadians, as someone who maybe doesn’t really understand what war in perpetuity could mean, I think it’s important that we educate ourselves and that we understand what is currently happening in the Middle East and the interplay, not only between the Hamas regime and Israel but some of the other actors that surround them, and how the Canadian government can play a role, how the US government can play a role and of course other governments around the world. I just want to quickly touch on a few pieces here.

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States have reiterated their support for Israel. I believe actually President Biden is heading to Israel; I think it’s today or tomorrow—

Interjection.

I like to talk about, when we’re doing trade missions or overseas or taking part in conferences, how Toronto and our government here in our provincial capital is the fifth most powerful seat of government in North America. I think we have a true opportunity to lead when it comes to how we view what’s happening and the statements that we put out as parliamentarians, and to make sure that we are truly putting our best foot forward. If the Canadian government is going to be slow to act, we need to make sure and it’s incumbent on us here in Ontario that we are the ones who can lead, we’re the ones who can rally Canadians, we’re the ones who can hold Hamas to account.

As I wrap up my remarks, I just want to thank everybody for the opportunity to have this debate. I think it’s very important. When we have these special motions that come before the Legislature, I know often they can be very impassioned and sometimes they can choke you up.

I just want to leave everyone with this: We all know I have five kids—that’s no secret. One of the reasons that I got involved in politics is because I want to leave Ontario and Canada a better place for my kids to be able to raise their children, my grandchildren, and I know that the people of Israel want the same. That’s why Israel was created back in the 1950s, to allow people in the Middle East, in that region—to afford them the same kind of ability that we have here in Canada, where we have a peaceful democracy that wants the best for the people of their country.

So I hope everyone will support this motion. I hope everyone will condemn the terrorist organization known as Hamas. And I hope that in another four years we’re not up here having this same debate again.

To stand in this chamber today, to speak to the horrific acts of terrorism that occurred only 11 days ago in Israel, is truly something I never thought I would be doing.

I like to think the best of mankind. I like to believe that we learn from the past, to ensure the atrocities of the past are never repeated, yet here I stand with my colleagues who have stood before me yesterday and today to speak to the inhumane actions of a terrorist group.

Eleven days ago, it was our Canadian Thanksgiving. We were all likely thinking about our meal preparations for the holiday, thinking about all the fixings and looking forward to the time we were going to spend with our families and friends, when we saw the breaking news headlines on all the news media outlets: Israeli civilians under attack by Hamas terrorists.

For our Jewish community members, I can only imagine what emotions overwhelmed them, especially the thought of loved ones in Israel, and then to think of their own safety right here in our country. Why? Why would they have to think like that? The footage that started coming across our TV screens, unceasing displays of horrors. Some of it came from Hamas body cameras and videos posted by Hamas militants to social media, and later verified by Israel. Some was taken by civilians as they tried to escape, some by first responders. It showed bodies of people who had been bound; a room with at least seven bodies reduced to ash; civilians shot in bedrooms, bathrooms, front yards. The bloodshed is just overwhelming. I had to look away. To think of the intent with this act—the militants were well prepared. In the videos, it showed some dressed in army fatigues to look like Israeli soldiers. Others were dressed like police officers. Who commits such premediated horrific acts of terrorism?

On October 15, a group of over 100 international law experts issued a statement assessing that the Hamas terror group committed multiple war crimes in a massive assault on Israel and that its actions in slaughtering 1,300 people likely amounted to genocide. “These acts constitute gross violation of international law, and, in particular, of international criminal law,” declared the document, signed by academic figures and legal authorities in Israel and abroad. “Videos, released mostly by Hamas, posted on social media, document acts of torture, sexual violence, violence towards children and molestation of bodies,” the document specified. Among those who signed the document was Professor Irwin Cotler, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

On October 7, Thanksgiving weekend, we bore witness to a bloody assault, which came alongside a widespread barrage of 5,000 rockets fired indiscriminately at towns and cities across Israel. As noted, it resulted in the death of more than 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, including six Canadians. Thousands more were injured, hundreds of them seriously.

As my colleague from Thornhill noted yesterday afternoon, Israel is not that far away, and it is not. On October 9, the strong and brave Jewish Canadian community in the GTA, organized by the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, managed to bring people together for a rally for Israel. And bring people together they certainly did, with a reported 15,000 people in attendance.

I stood on the Mel Lastman stage in North York alongside Premier Ford and 15 of my colleagues at the rally for Israel. I was personally overwhelmed by the thousands of people who were there to support the Jewish community in the face of the terrorist attacks that took place. We watched a video of the people in Israel and heard directly from them as to what was happening. It was surreal, and yet the reality of this massacre become ever so overwhelming.

I go back to my days of learning about the Holocaust at school and of my visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I’m receiving a real history lesson of what took place in the world—how Jewish people had to hide from Nazi persecution. And here we are again.

I also think about the time I was in Pearl Harbor, visiting the museum there. It was so overwhelmingly sad. My mom and I were there together. My dad couldn’t come, because he remembers those days. He said no, he can’t go to a place where there was that much death. But my mom and I went. I remember crying.

I also think about how I felt that morning of September 11, 2001, when the planes hit the World Trade Center twin towers in New York—the hate of a terrorist group.

There is a common denominator here: hate. Hate is the devil’s breeding ground, and we have no use for hate towards anybody, especially in Canada. Racism, hate and discrimination have no place in this great province of Ontario. The safety of all communities has and remains of the utmost importance.

I condemn—and our government condemns—Hamas’s heinous acts on the people of Israel. Israel must defend itself against such acts of terror. The tragic loss of life and the terror invoked among the men, women, families and children in Israel is beyond words. We can only imagine the emotional trauma and pain that thread itself through Israel over these past 11 days. Now more than ever, Ontario stands firm in its support of Israel and in solidarity with the Jewish communities across the province who are heartbroken and horrified by this senseless act of terror. Our government will continue to work with the Israeli Canadian community to create a stronger, safer and more inclusive province, where people from all walks of life can call it home and feel safe and respected.

After attending the rally for Israel, when I was in my community last week, I had a few local Jewish constituents tell me that they watched the rally on TV, on the news. They saw me, and they so appreciated the support of our government and thanked me for being there with Premier Ford. They also said to me that they did not want to go to the rally because they were afraid. No one in this province should be afraid to go out and support one another in such a time of crisis.

This past Sunday evening, when I took part in the challah for Israel women’s prayer vigil. After all the women arrived, it was a purposeful move to lock the doors of the centre for safety purposes. That brought to light how the Jewish people feel—that fear, security, the potential for someone to come in to hurt these women. It made me think of what happened on October 7, when Hamas went into homes and slaughtered women and children. This reiterated to me that as politicians, we have the responsibility to ensure our community members feel safe, to feel that they can count on us to take a stand when we see acts of terror and to stand against terrorists and such brutal, savage, inhumane acts. They count on us to stand up against anti-Semitism. They count on us to stand up against hatred acts.

This is why I support motion 38: “That this House condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors, and recognize the inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.”

Madam Speaker, I’d like to just correct what I said there. It’s actually motion 18. I believe I said 38—my apologies.

I go back to my member’s statement earlier today. I think about being there with the local Jewish women, kneading the challah. As we were doing that, we were saying prayers. I was very honoured to be able to say a prayer with the ladies. I was honoured to hear them pray in Hebrew. I thought it was phenomenal when the dough actually rose. It was my first time making bread.

But there was all kinds of symbolism with what we were doing and the braiding of the challah: The symbolism of hope, the symbolism that they can be strong and that we can be strong together.

After we were finished with our prayers and had our bread braided, I had a few ladies come up to me, and they spoke to me about some of their concerns. I listened to them. One of the concerns was related to the schools, how silence was deafening. I spoke to them about how our government supports our Jewish community: We support them in schools; we support them in the community. We stand with the Israeli people. We stand with our Jewish communities.

Madam Speaker, I pray for a peaceable outcome for all people. As I noted earlier today, and I will reiterate, for all those innocent souls lost during this senseless attack, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Further debate?

Further debate?

Our government stands united to address a grave and deeply distressing issue that has been causing immense suffering and fear. Not only suffering and fear around the world but suffering and fear in our very own communities. I rise in this House today to condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, which has resulted in the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent civilians.

It’s crucial that we recognize the indisputable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence. Israel was assaulted with a heinous surprise attack on a sacred holy day; in this case, Simchat Torah and Shabbat. A day of peace and rejoicing was turned into a day of war and grief. As I heard my other colleagues mention today, this day became the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.

These heinous acts target not only men and women, but babies, children and seniors. Since the attacks began last week, Hamas has murdered over 1,400, mostly civilians, including 23-year-old Tiferet Lapidot, 21-year-old Netta Epstein, 22-year-old Shir Georgy, 22-year-old Ben Mizrachi, 33-year-old Alexandre Look and 33-year-old Adi Vital-Kaploun. Tiferet, Netta, Shir, Ben, Alexandre and Adi are Canadians—or should I say, were Canadians.

Hamas has injured close to 4,000 people and kidnapped over 200 people, including babies as young as nine months old. They have fired over 6,700 rockets. In the past week, I’ve spoken to many individuals who live in a continuous state of fear, their lives disrupted by the threat of violence. This fear felt by the Jewish community is one that spans generations and crosses continents, a fear rooted in prejudice, in persecution and a fight for survival.

There are no words to express the pain that is felt around the world right now. We, as a government, are committed to keeping Ontario safe, and I want to assure you all that we stand by your side during these challenging times.

Let me make it clear: Hamas is a terrorist group, and there is no world in which their actions are justifiable. In situations like these, there is no grey area. This is not a two-sided conflict. Free speech does not mean it is free of consequences, and no one should try to find rationalizations for the beheading and burning of innocent children.

Hate is hate, and there can be no defending the actions of Hamas. Their actions are unjustifiable, and there is no room for hate in our society. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. Instead, they are a hate organization founded with the goal of destroying Israel and the Jewish people. Hamas is a terrorist organization that kills people in the most brutal ways, and we need to be united in condemning that. No one wants to see innocent people die. There is no place for hate, for violence or for terrorism—not here, not in this House, not in Ontario, not in Canada and not in the world.

We need to speak in a unified voice against this discriminatory violence and terrorism. The Jewish community continues to be the most targeted religious group in Canada, while making up only 1.4% of our population. Our Jewish community needs our support, as they fear for their safety. They need to know they don’t stand alone. We need to speak up and condemn statements that condone terrorism and hate against innocent people. Saying nothing and doing nothing is not an option.

As a government, we will continue to support the Jewish people and Israelis in their right to defend themselves today, tomorrow and always. No one should live in fear of leaving their home or expressing their beliefs. Ontario, one of the most diverse places in the world, is home to people of many faiths and heritages, and everyone should be safe to express their beliefs. That’s why earlier this year the Ontario government invested funds to ensure that places of worship remain safe and secure from hate-motivated incidents. Our government remains committed to combatting anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred through initiatives such as mandatory Holocaust education in the grade 6 curriculum.

The fear felt by the Jewish community is not just confined to the pages of the history books. The fear that they feel is not just an abstract concept but a daily reality for many around the world and in our own communities. As my colleague from Newmarket–Aurora was talking about feeling safe here last evening, I was shocked and surprised and a little frightened by the presence of demonstrations in the downtown area: the sirens, the crowds, the chanting that I could hear from where I was staying, the people on the streets, the trucks, the noise. And this is where we live, a place where I never, ever thought I would feel unsafe. I’m thankful to live here and to have the protection of our police services, but for a very small moment I felt unsafe. Then I thought, “How do you live in Israel, feeling unsafe all of the time?”

I heard one of my other colleagues talk about how you build your home and things that we never have to think about, living here—things we never have to think about, like putting a bomb shelter in our home to be safe. I’m reminded of the things that we take for granted. It’s another reason why we have to say something.

I’d also like to mention that the Jewish story is not just one of fear. It’s also a story of triumph, of resiliency, of creativity, of unyielding hope in the face of adversity. As Matisyahu said:

Sometimes in my tears I drown

But I never let it get me down.

So when negativity surrounds

I know someday it’ll all turn around....

We all need to do our part to speak up, to promote tolerance, understanding and respect for all our neighbours, no matter their race or religion. There is a common saying, “Am Yisrael Chai,” which translates to, “The people of Israel live.” It is commonly used to express Jewish identity and solidarity.

Today is October 18. The number 18 is the symbolic representation of life. And today, we continue to say that the people of Israel live.

We all need to do our part to promote tolerance, understanding and respect for all our neighbours, no matter their race or religion.

I’d like to express my gratitude to my colleagues here today, and to the Premier for his continuous support for the Jewish community here in Ontario and around the world. Together, we stand against hate. We support the right to self-preservation and work towards a safer, more peaceful future for all.

I rise this afternoon in support of government motion number 18, moved by my friend the government House leader, to condemn the terrorist actions of Hamas against innocent Israeli citizens, and to recognize the right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people.

Speaker, 78 years ago, Canadian soldiers helped to liberate the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. When the crimes of the Holocaust became clear, the United Nations approved the convention against genocide, and the civilized world pledged “never again” to allow the atrocities of World War II.

The massacre in Israel last Saturday, on the Jewish holiday of Shabbat and Simchas Torah, was the greatest loss of Jewish life in any single day since 1945. Over 1,400 people—babies, children and seniors—including Holocaust survivors, were murdered, including at least six Canadians. This included 21-year-old Netta Epstein, who jumped on a grenade to save his girlfriend. Can you imagine someone jumping on a grenade to save someone’s life? And 33-year-old Adi Vital-Kaploun from Ottawa was shot in her home, in front of her two young sons. At least four other young Canadians were murdered when Hamas terrorists attacked a music festival. And 200 people were taken hostage, including a 74-year-old grandmother, Vivian Silver, a peace activist from Winnipeg.

Speaker, we should call this what it is. As Matt Gurney said, this was a pogrom, livestreamed for the first time, showing us what used to happen to Jewish villages in Russia and Eastern Europe.

One of the first victims was another 74-year-old grandmother, Bracha Levinson. Hamas terrorists shot her, took her phone, filmed her dying moments, and then posted the video to her Facebook page for her family to watch—including her grandson right here in Canada. And there are more horrific stories like this.

As the Solicitor General said, there is no world in which the actions of Hamas can be justified among civilized people. Their victims include people from 30 countries, including at least 21 agricultural workers from Thailand, at least 10 students from Nepal, and at least three caregivers from the Philippines. The victims also include many Muslims—including a 23-year old paramedic who was treating the injured at the music festival and refused to abandon them.

Hamas is an enemy, not just of Israel, but of civilization—including the Palestinians. Hamas has no desire for a peaceful, two-state solution. Their attacks were clearly intended to divide Israelis and Palestinians, fuelling the conflict and derailing the peace process at a time when there has been real progress toward a historic arrangement with Saudi Arabia. But Hamas has no interest in the rights of peaceful Palestinians or the safety of the people of Gaza, who they use as human shields.

As we see pictures of innocent Palestinians injured or killed, I hope that my friends on the other side will recognize that they’re being killed not because of Israel but because of Hamas. As they fire thousands of rockets at Israel, up to a third misfire and land in Gaza, killing innocent Palestinians. This happened again at a hospital just yesterday. There are not two sides to this conflict. There is no comparison between a nation that follows the laws of war and the terrorist group that targets seniors and children and then hides behind them.

Speaker, that is why it is so disappointing that some have tried to justify and even celebrate the terrorism of Hamas as an act of resistance. As the Premier said, we’ve seen hate rallies in Mississauga with the flags of terrorist groups including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and even the Taliban. And we’ve seen this action across the country. I was in Montreal for Thanksgiving, and there were hate rallies there as well. I spoke to the federal Liberal MP for Mount Royal, Anthony Housefather. I offered my support for their local Jewish community.

On Monday, I joined the Premier at a rally for Israel at Mel Lastman Square with over 15,000 people including the consul general, Idit Shamir. I want to offer my condolences to her again; her cousin was murdered by Hamas along with another member of her family, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Unfortunately, some labour union leaders, like Fred Hahn at CUPE Ontario, have made statements that glorified this violence against innocent Israelis and promoted anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories. I want to thank both our Minister of Labour and the federal Liberal Minister of Labour and, most of all, the labour leaders like my friend Joe Mancinelli at LIUNA for making clear that Fred Hahn does not represent Ontario’s labour movement and does not represent the workers at CUPE.

Several student clubs and student unions have also celebrated the terrorism of Hamas, including the UTM Students’ Union in Mississauga. One UTM student posted a hateful message and threats against Jewish students. He has been arrested and banned from the University of Toronto campuses, and I want to thank my good friend Chief Nish and the Peel Regional Police and Alexandra Gillespie from UTM for taking action immediately. I also want to thank the Minister of Colleges and Universities for her important remarks yesterday.

There is no place for anti-Semitism anywhere in Ontario and especially not in our colleges and universities, just as there is no place for Islamophobia or discrimination of any kind against Jews or Muslims. Ontario is a better place because of the incredible contributions of both communities, so it is heartbreaking for me to hear that some students in Ontario are now staying home or hiding their identity out of fear.

Speaker, that is the reason why, in this House, we all have a responsibility to do everything we can to stamp out anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred across Ontario. Instead, as the Minister of the Environment said yesterday, the member from Hamilton Centre attended a rally organized by Holocaust deniers to celebrate the “heroism” of the Hamas terrorists at a time when the bodies of murdered Israeli children were still being removed.

As the Premier said, this member has a long, well-documented history of anti-Semitism. Her hateful views have no place in this building or any—they have no place in this province of Ontario or in Canada.

Speaker, you don’t have to take my word for this. Twenty years ago, Ontario’s one NDP Premier, Bob Rae, left that party. He said that their views on Israel are “not a vision of social democracy worthy of support.” Speaking of New Democrats like Svend Robinson, Rae asked, “Where is his solidarity with the families of the victims of the Passover massacre? Where is his humanitarian outrage over the children killed while dancing in a disco, or eating in a pizzeria?” We could ask those same questions today to the member from Hamilton Centre about the victims of this massacre at the music festival.

I will support government motion 18, but I also want to join the Premier in calling on the member from Hamilton Centre to resign from this House. All members must stand united in condemning Hamas and to support the right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people.

“Am Yisrael Chai”—the people of Israel will live on. I just want to thank everyone today for being here and listening to this debate.

Before I get into my official comments, I just want to touch upon some of the comments that my colleagues have stated. The member from Peterborough–Kawartha mentioned the no safe rooms. That really hit home with me. My oldest daughter, Nora, just moved into a new basement bedroom. She stole my office, unfortunately, but she has huge fears of being farther from her parents now. It really, really hit home that the parents in Israel don’t have that comfort and don’t have that safety net that we live with in North America.

The other thing I want to mention from the member from Peterborough–Kawartha—I don’t know if it’s because Cornwall is a little further behind the times, but I do remember hearing the air-raid sirens—I think they were testing them at the time—when I was younger. We used to live by the train station. But they’re definitely not around anymore. I remember once or twice from my childhood them being tested and it was an interesting conversation with my parents. Hearing that loud siren, you weren’t sure what it was because we don’t live with it, whereas the Israelites do. They live with it on a daily basis, as we mentioned. I just wanted to touch upon that because that’s a conversation I haven’t had to have with my children. They haven’t lost that innocence yet. They don’t know what an air-raid siren would be, whereas they do in Israel. They hear them quite frequently and regularly.

The member from Burlington mentioned the police presence yesterday. It really hit me. I looked out my office window and saw five police horses and about 50 or 60 police officers in our back parking lot. I came back in the House and I was a little rattled. So the member from Burlington is definitely not far off of my viewpoints on that one as well. I went outside afterwards and I asked the police officers why they were here. There was a protest going on at the U of T and all of downtown, all over the place. They were there just in case it escalated to a certain extent. So I thanked them. I thanked them for keeping us safe during these challenging times. They were appreciative of that.

To go to work every day not sure what’s going to erupt when there’s a protest going on and the unrest going on in the world—I can only imagine what they take home with them every day, our law enforcement. So I want to thank them here, as well, for standing out there, day in and day out, making sure that nothing gets out of hand when it comes to peaceful protests.

Mr. Speaker, I will apologize ahead of time, because I am going to get emotional with this. Most of my speech is around the people that have died. They were brothers, sisters, mothers. I am a young father. It really hits home with me, being a young father and watching the news every night, watching CBC’s The National—I can’t go to bed without watching it. To see the footage that happens on a daily basis in the last 11 days is nothing short of horrible.

My oldest brother Cam just came back from Israel. About six weeks ago, he went with his family. This summer, we were at Emo, and I was thinking about my brother there, because you never know when something can break out. My fears and my worries were not unfounded. Obviously now the fear that I had for my brother’s family when he was going over there hit home. I spoke to my brother last night, because as much as I’m up to date on the daily goings-on and the news with Gaza and with the West Bank in Israel, I’m a bit sheltered from it in my community. So I spoke to my brother, whose wife is Jewish, and his two children, Noa and Eli, are being raised in a Jewish family.

He had some interesting comments that I would like to share. He got really close with their tour guide because they were there for almost two weeks. They actually have a WhatsApp chat with the tour guide. He was speaking with the tour guide quite frequently and then, all of a sudden, the tour guide is offline; he is defending Israel. To go from being a tour guide—tourism—and having to pivot very quickly to defending his country, that’s impactful. It’s affecting my brother; it’s affecting his family.

They had armed bodyguards with them the whole time they were in Israel. My brother said, “Why do we need this?” He really just didn’t understand why they needed to pay to have multiple armed bodyguards. The response from the bodyguards was pretty simple: “You don’t need us until you need us, and at that time, it’s too late.” That really hits home because that’s something that we take for granted here. Walking down the streets to our apartments in Toronto, we have the safety of our law enforcement. To know that they had to go tour the beautiful country of Israel and have tour guides with them 24 hours a day really stands out. And at the time, my brother understood the risk and the severity of it all, but they’re just a regular Canadian family going over to Israel to tour and to see where my sister-in-law’s relatives lived.

Their daughter, Noa, my niece, she’s 11. She’s on the Internet, like my kids are. The day it happened it was Thanksgiving weekend, as my colleague mentioned, and online it was very clear that one of children that was kidnapped was named Noa. It hit home with my niece. She’s also seen photos of children being pulled away from their parents. To understand what my niece is going through, even though we’re in the very safe country of Canada, it really hits home that we’re all affected by this. I just needed to share that a little bit before I get into my official statements, but my children are extremely lucky to live where they are.

Since this has started, I’ve been extremely emotional, and again I will apologize ahead of time. I don’t know if it’s the—

Interjection.

Interjections.

We are very safe in this country. It’s something that we take for granted, but ultimately—I’ve been very emotional, and as I was implying before I got rudely cut off, I don’t know if it’s my 10 or 12 concussions that make me emotional at these times or if it’s me being a young parent that wants the best for my children. As the member from Kitchener–Conestoga mentioned, we get into this to leave a better world for our children, for our grandchildren, and ultimately that is my hope. But I’m unsure sometimes when we see all the unravelling of society and the rhetoric that’s online and some of these angry comments that you see online with regard to the terrorism that happened in Israel to the innocent people that were sleeping, the ones that were at the music concert—I’ve been to music concerts.

As my colleague mentioned, Taylor Swift is touring all over North America right now, filling stadiums. The concert was named after peace, ultimately. Of all times for the terrorism to hit, it really—that is what they wanted to do. They had the most impact and the most fear for Israelites by doing that. It’s scary. It’s hard to walk around and think everything is okay here in Canada and Ontario when it’s not in the Middle East. It’s consuming me, to be brutally honest.

I’ll start on my prepared comments so that I don’t get too off-topic.

Many around the world, including Israel’s leaders, have compared the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas terrorists to the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. I remember 2001; I’m sure we all do—where we were when that happened. I was in grade 13. My mother woke me up, because I was on a spare, sleeping in, and she brought me down to the TV and showed me the World Trade Center and the first couple of planes that went in. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I ran to the school. We were all in the library, watching the horror of September 11 take place, as students at the time. I will never forget that. It’s something that really is impactful. Me and my mother speak about that to this day—not only due to the scale and savage nature of the attacks, but also because the terrorists sought to destroy the tranquility of daily life. They killed the young and the old, the strong and the weak, civilians and soldiers; they took hostages, including children, and raped women—all to send the message that no Israeli was safe.

Saturday, October 7 is an extremely important day for the Jewish community—a day that was supposed to be a happy and joyous occasion. Instead, Jewish Israelis were forced to run and hide or risk being kidnapped, tortured or killed by Hamas terrorists. Some of the victims of the Hamas terrorists were actually survivors of the Holocaust. October 7 has become one of the darkest days for the Jewish community since the days of the Holocaust.

The attacks perpetuated by the Hamas terrorists are atrocious, barbaric and heinous acts of violence that have no place in our world. Over 1,400 people were killed by the Hamas terrorists, and about 200 people were taken hostage, that we know of today. To make matters worse, these terrorists targeted civilians, including women and children. They targeted innocent civilians—women, babies and the elderly. Innocent people were kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered, some were even set on fire and dismembered. Parents and children, as well as other friends and family, were forced to watch each other be beaten and killed. These terrorists found enjoyment in torturing and killing innocent people, and as other members have already stated, they livestreamed it—sick and heinous. They took videos of themselves committing these acts of violence, all while cheering and laughing as if it were a game. They even used children as human shields. It’s very despicable. The hostages consist of soldiers and civilians—but also people with disabilities, young children, elderly, and even a nine-month-old baby. This horrific behaviour brings forth memories of the barbaric attacks perpetrated by Islamic extremist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda. What the Hamas terrorists are doing to the people in Israel is pure evil.

We recognize that Israel has a right to defend itself and its citizens. The Israeli army acknowledges their obligation to not target civilians for military purposes and to avoid any action that could inflict disproportionate harm on civilians.

I’d like to speak about the six Canadians who have been killed as a result of the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorists.

The latest Canadian killed was Tiferet Lapidot. Even though she was not a Canadian citizen—her parents are, and she would have been eligible for Canadian citizenship. She was 22 years old and was set to turn 23 last week. Her family celebrated her birthday by baking cakes and lighting candles in her memory. She was one of many people who were believed to be taken hostage after the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival. Her mother was the last of her family to hear her daughter’s voice, when she spoke with her over the phone. During this phone call, she informed her mother that the Hamas terrorists were shooting at people, and she sought advice from her mother regarding whether or not she should stay and hide with the larger group or if she should separate. That is honestly a parent’s worst nightmare. To be on the phone with your children and to not know whether they’re going to survive or live—I couldn’t imagine. Her family did not hear anything else after this until they were informed of her death.

Twenty-one-year-old Netta Epstein was the fifth Canadian who was killed due to the Hamas attacks. Epstein was killed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks after he bravely jumped on a live hand grenade in order to save his girlfriend’s life. Both he and his girlfriend, Irene Shavit, were seeking refuge in a safe room in their apartment in Kfar Aza kibbutz when a grenade was thrown into the room. Due to Epstein’s heroic actions, Shavit was later rescued.

Twenty-two-year-old Shir Georgy was the fourth Canadian killed due to the Hamas terrorist attacks. Georgy was another victim of the Hamas terrorist attack on the Supernova music festival. Georgy went missing after the Hamas attack, but she was found safe in a safe room with security and police protection. Soon after, a video emerged on social media where she could be found sitting on the floor with numerous others, some of them visibly injured and bleeding. Soon after, it was announced that she had died.

Twenty-two-year-old Ben Mizrachi was also at the Supernova music festival when it was attacked by Hamas terrorists. Mizrachi will be remembered as a “bright, joyful and compassionate young person whose life tragically ended far too soon.” Soon after the Hamas terrorists descended on the music festival, panic and chaos ensued. However, instead of fleeing, Mizrachi decided to use his training as a medic in the Israeli Defense Forces to provide medical aid to those who were wounded before becoming a victim himself, which reminds me of, I believe it was a children’s show and I can’t think of it right now, but whenever there is conflict or there is something going on that’s serious—I think it was Mister Rogers or Mr. Dressup—look for the emergency personnel, the ones who are running into the situation, and that was his message to children because it’s hard for children to understand when something of a serious nature happens. I wish I knew which one it was, but he stated, “Look for the helpers.” The helpers are always there, like Mr. Mizrachi, who stayed and saved others for his own life.

Thirty-three-year-old Alexandre Look: Alex was also killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on the Supernova music festival. According to his family and survivors of the attack, Alex died a hero. Alex and 30 others took shelter in a bunker; however, the bunker had no door. When Hamas terrorists arrived at the bunker, Alex used his own body to barricade the door, forming a human shield that protected the others in the bunker. How brave of Alex to be able to do that. Alex was on the phone with his mother—again another parent’s worst nightmare—Raquel Look, during this attack. She instructed her son to listen to the Israeli authorities and to hide. She recalls hearing her son say, “They’re coming back.” Shortly after, she heard gunshots and people chanting in Arabic. “I knew,” Raquel Look recalled. “I said, ‘They’re killing my son as we speak.’”

Think of the horror that parents have to endure to hear your child being killed as you’re speaking with them. It’s a travesty, Speaker, and it’s terrorism.

Thirty-three-year-old Adi Vital-Kaploun was yet another Canadian who died a hero after the Hamas terrorist attacks. Vital-Kaploun was killed near the Israeli-Gaza border. She has dual citizenship and a large extended family that live in the Ottawa area. That’s my area of the province.

Her cousin-in-law Aaron Smith stated, “Adi was a beautiful woman that brought love and lightness to the people around her, but also she was very focused and determined to make a beautiful life for her family”—a life cut short, Speaker, which can clearly be seen in her actions prior to her death. After warning her husband and father to stay hidden, she was able to convince the Hamas terrorists to spare her two young children before being shot in front of them. The terrorists then took her children to their neighbour and used them as human shields in order to convince other friends and family to come out of hiding. The neighbour and children were soon released and later rescued, but those children have to live with what they’ve seen for the rest of their lives. I pray for all the innocents—the stolen, the injured and the dead—and their families who have to remain and deal with the aftermath.

Further debate?

Interjection.

The member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry has the floor.

I stand before everyone in this Legislature today hurting deeply since Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel 10 days ago, slaughtering more than 1,400 people in the darkest, most tragic day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. Sadly, six Canadians are among those dead, with another two still missing in the aftermath of this heinous attack.

I stand here shaken by the human suffering inflicted by Hamas in their quest to destroy innocents. It should be clear to any fair-minded person that there is no equivalence between the two actions. In sharp contrast to the actions taken by Israel, Hamas has triggered the current war, proudly targeting innocents, hiding behind civilians and dehumanizing an entire people, and has an official charter that calls for the annihilation of Israel and the murder of Jews everywhere.

That’s without mentioning Hamas’s long-standing oppression of Palestinians in Gaza. As British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said just days after the terrorist attack, Hamas “are not militants. They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists.... There are not two sides to these events. There is no question of balance.”

In Israel, a society that remains collectively traumatized by the Holocaust, the nightmare from the Hamas massacre continues to worsen. As we speak, crews are still sifting through the wreckage, recovering bodies, including the charred remains of those burned in their homes. Horrifying details of victims of all ages, from newborns to the elderly, having been tortured and their bodies desecrated are still coming to light, to say nothing of the 200 children, men and women, including elderly Holocaust survivors, now being held hostage by Hamas after being kidnapped at gunpoint.

I have no pretense of being a Middle East expert, but in the face of the unspeakable pogrom against helpless Jewish civilians, no expertise is required to distinguish between right and wrong and good and evil. No expertise is required to recognize the inhumanity and to know that certain situations demand that we show moral decency and we speak with moral courage.

In this light, we must also consider the undeniable hardship and the suffering of the Palestinian people. They have been victims of Hamas and they too deserve human dignity. In essence, colleagues, humanity must prevail for all. Palestinians are very much in my heart and prayers. We strongly welcome the humanitarian corridor being established by the international community. Because fundamentally we stand with all victims of Hamas by making clear our condemnation too of the regime in Tehran. The Iranian regime is a state sponsor of terrorism. They too must be responsible. For the export of this terror around the world we must hold them too to account.

However, today I feel compelled to address this continuing fallout from Israel and Gaza that reaches us here in our fair land. What I have to say now has little to do with the geopolitical reality of the region but a lot to do with something far more fundamental to us as Canadians, and it’s tied to what our country stands for: the precious if fragile values of freedom, of democracy, of tolerance and justice that we hold dear in this Legislature.

Like most Canadians who have at least a modicum of humanity, I’m aghast at the Nazi-like atrocities of Hamas. The level of hate behind such pure, unadulterated butchery against babies, children, women, men in their homes is difficult to comprehend. Adding to this horror is the failure and refusal of some people, including right here in this province, to recognize and to denounce this savage blood lust that some even openly celebrate and glorify in our streets. This includes the illiberal, so-called progressive left who undermine those democratic values and norms by normalizing and validating terror in this country—and for lacking the moral courage to denounce international war crimes happening before our eyes.

It’s the radical student unions—to those student trustees or school trustees and public servants, the professors and the enablers of vile hate, I say, you are and will remain on the wrong side of human history, and that will be remembered.

I’m overwhelmed by a depressing sense of déjà vu when I see the shocking moral degeneracy and indifference many have shown to Jewish victimization. Whichever differences Canadians have in their views about the Middle East, and which I respect fully, surely, we as legislators, all of us, can accept that there is no justification for the type of barbarism that this genocidal death cult has carried out against innocent people—but unfortunately not. That is not a declaration we can make today. We have seen in our streets, in this very city, Madam Speaker—welcoming with cheers the mass murder of Jews and other atrocities. And what about those Canadians who spread the noxious lies on social media claiming these abominations never took place in the first place, or minimizing their severity?

Too bad they can’t be made to spend a day accompanying Yossi Landau and his team, with their heart-wrenching work in Israel. Yossi is a volunteer with ZAKA, the civilian emergency response group which has recovered the corpses, the remains, of people killed in various disasters. He has spent 33 years giving dignity to the dead and ensuring they get a proper Jewish burial. He and his fellow ZAKA volunteers consider what they do—it often includes collecting body parts of those blown to pieces in bombing attacks, which is a sacred duty. Having worked amid the carnage of countless attacks in Israel, Yossi thought he had seen the worst in human depravity. This changed after he was assigned the gruesome task of attending to the aftermath of Hamas’s blood-curdling rampage on October 7. A few nights ago, on Israeli television, Yossi described what he and his fellow ZAKA volunteers have encountered—and this is just a brief quote, to contextualize the horror:

“The 20 children we saw in” the kibbutz “was beyond terrible. [The terrorists] had bound their hands behind them. Abused them terribly. And simply put them one on top of the other and burned them. How can you do such a thing?

“I didn’t believe anyone could behave like this....

“We tell the bodies that we are sorry that we have not been able to honour them as we should—because of the sheer number of dead and the ongoing threat” from Hamas.

Upon entering another home in the same community, finding a woman killed, Yossi was confronted with a scene of unbridled evil. “Her stomach was ripped open, and a baby was there. The baby was still connected with the umbilical cord and stabbed. I felt that I’m falling apart—not only for me, but for my whole crew. I told some of them to go home. They were broken.”

Reflecting on the traumatic impact of these unspeakable scenes, Yossi added, “Say a prayer, please, that we and the security forces emerge sane from all this.” And surprisingly, there was no malice or sense of vengeance in his words.

In recent days, the news out of Israel has made me think a lot about our history, reminding me yet again of the importance of education and learning from humanity’s worst chapters if we seek to avoid a reoccurrence. It has also made me think of the Holocaust survivors I have had the incredible opportunity and privilege of getting to know in Toronto and in the constituency of King–Vaughan—amazing people like Pinchas Gutter; Rose Lipszyc; the late, great Max Eisen; and Nate Leipciger. Nate was here just yesterday, honoured by our Premier. All four have inspired me and so many others in this House to believe in the power of humanity, to believe the light will overwhelm the darkness. All of them have played a critical role in helping to explain to young people in this country and around the world the importance of “never again” as our moral imperative.

And to think that in 2023, such a heinous act of mass murder and terror as we just witnessed can once again afflict the Jewish people, because they are Jews—triggered haunting echoes of the Nazi genocide of European Jews. And to see Jews targeted today in such a calculated way brings back a chill that no Holocaust survivor, no son, no daughter, no grandchild should ever have to endure. And I looked at those survivors in the eye and made an unshakable commitment to them: That I, a non-Jew, a Catholic Italian son of immigrants, would not be a bystander, that I would use my platform and power for good.

And so, one year ago, we in this government in this Legislature made history. We made a difference by announcing that Ontario will be the first province in this country to introduce mandatory Holocaust education in elementary schools starting this year, so that young people could learn from history and they’re not doomed to repeat it and to be on guard against the vile manifestations of hate and be allied in combatting it and all forms of hate—to stand up to it in our schools and academia and businesses and in our civil society at large. And because our country has a tradition of standing with those who oppose injustice, tyranny and oppression, and our country has always stood for that, regardless of if it is convenient or popular. But I must acknowledge our country, too, has failed upon occasion, and I think of the refusal of Canada’s government in the 1930s to ease the plight of Jewish refugees upon the denial on the St. Louis. One senior government official said at the time, “One too many,” in reference to the Jewish families seeking asylum from persecution.

Now, we must not forget our past, Madam Speaker, and this is why we must do more to ensure “never again” is our collective legacy to the generations to come. It is why, over the summer, joining the member from Ajax, the parliamentary assistant, I wrote to the provincial counterparts across this country urging them to follow Ontario’s lead to adopt a Holocaust curriculum that was co-developed in partnership with the good people of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and help ensure we eradicate the hate against the Jewish people once and for all. Because every province and every Canadian must know that this hate afflicts the Jews, but it never ends with the Jews. This is the historical truth that is not a matter of debate.

Rose Lipszyc, a Holocaust survivor, said of this attack going back 10 days, “It’s like the nightmares of my childhood are back. The horror that I went through is becoming so real to me now.” It pains me to have to say this, but in light of what we’ve seen in statements and protests in recent days endorsing targeted, bloody attacks on civilians, it is unequivocally wrong, even independent of its criminality. Based on reported attacks at schools and campuses and universities over the past week, I’m saddened that many young people have clearly not been students of history.

My friends, it is clear that now, more than ever, Holocaust education and civic education are essential ingredients to protecting and safeguarding our nation’s democracy, our pluralism and our freedom. We must recognize, too, that a new form of anti-Semitism is rising, targeting the Jewish people by attacking the legitimacy of the State of Israel, advancing the same old bigotry and hatred from years and generations past. The profound irony is not lost on me, Madam Speaker, as the UN continues to condemn Israel, while staying silent on the genocides, the state-sponsored terrorism, religious persecution in Syria, in North Korea and Iran. Colleagues, this makes the case, yet again, that we need more education to liberalize those values that I believe unite us as Canadians—the values that my immigrant parents chose when they left their native land in the pursuit of something better: for freedom, for democracy, for human rights and the rule of law; a nation of infinite opportunity for waves of immigrants who came to this land and for those that are already here.

But for those values and for those that perished, in partnership with the Solicitor General, the now-Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the members from Eglinton–Lawrence, Thornhill, Brantford–Brant, Ajax and so many others, including Willowdale, I was proud to stand with them when Ontario made history being the first, but not the last, province in this country to ensure every single child is a student of history and that the requirement to graduate is that they must learn Holocaust education. It was a personal priority for me, but it was a priority for all that care about and will stand with the concept of human dignity and human rights.

In truth, the Jewish community has shared that this mandatory Holocaust education actually wasn’t for them: It was for all the Ontarians and all of those who suffered state-sponsored oppression and persecution. It was done in the defence of democracy and to start at home, and part of that, of course, starts at home. But through public education, we can literally emancipate those values in every home and every community and every school, especially in those communities that need it most, and stress the concept of human dignity, of civility, of compassion and respect that define this remarkable nation.

What happened in Israel on October 7 and the events since made me think of my visit some years ago to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem. What I found most powerful there was learning about what is known as the “righteous among the nations.” These were the too few men and women in Europe who possessed the moral courage to do what is right in the face of evil in literal mortal danger—non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis in defence of humanity. Amid the infinite darkness of the Holocaust, this was a source of light that gives me a sense of hope.

So I ask us all, to all of us with the privilege to serve, do we—do you—possess that moral courage? Will you do what is right even if it is not easy? That is the test of this Legislature, of our people and our nation: Do we possess the intrinsic moral courage to stand up to evil? For me, Yad Vashem was the ultimate realization that even in moments that are so difficult emotionally and spiritually and psychologically, people can, and they will, move forward despite the treacherous undercurrents of our history.

Given what has just happened in Israel, I know it feels nearly impossible—almost intellectually dishonest—to say that we should be hopeful at this moment in time, or that we should be united. But we can’t allow ourselves as Canadians to lose sight of the importance of hope and how it can motivate us to aspire for a better future, to elevate our consciousness as a nation, to elevate those fundamental Canadian values that transcend party and politics and experience—the values of, as I said, our heritage, our freedom, throughout the generations. We must preserve our faith in humanity, in the promise of the next generation, and for education to enshrine essential values and for the development of human dignity to always triumph over hate.

If we are to achieve a better future, we need people now to speak up and do what is right. This is a binary choice between good and evil, and we must pick the right side of human history. We and our fellow public figures at all levels must have the moral courage to do what is right. That means being resolved to demand that the hostages from Israel and around the world are immediately returned safely to their homes, resolved to denounce terror—yes, resolved to defend civilian lives. Under the current circumstances, especially at a time right here in Ontario when our Jewish community is in pain with the growing threat of anti-Semitism, Canadians, most especially in this House, need to speak out daily against those acts of hate. All of us need to show the moral imperative to denounce this terror and demand a sense of humanity in both our actions and our words.

I don’t apologize for this fidelity to the democratic principles of our country. They actually inform my spirited defence today, including those who swore a mission against those who swore a mission in their charter to destroy the Jewish people. I’m proud to defend and to uphold those norms of humanity, and I want to believe that in this country, regardless of our political or ethnic differences or views on the world, we are united around the common values, most especially the celebration of life over death and good over evil.

It is in moments like this that our conscience and our very humanity are tested. I want every member in this House to feel morally obliged to stand up for our values. That is the essence of leadership, of principled leadership. It is the vehicle for which we protect our democracy and our freedom. Choosing right over wrong is not a political calculus. It should not be choosing good over evil as electoral math. It is the sworn obligation we took as Canadians, as legislators, to ensure the triumph of one’s conscience and one’s values as Canadians over our politics.

Today, I’m joined by some amazing leaders of our province—faith leaders, business leaders, Holocaust education leaders, municipal politicians—who have come with a shared hope for our safety and our peace. I want to express a special thanks to the amazing Michael Levitt and Fred Waks from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center. I want to express gratitude to Marilyn and Steven Sinclair from Liberation75. I want to thank Councillor Chris Ainsworth for his presence and leadership. I want to thank the rabbis—Rabbi Darren, Rabbi Bakshi, Rabbi Shlomo Vorovich and, of course, Rabbi Bernstein for your moral imperative of doing what’s right. I’m grateful for your work.

I am honoured to serve in this Parliament. And I will always do what is right in the defence of human dignity.

Madam Speaker, it is a difficult time, but I am so incredibly honoured to be a legislator and to be proud of our country. This is the best country on earth. It is worth fighting for. It is worth defending. It is worth safeguarding.

Every one of us has the ability to do what is right, even if it may be difficult—it is the essence of our government, it is the essence of the privilege of service, it is the essence of being a Canadian.

Further debate?

I want to thank my colleague for those important words and thank everybody who has risen today to have the moral courage to speak out against hate.

It’s with a heavy heart that I rise today in this place.

As people from every walk of life were gathering to sit down with friends and family on Thanksgiving weekend, as I sat down with my wife and my family, we learned of the brutal attacks against Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas. The acts we witnessed are truly evil. Not in recent memory have we seen barbarism of this magnitude. As many have pointed out, we are witnessing the largest and most weaponized example of anti-Semitism since the Holocaust and the Second World War, when Hitler sought to eliminate the Jewish people from the European continent and the face of this earth. We saw attacks on people in their homes, cars, at a music festival; children brutally, savagely murdered—all in places where they should feel safe. We saw not only the murder of men, women and children, but the assault, torture and abduction of countless innocent people. More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed, including six Canadian citizens.

In the wise words of Elie Wiesel, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness,” and as many others have said today, in doing so, we must have the moral courage, the strength to speak out against this hate, and we must stand by Israel’s right to defend its citizens against the brutal Hamas regime—a regime that brutally suppresses the people, the children who live under the boot of this vile and disgusting group.

Let us also recognize that supporting Hamas is not supporting Palestinians. While the focus is rightly on its crimes against Israel and Jews, let us not forget what Hamas does to the Palestinians. Hamas builds its headquarters in hospitals, shelters its fighters under apartment buildings and builds its offices in schools. It uses the people of Gaza, suffering from Hamas’s misrule and oppression, as human shields. When anyone calls for the protection of civilians in Gaza, what they must mean, first and foremost, is liberating those people from the dictatorial regime of Hamas.

It is my hope that the brave men and women of the IDF will rid this world of Hamas once and for all.

While this conflict may seem a world away for some, our Jewish community here in Canada is not okay, and it is not a world away to them. I think to the countless men and women who have boarded planes, many of them chartered, to go to Israel to fight this evil; I think today—and I pray for them and their families—they should not have to live in fear, wondering if their loved ones, friends and colleagues will be found alive and returned home safely. Speaker, what’s worse is, they should not have to worry for their safety on the streets of cities like Toronto.

When we hear the words on the streets of our city, “From the River to the Sea,” we should and must call it out for what it is. Speaker, what that is is, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean—these people speak to wipe out Israel, to destroy the Jewish state and to drive the very people who live there from the river to the sea to their graves and off the face of this earth—no right to self-determination, no right to live.

I want to thank the brave men and women of Israel who are doing whatever they can to defend their country. I pray for their safety, and I wish for the well-being of the hostages who are now being held in Gaza. While our government and governments from around the world have condemned these attacks in the strongest terms, we have a responsibility to recognize the rise in anti-Semitism on our own shores, including right here in Canada and even in Ontario. As I said, I watched with many in horror at some of the rallies and some of the things and flags that we have subsequently seen on our own streets.

I wonder whether the people who stand shoulder to shoulder in those marches recall that it wasn’t too long ago, too many generations past, that brave men boarded boats and went over to fight against the evils of Nazism in Nazi Germany. Many women on the home front went into the factories and contributed ammunition to fight against the scourge that was Nazi Germany. I wonder if they remember that it was Canadians who liberated many areas of Holland.

I was recently in Holland and stood with goosebumps as I looked out to over 2,000 graves of Canadians. What struck me when I went tombstone to tombstone was the ages: 29, 18, 19, 30, 27. It was those Canadians that gave up everything to fight against a dictatorial regime, the Nazis, who sought to exterminate Jewish people and who sought a final solution that would wipe the face of the earth, the European continent from Jews.

It saddens me that the language used in these hate-filled marches in our own country includes language that would seek the same solution for those very people today. I was proud to condemn—in one of my first letters as minister, sadly—the dangerous words and imagery used by CUPE president Fred Hahn. It’s unacceptable for anyone, especially the head of a major labour union in Ontario, to support glorifying the persecution and murder of innocent Jewish people.

I’m so incredibly grateful that he does not speak for the labour movement in this great province. I’m grateful for the labour leaders and members from unions across Ontario who stood up and condemned his words, who made clear his statements do not reflect the values of the labour movement or the workers he is supposed to represent. They certainly do not reflect the values of the people of this province.

It’s more than just him. As I mentioned, groups that we’ve seen march on the streets of Toronto, supporting this sort of vile hatred and terror—it’s shocking to see anywhere, but especially, as I said, here in Canada, across the country in cities like Vancouver, Calgary and here in Toronto, organized by groups—and I will say Toronto for Palestine—organized by groups like that. Everybody watching and everybody in Ontario see them for who they are: anti-Semites, people who question the Holocaust. Make no mistake who they are. They are seeking to attempt to wash away the stains of Nazism and the very existence of the State of Israel. My message to them and to anyone who seeks to justify and normalize the brutality we saw a few weeks ago: You are on the wrong side of history, and you are not welcome in this province of Ontario.

Politicians have a responsibility to do more against such outrageous demonstrations, which is why it pains me to acknowledge that some members of this very Legislature stood shoulder to shoulder with those Holocaust deniers in the wake of these atrocities we saw. Speaker, as we stood in sombre silence that was the silence the IDF members saw when they went into the kibbutzes and saw brutally murdered men, women and children, mere hours after that, the member from Hamilton Centre stood shoulder to shoulder with Holocaust deniers, marching shoulder to shoulder to stand in support of vile groups like Hamas. Speaker, that must be condemned by everybody in this place, and I’m glad I have not seen that member in the House since.

Israel must have our unconditional support to respond to these terrorists who are seeking to eliminate them as a nation. If it did not, there would be no Israel. To the Jewish community here in Ontario, in Canada and around the world: I stand with you today and every day. Our government stands with you today and every day.

To the people of Israel: We acknowledge and support your right to defend yourselves from these evil attacks.

Further debate?

October 7 was a tragic day for Israel, the Jewish community and the entire world. The shocking events of that day saw children, the elderly and other Jewish people subject to abduction, violence and brutality at the hands of Hamas.

Hamas’s global objectives of violence are clearly stated in its charter. Its top leaders recently declared a global day of jihad on Friday, encouraging Hamas supporters worldwide to threaten Jews where they reside, including in Canada. Jewish communities in Canada received this message, leading to the cautious absence of many children from schools and community events on that day. It’s a loss for these children, missing out on significant moments due to concerns about their safety and hatred based on their identity, which is unacceptable in a nation that values religious diversity.

These terror attacks are not isolated conflicts happening in a distant part of the world; their impact is even felt in places like Ontario. The Vital-Kaploun family in Ottawa, for instance, is mourning the senseless murder of Adi Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old Israeli Canadian. She was targeted simply because she was Jewish. Adi was a beautiful soul and extraordinary mother to two young boys who now have to grow up without her because terrorists took her life. She had a promising future ahead of her, making her loss even more tragic.

Tragically, other Canadians have also suffered in these attacks, with six confirmed dead and two still missing due to the Hamas assault in Israel. There are no words adequate to convey the sheer scale and brutality of the largest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

During the assault on Israeli border communities, terrorists killed over 1,300 people, with the majority being civilians. There is no justification for Hamas’s actions among civilized people. Mr. Speaker, silence is deafening, and we cannot afford to remain silent at this moment. Israel and Jews worldwide understand the power of words. Families are left anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones in Gaza. It’s imperative to condemn Hamas and their heinous acts of terror, which have brought immense turmoil to the region. These acts involve using innocent Palestinians as human shields to launch attacks on Israel, an inhuman tactic. There’s no excuse, no justification for the horrors witnessed.

Israel was established as a sanctuary for the Jewish people, offering safety and hope after the Holocaust. Despite facing persistent threats and attacks, Israel has maintained its commitment to the rule of law and demonstrated humility. Israel represents a beacon of hope and a safe haven for Jews worldwide. The recent terrorist attacks by Hamas have brought tragedy and a reminder of historical atrocities like the Holocaust. Israel’s continuous existence is crucial because Jews have historically faced insecurity and persecution in various regions. Israel is not only a place of safety, but also a multicultural nation exemplifying ethnic and cultural diversity.

The IDF is unified in their mission to defend their nation, including the safe return of Canadian hostages. The international community’s support for Israel has been heartening, with many voices condemning Hamas’s actions. However, it is disheartening that some members of the opposition have failed to address anti-Semitism within their ranks.

Madam Speaker, we must remain strong in our support for Israel and the Jewish people both at home and abroad. In Ontario and throughout Canada, our Jewish friends and neighbours face an ongoing threat of violence, reminding us of the need to eradicate anti-Semitism. The government has committed over $25 million through the Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant to address rising hate against religious and minority groups, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Additionally, it is investing $150,000 to support the new Toronto Holocaust Museum and has mandated Holocaust education in schools.

A better future cannot be achieved if we forget the past or lose sight of our identity and aspirations. No one in Ontario should ever face targeting due to their faith and no one should ever be afraid to practise their religion. Now more than ever, Ontario’s Jewish community needs our support. We must uphold the values that unite us and reject brutal acts of terror from Hamas and other terrorist groups around the world. As we stand strong in our support for Israel, we pray for the safety of all innocent people. Hamas’s actions and unwavering dedication to terror show no regard for human life, whether Israeli or Palestinian.

Now more than ever, we hope for lasting peace and freedom for all in the region, which can only be achieved by defeating the terrorist group Hamas for the benefit of Israel, the Palestinian people and all of humanity.

May God bless the memory of those we’ve lost, bring home those who were taken and bless the people of Israel.

Just a reminder: You cannot refer to a member who’s not present. Please withdraw.

Thanks, Speaker. I withdraw.

To the people of Israel: We acknowledge and support your right to defend yourselves from these evil attacks. In this House and around the world, we must come together to denounce Hamas and others who have nothing but hatred for the Jewish people. We must do what is right and support Israel however we can.

We witness these atrocities and witness the brutality of the murder of men, women and children, and my heart goes out to everybody in the region who lives under the brutality of Hamas, who is threatened by the brutality of Hamas, sponsored and supported by the Iranian dictatorship.

I yearn for a day when innocent Palestinians, men, women and children, where Jews, men, women and children, will hopefully walk together, shoulder to shoulder. Sadly, that day is not today, but I hope that it will come.

To members of the Jewish community here in Canada: We see you, we hear you and we value your presence. We value how you enrich the culture, morals and conscience of this nation.

I’m thankful to live in a democracy that is free. I’m thankful for the men and women who gave of their life to fight the brutal Nazi regime. We said never again then; we said never again then, and I never thought I would live at a time when I would see the sort of anti-Semitism and hatred towards Jews that we saw back then. So it is with the same courage of those brave Canadians who gave of their life to liberate Holland, those brave Canadians who walked into concentration camps, the brave allies who walked into concentration camps, who saw the skeletal bodies and the atrocities—and when we saw first-hand the very real atrocities of the Nazi regime, the final solution. It is my hope and my distinct hope that we will never see these sorts of atrocities again.

We saw the greatest hatred, the greatest persecution of Jews since those days just a few weeks ago, and it is my hope that everybody in this place will have the moral courage and the fortitude to exhibit the same moral courage and fortitude of those brave allied soldiers to denounce and fight this sort of evil wherever we may see it.

I value the Jewish community who have been shaken here in Canada and who continue to shake in the waves of the drums and of the language from the river to the sea in our own community today. You are loved, you are respected and you have a place in this great country that is Canada.

Speaker, we must stand with our friends in Israel, today and every day, as they have a right to self-determination, a right to exist—Jews have a right to exist on planet earth, Speaker.

Thank you, Speaker. We’ll continue. Please proceed.

Normally when we rise for debate, we say we’re pleased to be able to participate in this discussion. It can’t be said today, Madam Speaker. Rather, given the prevailing circumstances as they are, we rise with heavy hearts to speak to this important matter.

I want to recognize from the outset Amanda Pape. She is my director of policy, and she’s a proud Jewish woman who helped and shared the pen in writing these words for me today. Thank you, Amanda.

Right now, as we sit relatively safe in the Ontario provincial Legislature, more than 200 people are being held hostage in Gaza, over 200 people with loved ones praying that they will come home safely, over 200 people who were captured from their homes, from their communities, places of worship and places of celebration, leaving Jewish communities, both in Israel and globally, terrified and anxiously awaiting their return.

A vicious, hate-driven attack was carried out on Israel on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War by terrorists whose only wish was to see the destruction and annihilation of Israel and its people. Colleagues, it has never been more important for this House to speak on such a matter, as more Jewish people were killed in a single day on October 7 than any other day since the Holocaust. Imagine that, Madam Speaker. This uncomfortable truth has dredged up generations of visceral trauma for Jewish communities around the world, and parliamentarians in the House must speak in unanimity and in full and unfettered defence of Israel and in the defence of Jewish people everywhere.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, as represented in this place, will not stand for anything else but a resolute stand against terrorism, and the terrorism that was rained down on the nation of Israel. As elected representatives, it’s our responsibility to call out despicable acts of terrorism and the people who carry out these brutal attacks.

Hamas, curs in no uncertain terms, brought down brutal attacks that involved the murder and rape of women, children and the elderly—defenceless people in their own homes targeted by these terrorists. Babies were mutilated, bodies charred and entire families murdered at point-blank range in their homes, human remains that have left coroners unable to identify them. Since October 7, thousands of people have been wounded and killed over the war as a result of these acts of terrorism by Hamas.

There is no time to reason; there is no reason to reason with these deplorable acts of Hamas and the people who carried them out, as their only wish has been the annihilation of Israel, the Jewish faith and the Jewish people. In its own words, Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

As Hamas terrorists declared last Friday a “day of rage against the worldwide Jewish population,” many Jewish parents made the difficult decision to keep children at home in fear for their safety. Canadians were shocked as police presence ramped up to provide security for schools, for stores and malls of Jewish communities across the country, in this province, in this city, Madam Speaker, and around the world. Despite additional security, Jewish people here in Ontario have faced direct harassment.

As I said, it is in our schools. Teenaged students walking from schools were harassed, with subsequent arrests. In some instances, Jewish university students were directly targeted.

It bears repeating, Madam Speaker, because this is not confined to the Middle East. It is here in our country. As was pointed out, a generation fought against the kind of terrorism that still exists against the Jews today. That’s why we must be unequivocal in our support for Israel, their right to defend their people and their country. Our support must be unwavering in the face of such evil. Canada and the province of Ontario must be a place where Jewish people can feel safe, can be free from harassment. As parliamentarians, as legislators, we all have an obligation to ensure this, first and foremost.

I want to acknowledge and remember the six Canadians who have lost their lives since the onset of the attacks in Israel. Let their names form a part of this record if they haven’t already: Netta Epstein, 21 years old, died jumping on a grenade, saving his girlfriend’s life; Shir Georgy, 22 years old, killed during the music festival attack; Adi Vital-Kaploun, 33 years old, murdered in her home; Ben Mizrachi, 22 years old, killed during the music festival; Alexandre Look, 33 years old, killed at the music festival attack; Tiferet Lapidot, 23 years old, killed at the music festival.

Madam Speaker, they just wanted to hang out with their friends and listen to music. May their memory be a blessing, but a stark reminder of the need for us, as Canadians and as parliamentarians, to speak with a unified voice, first and foremost, against this horrific act of terrorism.

Two Canadians are still missing, Judith Weinstein Haggai and Vivian Silver. Vivian is from Winnipeg, not far from where I live. She’s involved in organizations dedicated to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bringing peace. Yet, on October 7, when Hamas savagely ravaged through kibbutzim, they did not spare those who cried out and called and fought and lived for peace. Madam Speaker, this senseless loss of life is a tragedy, with the blame resting squarely on the Hamas.

The attacks in Israel come less than a month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Speaker Anthony Rota, in the Legislature, congratulated Yaroslav Hunka of the Waffen-SS Galicia division of the voluntary Nazi unit fighting the Soviet Union. It’s no wonder, Madam Speaker, in light of all of these events—they must be read together as a trajectory when it comes to imagining why Jewish people in Canada and around the world must remain vigilant, and we must stand with them. This is an exercise in discipline. It’s no wonder that they don’t feel safe. While Israelis are fighting on the front lines, risking their lives to protect their country, Jewish people and Canadians more broadly deserve strong leadership, good decision-making, attention to detail and process, and in these places, notwithstanding a need for humanitarian dialogue after the fact, reject this act of terrorism in the first instance.

Now, I’ve had the luxury and the benefit of serving in two important places of democracy in Canada: in the House of Commons and here in the Ontario Legislature. I’m proud to be serving under two leaders who have taken an unequivocal stance and condemned the Hamas, their acts of terrorism and the need to protect and defend and stand in solidarity with Israel.

I think of my grandfather, who was alive when I stood in the House of Commons with Prime Minister Harper—and I’ll talk about that later—who turned 19 in 1939. In five theatres of war, he was never confused why he was there, nearly until the end, and that was to fight Nazi Germany: to displace, to dismantle and to take down acts of terrorism that evolved into what has been called “the final solution”—the eradication of the Jewish people, let alone the evolution of the state. It was Premier Ford, days ago, who condemned the hate rallies taking place in Ontario that celebrate the kidnapping and slaughtering of innocent Israeli people by terrorists. They have no place in this province.

Premier Ford called this attack “terrorism in its darkest form,” and reminded us that Jewish communities need our continued vigilance and support, and that under his leadership we will remain steadfast in our commitment to the Jewish people here, in Israel and the world over.

Unfortunately, the member for Hamilton Centre has chosen to use social media as a platform for anti-Semitism and discrimination that questions the very legitimacy of Israel. The member’s statements on the plight of Palestinians failed to include mention of the terrorist attack. The member only chose to condemn Hamas and the senseless attack on Israelis in a subsequent apology when there was overwhelming public pressure to do so. Perhaps, it was a reflection born out of a desire to keep her job, but Canada and Ontario and especially the Jewish community expected better. They were left reeling. Given the initial statement’s continued presence on the World Wide Web, her apology rings hollow—and it remains persistently pinned to the top of her social media platforms. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies called for the member to be removed from the opposition’s caucus and drew clear attention to the member’s previous anti-Semitic comments. The fact that the member has not been removed from the Legislature is a reflection on the leader of the official opposition. She must explain to the people of Ontario why the member continues to remain in her party, while also explaining the very real documented instances of anti-Semitism that exist in her party.

The vast majority of Canadians in our society—including elected politicians from different parties; Christian, Hindu and other religious leaders; business and community leaders; the Prime Minister of Canada; the Premier of Ontario; the mayor of Toronto—have all come together to condemn Hamas and support Israel’s right to defend itself, as I stand here now. But the resolve is fragile. We learned that yesterday, when news of a bombing of a hospital broke and people were only too quick to pin the blame on Israel—the emerging facts are to the contrary. The President of the United States, who may be the one person in this world who has access to intelligence that most other countries don’t have, has identified the source of this bombing. It reminds us here in Ontario and here in Toronto today to remain disciplined and vigilant, to stand first and foremost with the Jewish people, regardless of where they are in this world, and condemn these acts of terrorism.

According to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, this year, despite making up only 1% of Canada’s population, Jews were targeted in 67% of religiously motivated hate. This is increasing even more as a result of the war in Israel.

Amanda told me of her first instance of anti-Semitism. She was just six years old, in her classroom at school, when—I don’t think I can handle saying this—another student stood up and made a gun with his hand and said he was going to kill all Jews. Children are not born hateful—they learn it, they become this way. He was an innocent six-year-old kid—Amanda attests to that—but he was taught to hate, right here in our city.

The only way to end the cycle of vicious anti-Semitism is to confront it in every instance, in every form. It is unacceptable.

Parliamentarians have a moral obligation to be against anti-Semitism in all of its forms—and sometimes it’s not so obvious.

I mentioned Prime Minister Harper; I want to touch on his leadership. As eerily similar events were taking place early on in my federal political career, the Prime Minister ensured Canada was steadfast in its support of Israel. In a speech at the Israeli Knesset in 2014, he highlighted the special relationship between our two countries. He stated:

“It is right to support Israel because, after generations of persecution, the Jewish people deserve their own homeland and deserve to live safely and peacefully in that homeland....

“Canada finds it deplorable that some in the international community still question the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel....

“Our view on Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is absolute and non-negotiable....

“Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state....

“It is nothing short of sickening.”

He continued by saying, “the face of the new anti-Semitism,” which “targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel to make the old bigotry acceptable for a new generation.”

Madam Speaker, we must put an end to this. It was the right position then; it is the right position now. Today, we have an extraordinary opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering support for Israel and its strong, resilient people.

Throughout my academic and professional career, I’ve worked alongside Jewish colleagues that I have grown to know and love as friends. These are people I have worked with over the years who now express fear, shock and hurt over what we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks: the helplessness and the despair that they’re experiencing. Many of them are at a complete loss; words cannot describe the pain they feel. They are distraught as they watch TV. They see the news, the tragedy after tragedy on TV; newsfeeds and social media filled with core-shattering images of people being dragged across pavement, taken hostage and being raped and killed with terrorists parading their bodies, celebrating and cheering the mass murder of Jewish people; the fear of endless comments claiming Jews deserved it and praising the so-called uprising; footage of rallies around the world that chant about death to Jews and cheer on Hamas.

They are angry and they are afraid. They’re unable to sleep, they’re unable to eat or breathe without worrying that their homeland will become a massive casualty in this war, but somehow when they wake up, they put on a brave face and go to work. While their minds and hearts may be in other places, they should take comfort in the fact that the members of this Legislature, the people of this province and this country stand in solidarity with them.

As I watched the events unfold in Israel, I’m in awe of the bravery in its full display. In the face of this evil, thousands of men and women are stepping up to fight for what is right: their homeland, their people and their right for a safe community and their loved ones.

I think of people like Ottawa’s Nir Koren, a lawyer and father of five who’s made the journey back to Israel. People like Nir recognize the danger that they are stepping into. They don’t run from it; they step into it, Madam Speaker, and we honour them. In the face of such wicked evil, we have to support our Israeli allies, our friends, our family and stand with them during this dark time.

Madam Speaker, I want to close here by just saying that as Israeli soldiers prepare—

Further debate?

I recognize the deputy government House leader.