To carry on with a focus on heritage funding, I've seen that Canadian Heritage has committed over $15 million in new funding for the multiculturalism and anti-racism program. Putting a stop to racism and hate in our country is critical. That includes anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Chinese racism, anti-Black racism, anti-indigenous racism. Canadians, regardless of their background, should feel safe, and the federal government has a lot of work to do.
However, what shocked me about the anti-racism strategy is the government's steadfast refusal to acknowledge or define the racism experienced by Palestinians in Canada. I heard from a number of advocates, stakeholders and Palestinians who spoke to officials in your government and communicated with your government and heard clearly that the government is flat out refusing to include references to anti-Palestinian racism in the upcoming anti-racism strategy. At a time when Palestinians are seeing horrific images of their loved ones being brutalized and killed in Rafah in an ongoing genocide, Palestinian Canadians are experiencing an increase in hate in our country.
My question is, why is the department unwilling to include references to anti-Palestinian racism in the upcoming anti-racism strategy? Calling out anti-Palestinian racism and making it part of the strategy is being part of the solution. Doing otherwise is being part of the problem.