A National Forum on the fight against anti-Semitism will be held in Ottawa starting in February 2025, according to what the Department of Justice of Canada announced on Friday.
“Canada is experiencing a worrying increase in anti-Semitic incidents, threats and hate crimes,” the ministry said in a press release. “The government wants to ensure that all members of Canada’s Jewish community feel safe in their synagogues, schools and communities.”
The government has specified that it will be the Minister of Justice, Arif Virani, and the new Associate Minister of Public Security, Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan, who will co-chair the conference.
The forum will be composed of representatives from the three levels of government in addition to prosecutors and members of law enforcement.
“The authorities are already working with law enforcement and key partners to combat anti-Semitism,” it was said. The forum will make it possible to find concrete solutions in the short and long term and to strengthen existing initiatives.
The Government of Canada is committed, with this initiative, “to protect all people in Canada and to fight against hatred in all its forms.”
Moreover, on Friday, a Jewish school in Toronto was targeted for a third time by gunfire.
Numerous hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim communities have also been recorded in Quebec since the start of the conflict in Gaza. Last October, the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) already recorded 287 incidents, including 212 targeting Jewish communities in the metropolis.
Again this week, a synagogue was targeted by an arson in Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
And a former franchisee of the Second Cup café at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal was also arrested Tuesday by the SPVM for having performed a Nazi salute during a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
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