Ontario telecommunications industry consultant Mark Goldberg, who helped expose Community Media Advocacy Centre consultant Laith Marouf, said people were aware of him, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“Too many people in Ottawa knew about this funding and didn’t act on the information and didn’t speak out,” said Goldberg in a submission to the House of Commons Heritage Committee. .“They did nothing to counter it.”.Quillette associate editor Jonathan Kay pointed out in August Marouf was hired by Canadian Heritage to train broadcasters in anti-racism, despite having tweeted antisemitic comments. .READ MORE: Canadian Heritage hires anti-racism director who expressed antisemitic views.“Astounding — even by the low standards set by all the various other grifters, hysterics, & haters paid out by Ottawa's various ‘anti-racism’ slush funds: The same guy ranting about how Jews are ‘bags of feces’ was hired by @CdnHeritage to train Cdn broadcasters in ‘anti-racism,'” said Kay. .Marouf said his motto is “life is too short for shoes with laces, or for entertaining Jewish White Supremacists with anything but a bullet to the head.” .Diversity and Inclusion Minister Ahmed Hussen said in August the CMAC would no longer be working on an initiative for the Canadian government after it was discovered Marouf made antisemitic remarks. .READ MORE: Anti-racism director fired from Canadian government project for antisemitism.“The antisemitic comments made by Laith Marouf are reprehensible and vile,” said Hussen. .“We have provided notice to the CMAC their funding has been cut and their project has been suspended.” .Goldberg repeatedly warned officials about Marouf’s conduct. .He documented instances from April in which he notified Canadian Heritage it paid him at the same time he was banned from Twitter. He said MPs on the two sides of the House of Commons were notified in advance, including members of the Commons Heritage Committee. .The consultant went on to say most did not act until coverage of the story became too embarrassing to ignore. He added he does not want this “to be a partisan issue, although I do want to see some real accountability for the disbursement of public funds to this organization and to this person.”.Goldberg said since 2020, he collected dozens of screenshots of tweets in which Marouf ranted about Jews, including one where he threatened him with “a bullet in your head.” He fantasized about shooting Jews in other tweets. .“I started taking screenshots and I have a collection of about 100 tweets of his that I thought should be archived,” said Goldberg. .He said some tweets crossed the line set out in Twitter’s terms of service, so he reported them. Twitter suspended his account in 2021. .The CMAC received more than $602,000 in federal subsidies, including a $133,822 grant from Canadian Heritage to conduct anti-racism workshops. The grant was approved in 2021 after he was suspended from Twitter..Department executives told the Commons Heritage Committee on February 13 they could not explain why they failed to conduct background checks on Marouf. .“It was felt on paper that it met the criteria,” said Canadian Heritage Associate Deputy Minister Mala Khanna. .Liberal MP Anthony Housefather (Mount Royal) asked if any employee in Canadian Heritage was sanctioned or disciplined. .“We have learned from this experience,” said Khanna..Housefather asked if the answer was no. Khanna agreed.
