The Department of Canadian Heritage yesterday admitted it did not do its homework in awarding a six-figure grant to an anti-Semite who fantasized on Twitter about shooting Jews. The department did not explain why it took months to cancel the contract with activist Laith Marouf, now a resident of Beirut, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“It was felt on paper that it met the criteria,” Mala Khanna, associate deputy heritage minister, testified at the House of Commons heritage committee. Managers “were relying on the initial vetting” when they approved a $133,822 grant to the Community Media Advocacy Centre, she added..The Centre based in Montréal was run by Marouf and his wife. Public records detail Marouf’s 20-year history of anti-Jewish activism including incidents in which he drew a swastika on an Israeli flag and was suspended from Twitter for “hateful conduct” like referring to Jews as “Zionist bags of human feces.”.“May death visit the home of every Zionist on earth,” tweeted Marouf. “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 Twitter post..Associate Deputy Khanna acknowledged staff never attempted a Google check on Marouf before announcing his grant on Sept. 21, 2021, the same year Twitter suspended his account. “The hateful comments made by Mr. Marouf were shocking and profoundly disturbing to us,” she said..“Has there been disciplinary action for any staff over what happened here?” asked Conservative MP Martin Shields (Bow River, AB). “Accountability is very important,” replied Khanna. “I have spoken to the employees who were involved in this case.”.“Did any employee within the Canadian Heritage department have any sanction or any discipline?” asked Liberal MP Anthony Housefather (Mount Royal, QC). “We have learned from this experience,” replied Khanna..“So the answer is no?” asked Housefather. “No,” agreed Khanna..Housefather said he emailed cabinet three times last July 18 alerting them that the heritage department was subsidizing anti-Semitic activism. The contract was not cancelled until months later on September 23 after $122,661 of the $133,822 grant had been paid out. The funding was to sponsor anti-racism workshops at university campuses..“The time that it took was really to obtain the facts,” testified Associate Deputy Khanna. “What were the facts?” replied MP Housefather. “You got to the Twitter account, you see what Mr. Marouf said.”.“I found that in two seconds going through a Google search,” said Housefather. “What was the delay? What was the issue?”.The heritage department acknowledged it had not recovered any of the funding and referred the case to debt collectors. “Has the money been paid back?” asked Conservative MP Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, Alta.). “The money has been requested to be paid back,” replied Khanna..“Has even a dollar been received?” asked Thomas. “No money has been received,” replied Khanna..The department said it had some 100 employees working in communications and public relations including “a team that monitors social media.” New rules will require Google and social media background checks on all directors and executives of grant applicants, the Commons committee was told.
