Federal lawyers attempted to settle for a fraction of the taxpayer money owed by Laith Marouf, an antisemitic activist who had received public funds as a Department of Canadian Heritage consultant, according to an internal memo.
Blacklock's Reporter says Marouf, a Montréal-based figure known for inflammatory remarks against Jews, left for Beirut after securing $122,661 to lead a national lecture series on tolerance.
A memo dated October 9 revealed that the government considered settling the dispute for $40,000, just 28% of the $142,696 owed, including interest.
“It was estimated that settling at this time would recover around $40,000 of the $122,661 paid to (Marouf) with both sides likely absorbing their legal costs,” the document stated.
However, the offer expired after Marouf’s legal counsel failed to respond.
Marouf’s Community Media Advocacy Centre was awarded the grant in 2022 to conduct anti-racism workshops at universities. Officials later admitted they had not conducted even a basic background check on Marouf, who had a documented 20-year history of antisemitic rhetoric.
“The Department of Canadian Heritage has pursued different avenues to recover $122,661 in funds issued to the Media Advocacy Centre since 2022 involving the Canada Revenue Agency, a collection agency and an international agency,” the memo noted.
“The federal government is currently proceeding with court action.”
On August 29, 2024, the Minister’s office directed legal teams to negotiate a settlement, with an attempt to engage Marouf’s counsel the same day. However, by August 26, legal representatives reported they had received no response from Marouf’s team.
Public records showed Marouf was previously suspended from Twitter for violating its policies on hate speech, including posts where he referred to Jews as “Zionist bags of human feces” and called for the death of Zionists.
“Life is too short for shoes with laces or for entertaining Jewish white supremacists with anything but a bullet to the head,” he wrote in another post.
During a 2023 Commons heritage committee hearing, Associate Deputy Heritage Minister Mala Khanna admitted that officials failed to conduct even a Google search on Marouf before awarding the grant.
“The hateful comments made by Mr. Marouf were shocking and profoundly disturbing to us,” she testified.
Conservative MP Martin Shields pressed for accountability, asking whether any staff faced consequences. “Accountability is very important,” Khanna responded, stating that she had spoken with involved employees but stopped short of confirming disciplinary action.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather criticized the oversight.
“You got to the Twitter account, you see what Mr. Marouf said,” he said. “I found that in two seconds going through a Google search. What was the delay? What was the issue?”
Marouf later claimed on a 2022 podcast that the government had actively encouraged him to take the funds.
“Heritage Canada reached out to the Community Media Advocacy Centre, the group that I worked for which is the global authority on this issue, and begged us to apply within four days to receive funding,” he said.
He later challenged the government to take legal action, saying, “Put me in court and charge me with hate speech.”