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Questions for Candidates 

  1. Ontario universities are losing credibility and international academic standing as discrimination rises, but institutions are failing to enforce their own policies.  How do you plan to ensure that our academic institutions are held to a high standard of integrity and that they enforce their own policies? 

  2. We saw a convicted terrorist (Hassan Diab) hired to teach at Carleton University. What will you do to ensure more accountability from universities in their hiring practices?   

  3. I regularly hear about professors leveraging their captive audience and abusing their power (also known as ‘abuse of podium’) by straying from the syllabus and their academic expertise to, without consequences, deliver divisive, harmful, and imbalanced narratives on current issues. How will you safeguard the sense of safety and belonging of Jewish students in the classroom? 

  4. My family and friends on campus are suffering from a toxic environment that includes incidents of discrimination, but they are afraid to make an official complaint because the reporting systems are not transparent and put the complainant at risk. How will you protect complainants and fix the reporting system to hold the institution and violators accountable? 

  5. The student union at the Ontario university my family member attends has promoted BDS, allowed for recognized clubs to glorify terrorism, and adopted practices that make Jewish students feel unwelcome or even unsafe on campus. When complaining to the university, they are told the university can’t do anything about student unions or clubs – even though these clubs benefit from the university’s name, tuition, etc. How will you ensure universities can put a stop to student unions that harm student safety? 

  6. There is a lack of foundational understanding of what antisemitism is and how Jew-hatred manifests on campus, which is evident when we see EDI initiatives that exclude or limit Jewish considerations, discrimination incident complaints being mishandled, and an overall toxic environment marginalizing Jewish campus members. What will you do to ensure antisemitism education is provided to Ontario university administrations, staff, faculty, and students and implemented consistently across all institutions? 

  7. We have seen harmful slogans, glorification of terrorism, and hateful symbols at campus protests. The institutions failed to maintain order and civility when, without enforcement by security or police, agitators went well beyond acceptable political protest and violated not only university policies but also provincial laws. How will you ensure institutions and police services are held responsible for what happens on and around campus? 

  8. If elected, what will you do to ensure that the BDS movement is rejected once and for all on campus? Would you support provincial legislation and pressure your leader to stop the allocation of public taxpayer dollars that fund institutions supporting BDS? 

  9. Will you commit to more accountability for institutional leaders and faculty whose inaction has led to universities becoming hotspots of virulent antisemitism? 

  10. How will your party prioritize making Jewish students once again feel safe on post-secondary campuses? 

  11. Will you commit to holding faculty accountable in fostering inclusive environments for all students on campus?