B’nai Brith Canada recommendations included in Federal Finance Committee’s pre-budget report

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December 18, 2024

OTTAWA – The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) has recommended in a report that federal funding programs be aligned with Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy.

This was one of B’nai Brith Canada’s key recommendations to FINA during its consultations on next year’s federal budget.

The FINA report also incorporates B’nai Brith’s recommendation that the government increase funding for its Integrated National Security Teams (INST). These groups link local police forces with national agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Last July, this inter-agency cooperation contributed to the arrest of Ahmed Eldidi and his son Mostafa, who allegedly planned an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We are pleased that FINA President Peter Fonseca and other committee members have supported our recommendations,” said David Granovsky, director of government relations for B’nai Brith Canada. “We hope that the new Minister of Finance (Dominic LeBlanc) will carefully consider our recommendations, which were included in the FINA report, when the government determines the priorities it will include in the next federal budget.”

B’nai Brith presented these proposals in a written submission to FINA on August 1, 2024. In addition to aligning federal funding programs with Ottawa’s anti-racism strategy, B’nai Brith called on the government to improve understanding post-secondary students’ understanding of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) operational definition of anti-Semitism. Earlier this month, our recommendation on awareness of the IHRA received support from another committee, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST).

“It is particularly important to the Jewish community that the FINA committee recognizes the importance of our request for IHRA instruction,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith director of research and advocacy. “We are pleased that it was included in this report.

“The government has adopted the IHRA and even commissioned a manual for its implementation, but to date there has been no federal program to introduce it to the public. As anti-Semitism has skyrocketed over the past year, the need for such a program has never been more relevant.”