CIJA Responds to Passage of Divisive Motion at the ETFO AGM

Toronto, ON – August 12, 2025 – Today, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) passed a divisive motion at their AGM. In response, Josh Landau, Director, Government Relations - Ontario, issued the following statement: 

"The recently released federal report on antisemitism in Ontario’s K-12 schools confirms what CIJA has long raised concerns about: virulent antisemitism in Ontario’s public schools is a serious and growing issue, undermining the safety and inclusion of Jewish students and staff.

"It is unacceptable that the ETFO chose to reinforce those very concerns by passing a motion at their conference promoting the concept of "Anti-Palestinian Racism" (APR).

"To be clear: CIJA unequivocally supports protections against discrimination for all communities, including Arab Canadians and Muslim Canadians. However, the way APR is currently being framed and applied by some conflates political discourse about Israel with racism. This framing has, in many cases, labeled even basic expressions of Jewish identity or support for Israel as discriminatory. At a time of rising levels of antisemitism in schools, it is troubling that ETFO has chosen to align itself with a concept that risks further marginalizing Jewish voices and endangering Jewish students.

"It is paramount that Ontarians have equal rights and dignity – which is why schools and unions are governed by the Ontario Human Rights Code. What is concerning here is that many of the proposed definitions and categories associated with APR go well beyond the scope of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

"Any efforts to introduce and implement a concept that fails to align with existing human rights legislation, particularly the Ontario Human Rights Code—must be firmly rejected."