OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke to the Western Standard at a press conference on Monday, offering his reaction and stance on recommendations urged by Canadian Jewish group B’nai B'rith that published a report the same day, showing "antisemitism" rising, urging the government to ban events that incite hatred or glorify terrorism. The report found 6,800 incidents of "antisemitism" in 2025, up 9.3% from the previous year and the highest number recorded by the organization since it began tracking in 1982. Most of those incidents were online.Poilievre said many Jewish Canadians now feel unsafe expressing their identity publicly, including Jews he knows personally, citing a case of a Jewish man who fears wearing a kippah in public.In regards to the report's recommendation and conservative policy stances on the matter, Poilievre said the focus should be on enforcing existing criminal laws, rather than introducing new restrictions on speech.“We need to criminalize the promotion of terrorism as defined under anti-terror laws,” he said, adding that authorities should be “locking up hate criminals” and stopping individuals who promote violence from entering the country. .He did not claim to support or outright reject B'nai Brith’s recommendation to form a national emergency task force to combat “Jew-hatred.” When pressed on how he would define hatred and glorification of terrorism in relation to banning such events, Poilievre claimed those actions are already addressed in the Criminal Code.He emphasized that inciting violence, issuing threats or encouraging harm against a group or individual is already illegal in Canada, and does not fall under protected speech.At the same time, he attempted to draw a line between criminal conduct and political expression.“The answer is not to bring in more censorship of political speech,” Poilievre said, arguing that legitimate debate must remain protected even as governments crack down on violence.He also tied the issue to broader concerns around immigration and public safety, saying Canada needs stronger controls to prevent “terrorists and hate mongers” from entering the country.Poilievre maintained that free speech should be respected. “Political debate is free speech,” he said, while noting that threats and incitement to violence are already clearly defined as criminal under Canadian law.
