Jewish Canadians should fight for Canada — not flee
With Canada Day approaching, it's a time to reflect on what makes our country strong and on our community's enduring commitment to helping Canada live up to its highest ideals. At a moment when Jewish Canadians continue to face unprecedented challenges, we can take pride in the progress we've made together to secure our place in the Canadian story.
In this week's recap, you'll find a new op-ed by our CEO, Noah Shack, on restoring the promise of Canada, an update on our community’s successful advocacy for stronger laws to hold hate criminals accountable, and an important victory in defeating a divisive antizionist resolution in Montreal.
Shabbat Shalom,
The CIJA Team
In his latest op-ed in the National Post, published ahead of Canada Day, our CEO Noah Shack recounts the journey of his ancestors, who arrived in Canada from present-day Ukraine in 1918, and considers what they would make of this moment in Canadian history.
While they would recognize a country transformed by the contributions of Jewish Canadians, they would also see growing threats to the values and civic compact that generations worked to build. Noah argues that now is not the time for retreat, but for renewed commitment to restoring the promise of a Canada that is truly strong and free.
Thanks to the efforts of community members who sent thousands of messages to MPs, and to coordinated advocacy led by CIJA through a coalition of seven organizations from across the Jewish community, Parliament passed the Combatting Hate Act this week.
This important legislation provides law enforcement and prosecutors with additional tools to protect targeted communities and hold offenders accountable, including:
- New intimidation and obstruction offences to protect access to places of worship and community institutions.
- A new hate crime offence that imposes stronger penalties when crimes are motivated by hatred.
- A new offence targeting the wilful promotion of hatred through the public display of hate symbols and symbols associated with listed terrorist entities.
Now that the Combatting Hate Act is law, it must serve as a catalyst for stronger enforcement of both new and existing laws. Click here to read the full joint statement from seven community organizations, including what else is needed to confront Canada's antisemitism crisis.
Anti-Israel motion removed from the June 15 City Council agenda
Following the mass mobilization of our community and the thousands of messages sent to elected officials through CIJA’s ActionHub, the divisive anti-Israel motion by the official opposition, Projet Montréal, was removed from the June 15 City Council agenda.
CIJA’s early advocacy efforts brought attention to the motion, launching a campaign to make sure community voices were heard. This is a testament to what can be accomplished when our community comes together.
We will continue to work proactively to prevent any future motions from being reintroduced in the coming weeks. Thank you to everyone who made their voices heard.
Click here to read more about this community win and others on action hub.
--
When you actively engage decision makers and elected officials in campaigns on the issues that matter most, you can make a real impact. No action is too small. Call, email, post or show up—then do it again. Take action today!
