Canada has normalized antisemitism, making public spaces unsafe for Jews, including children, the Senate human rights committee was told this week. Blacklock's Reporter says witnesses said hatred had become “pervasive and casual, even fashionable,” and that Jewish Canadians increasingly fear for their safety.Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, said antisemitism now shapes daily life, affecting how Jews gather, educate their children, practice their faith, and appear in public. She described avoiding parts of Edmonton even in daylight after protestors on Whyte Ave. chanted threats such as “Throw them off buildings” and “kill the Jews.” “It is hate speech, intimidation and incitement,” she said. “Edmonton is no longer a safe city for Jews.”In Winnipeg, Belle Jarniewski of the Manitoba Institute to Combat Antisemitism called anti-Jewish hate “pervasive and aggressive,” noting anti-Israel protests openly vilified Canadian Jews and called for the destruction of the Jewish state. .Rivka Campbell of Toronto’s Beth Tikvah Synagogue said her institution faced repeated vandalism and arson since Hamas attacks in Israel in October 2023.“Sometimes it’s just willful antisemitism, and if it is, there need to be consequences,” she said.Statistics Canada shows Jews make up less than 1% of the population but are targeted in most police-reported hate crimes. Richard Robertson, research director for B’nai Brith Canada, told senators antisemitism has become “ingrained into our society” since the Hamas attacks. “Increasingly, Jewish Canadians do not feel safe in their own country,” he said, urging immediate action.The Senate human rights committee is expected to report its findings in late 2026, though witnesses warned the threat of antisemitism is escalating now.
