Justice Committee on May 27th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Good morning, everyone.

I call today's meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 106 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on March 21, 2024, the committee is continuing its study on anti-Semitism.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind all members and other meeting participants in the room of some important preventative measures. To prevent disruptive and potentially harmful audio feedback incidents that can cause injuries, all in-person participants are reminded to keep their earpieces away from all microphones at all times.

As indicated in the communiqué from the Speaker to all members on Monday, April 29, measures have been taken to help prevent audio feedback incidents. All earpieces have been replaced. Please only use the black approved earpiece. All unused earpieces should be unplugged at the start of the meeting if you're not using them. When you're not using an earpiece, please place it face down on the middle of the sticker. Please consult the cards on the table for guidelines to prevent audio feedback incidents.

These measures are in place so that we can conduct our business without interruption and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters.

I thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format.

I would like to inform you that all the sound checks have been done.

I realize there's a camera not working, but all the sound tests have been completed.

I want to make a few comments for the benefit of members and the witnesses.

One, please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. Two, I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For the benefit of all attending and viewing the webcast, I remind you that all briefs can be sent to the committee until May 27, 2024, and they should not exceed three pages in total.

I now want to welcome our witnesses for the first session.

As an individual, we have Mr. Mark Sandler. Representing Secure Canada, we have Madam Sheryl Saperia, chief executive officer, by video conference. Representing Universities Canada, in person we welcome Mr. Gabriel Miller, president and chief executive officer. Representing the Toronto Police Service, by video conference we have Deputy Chief Robert Johnson and acting Detective Sergeant Kiran Bisla.

Each of the four witnesses will have five minutes for opening remarks, after which we will proceed with the round of questions. I will indicate by raising the card that there are only 30 seconds left. If you don't see it, I will probably end up needing to interrupt you when the time is up, and I will be fair with all witnesses alike, and all members, of course.

With that, we will commence, and I will ask Madam Gladu to please start with six minutes.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

The witnesses are going to testify.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Yes, of course.

In the order that I have them on my piece of paper, Mr. Sandler is first, please, for five minutes.

[Mark Sandler, As an Individual]

Thank you. Good morning.

On October 7, life completely changed for Canadian Jews not simply because Israel had been the victim yet again of terrorist brutalities directed against helpless citizens, but because almost immediately and before a single Israeli soldier set foot in Gaza, on Canadian streets and campuses, faculty members and students, union leaders and known jihadists celebrated and glorified Hamas's barbarities.

The murdered included Israeli Canadian Vivian Silver, a well-respected peace activist involved, amongst other things, in ferrying children from Gaza to Israeli hospitals.

What perversity of ideology, human behaviour, and appalling ignorance explains the glorification and martyrdom of those who rape women, torture, behead and burn Jews alive—and in Canada—or of those who brag about how many Jews they've slaughtered?

Canadian Jews, I can tell you, are depressed, angry, frustrated and puzzled by the normalization of hatred directed against them.

Don't tell Canadian Jews that these are isolated instances of hate, when large numbers of protesters march behind a banner that says, “By any means necessary” with a picture of a weapon being brandished.

Don't tell Jews that there's a benign interpretation of “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” language that mirrors that of a genocidal, Jew-hating, jihadist terrorist organization, especially when just two days ago, a large march on Toronto's streets included not only the responsive chanting of that phrase, but also “The only solution is intifada revolution”; “We don't want two states. Bring us back to 1948,” and the chanting of Sinwar's name, Hamas's leading war criminal.

Don't tell Jews this isn't about anti-Semitism or that it's only about protected speech when students and radicalized faculty say that all Zionists are evil, that all Zionists are racist, that all Zionists are genocidal. The vast majority of Jews are Zionist and many of us are pro-Palestinian.

I believe without a trace of humility perhaps that I've done more as an advocate to advance the rights of Palestinians than any of the people who are protesting in the way that I've described.

Don't tell Jews that their children are safe in their schools and universities. Read, for example, the shocking brief of Ottawa Against Antisemitism. In public schools, teachers are erasing Israel from the map and replacing it with Palestine. Students are giving presentations praising Hitler's leadership, saying he only failed because he didn't finish the job. A student at a graduation ceremony changed the indigenous land acknowledgement by blaming Jews for killing all her people—the principal didn't feel this was problematic. Some students play “choke the Jew”, while others are threatened with a knife, shoved to the muddy floor of a yellow school bus, told to taste what their grandparents tasted in the Holocaust and told by their teachers to just let it go.

Don't tell Jewish women that they are safe on campuses. Read the equally shocking brief of Canadian Women Against Antisemitism, who experienced the worst forms of misogynistic Jew hatred: “Zionist whore”, “fucking child abuser for having Zionist babies”, “Rich Jewish bitch, you ought to be raped.” These are from TMU students.

Don't tell Canadian Jews that these are isolated instances. The data shows the opposite.

I'm speaking to you in my personal capacity as someone who has combatted anti-Semitism and other forms of hate, including anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, anti-indigenous and, indeed, anti-Muslim hate, for almost 40 years. However, I also invited over 40 groups, organizations and individuals who are deeply concerned about anti-Semitism to come together in an alliance combatting campus anti-Semitism to share their experience and expertise and recommendations with you. They all responded.

You'll read the perspectives of indigenous people, Muslims, Catholics, teachers, students at all levels, doctors, lawyers, faculty, academics, a media monitor, community NGOs, extremism experts and those who are working with me on a national respectful dialogue on campus between Muslims and Jews.

I'll conclude the oral comments by saying, I've identified for you, trying to draw together everything you've heard, 10 reasons overt anti-Semitism is so pervasive in Canada.

I hope those will be of assistance to you as well as 14 concrete recommendations to address that anti-Semitism.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Thank you, Mr. Sandler. We'll get back to your recommendations.

[Mark Sandler]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Madam Saperia, please, by video conference, you have up to five minutes.

[Sheryl Saperia, Chief Executive Officer, Secure Canada]

Good morning and thank you for inviting me here today.

My name is Sheryl Saperia, and I am the CEO of Secure Canada, a non-profit organization originally founded by Canadian victims of terror. Our mission is to combat terrorism, extremism and related threats to Canada's national security and democracy by creating innovative and transformative laws, policies and alliances. We are also a member of the informal coalition, the Alliance Against Campus Antisemitism in Canada.

Secure Canada is not a Jewish organization. Anti-Semitism is not referenced in our mandate, but it has become increasingly clear that anti-Semitism is evolving into a national and global security threat, thereby placing this issue squarely within our mandate.

Anti-Semitism is a key entry point for radicalizing, joining extremist groups and mobilizing to violence. Anti-Semitism underpins ideologically motivated violent extremism across the spectrum, from neo-Nazi and white nationalist extremism to far-left extremism, to Islamist extremism. The Jewish population may not always be the target, but anti-Semitism is used to leverage people's vulnerabilities and grievances and to bind a wide array of conspiratorial thinking.

There are different factors that can make someone more vulnerable to becoming an extremist. Sometimes there are mental health considerations, or someone may be socially disconnected, or maybe they have experienced some past domestic trauma. Then they start intersecting with the hateful ideology online, where they read that their lives are so unhappy because of the Jews. Here come the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and an us-versus-them narrative. When they read it enough times in enough different places, they think, “Jewish people have taken over. I need to be part of a movement that is going to fight back.”

For disenchanted young adults in particular, this is a template that makes their problems make sense. It has now been more than seven months since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, and there are some new radicalization trends emerging in Ontario. First, younger kids, as young as 12 and 13, are getting radicalized. Second, the extremist ideologies are fusing together, so you are now seeing Islamists who also love Hitler. Third, there is a new breed of extremist that hates five things: Jews, women, democracy, police and transgender people.

We are living in a globalized world, so it is hard to isolate homegrown Canadian variables from foreign variables that are inflaming today's anti-Semitism, but it is worth exploring both elements. A current notable area of research is the foreign funding of North American universities.

An organization called ISGAP has found that a massive influx of foreign donations to American colleges, much of it from authoritarian regimes, supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry and free expression.

One of Secure Canada's board members is the renowned UK-based counter-extremism expert, Haras Rafiq. Mr. Rafiq notes that Qatar has spent up to $1 trillion to spread soft power influence and Islamist indoctrination, which, at its very core, is anti-Semitic and the bedrock of the ideology of terrorist entities such as Hamas, ISIS and al Qaeda. Russia and China, meanwhile, appear to be manipulating public opinion by promoting [Technical difficulty—Editor].

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Madam Chair, I have a point of order. I can no longer hear the witness.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

We're not hearing her here, either, Mr. Fortin.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Okay, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Just a moment.

Madam Saperia, can you hear me?

[Sheryl Saperia]

Yes, I can hear you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

I stopped the clock when you froze. You have one minute and 30 seconds left.

[Sheryl Saperia]

Thank you. Can you just let me know what you last heard in case I wasn't fully heard?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Foreign funding for universities in the States.

[Sheryl Saperia]

Okay. That was quite a while ago. Gosh, okay.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Chair, she said something about Islamism being at the heart of anti-Semitism. That is the last note that I have on my paper.

[Sheryl Saperia]

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Russia and China, meanwhile, appear to be manipulating public opinion by promoting anti-Israel messaging online. Whether foreign-funded or not, North American universities must find a way to start dismantling the pervasive and destructive academic paradigm in which Jews and Israelis are portrayed as today's ultimate embodiment of evil: white, rich, privileged, racist colonizing oppressors.

There are also homegrown dimensions to Canada's anti-Semitism and extremism problem. It is worth researching whether a minimization of Canadian national identity and values, coupled with a high usage of identity politics, renders young people both on and off university campuses more vulnerable to charismatic recruiters looking to radicalize and recruit new members for their extremism cause. Put another way, a strong Canadian identity based in part on respect for liberal democratic values and a clear rejection of intolerant authoritarian values may help to create the resilience that is needed to inoculate against radicalization.

The government, through CRA, must take a robust stand against charities and non-profits that promote extremism or that have connections to terrorist groups. It is confounding that a group like Samidoun is a registered non-profit in Canada rather than a listed terrorist group. The IRGC may not have charitable status here, but the government's refusal to designate them as a terrorist group while members of the Iranian regime continue to be found in Canada creates a culture of impunity.

Speaking of impunity, a new group called Lawyers for Secure Immigration points out the absence of enforcement activity—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Madam Saperia, thank you. We'll come back to you during questioning.

We will now continue with Mr. Miller, please, for five minutes.

[Gabriel Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Universities Canada]

Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee.

My name is Gabriel Miller, and I am the president and CEO of Universities Canada. As an organization, we are the federal and international voice of Canadian universities.

Though it's only been two months since I joined Universities Canada, I can be certain that there will never be another issue more important than the one we're here to discuss today.

I want to begin by thanking the committee for undertaking this important and timely study. Even more important, I want to thank the Jewish students and scholars who have bravely shared their painful stories. I'm sorry for what you've endured. We hear you, and we take this very seriously.

Universities Canada unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism and all forms of racism and discrimination. Hateful anti-Semitic acts have no place on our campuses or in our communities. They must be stopped.

Learning on a supportive campus free from harassment, intimidation or fear for one's safety is critical for students and for the integrity of our institutions. The academic environment should foster freedom of expression, and with that comes the freedom to confront opinions or statements we may find misguided or offensive. However, students must feel secure attending university to learn and to participate fully in campus life.

As a national organization, at Universities Canada, we've been acting recently in four main areas.

First, we've been working with public safety and the RCMP to help ensure the physical safety of students, staff and faculty.

Second, we've been preventing hate and anti-Semitic acts through campus codes of conduct, which should, by definition, help protect Jewish students.

Third, we've been sharing best practices and lessons among institutions and the community.

Fourth, we've been working with 27 universities to detail the specific actions they are taking to fight anti-Semitism in response to a December 13 request from MPs.

Universities Canada is working closely with Deboarah Lyons, the Department of Public Safety, the RCMP, local MPs and community-led organizations such as the Network of Engaged Canadian Academics, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B'nai Brith Canada. We are also in close contact with our international counterparts like Universities UK and the American Council on Education.

We are listening carefully to Jewish students and scholars and to leaders in the fight against anti-Semitism. We welcome the practical, concrete solutions that have been presented to this committee, including proposals to ensure equal application of codes of conduct; EDI policies that fight anti-Semitism and protect Jewish students, faculty and staff; new education and training programs; more extensive data collection and reporting; and broadening the use of the non-binding IHRA definition as a valuable tool to help universities identify and address anti-Semitism.

We are committed to working with you, with governments and with Jewish partners to address these recommendations.

We know from police reports and annual audits that incidents of anti-Semitism have been steadily rising in Canada. As many who have appeared before the committee have rightly pointed out, if anti-Semitism is not stopped wherever it's found, it spreads; it grows. We cannot forget the lessons of history when it comes to how unchecked hateful language too easily progresses to more hateful actions.

These problems do not stop at the edge of campus. Anti-Semitism affects our whole society and demands a national whole-of-government response. It is not a partisan issue either, and I hope members will continue to approach this study and the resulting report with a multipartisan approach.

Universities have a particular responsibility to be models for respectful dialogue and respectful conduct. This responsibility extends not only to our students, staff and faculty, but also to leaders in the broader Canadian community. It is incumbent on us to do everything in our purview to prevent antisemitism, just as it is incumbent on elected leaders and leaders from all sectors to do the same.

Thank you for undertaking this important work. I look forward to answering your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Thank you very much.

We'll now go to questions from committee members.

I'm sorry. It took me 12 to 13 hours to come from Halifax this morning.

Now we have our last presenter.

I will ask Deputy Chief Johnson to please use his five minutes however he wishes, with his colleague.

[Deputy Chief Robert Johnson, Deputy Chief of Police, Toronto Police Service]

Detective Sergeant Kiran Bisla will start.

We had a little bit longer than five minutes. I will wrap up with the four recommendations.

Kiran, please go ahead.

[Detective Sergeant Kiran Bisla, Acting Detective Sergeant, Toronto Police Service]

Thank you, sir.

It's truly a privilege to speak before you today and share with you information relating to the service's hate crime unit and its mandate, how the service investigates and responds to hate crime, the significant 47% increase in hate crime reporting in 2023, and the extensive community outreach education efforts made by the service in an effort to address and combat hate crimes.

It is important to note that not all police services have a dedicated hate crime unit, and how police respond to hate-motivated crimes differs from service to service.

The hate crime unit was established in 1993 and is responsible for collecting statistical data and ensuring the thorough investigation of hate crime offences within the city of Toronto. Since its inception, the hate crime unit has been embedded with the security section of intelligence services. This placement is by design, as hate crimes can be precursors to violent extremism in the forms of criminal extremism and terrorism, two areas of investigation falling under the security section mandate. This enables mutually supportive actions in circumstances where investigations of hate crime and violent extremism overlap.

The investigation of hate crimes is a Toronto Police Service priority. Hate crime laws are complex because determining motivation of bias, prejudice or hate can be difficult, and context is key. An essential part of the hate crime unit's mandate is to provide internal training to its members and to assist in the development of public education programs in partnership with other members of the service and the community.

In 2023-24, the hate crime unit delivered training to new recruits, dispatchers, auxiliary officers and members of the public safety unit who are specially trained to respond at public protests and demonstrations. These efforts help to ensure that police officers and community members are able to recognize hate crimes and work collaboratively to ensure that these crimes do not go unreported.

The reporting of hate crimes is essential because it helps to identify trends and patterns across the city, which then inform service-wide strategies such as hate crime prevention, community outreach and public education. Other aspects of the hate crime unit mandate include conducting investigations, assisting and providing expertise to all hate crime and hate propaganda investigations and prosecutions, providing follow up and assistance in regard to all hate-related incidents to victims of hate crime and the affected communities, attending demonstrations and gathering evidence, and investigating any suspected hate crimes or hate speech or signage.

As you may be aware, a very high threshold must be met to lay hate propaganda charges, which require the consent of the Attorney General of Ontario. The hate crime unit liaises regularly with the Ministry of the Attorney General's specialized hate crimes working group in relation to hate crime investigations, and seeks AG consent in relation to hate propaganda charges, as required.

The hate crime unit also facilitates the exchange of information through its internal networks and with various law enforcement agencies at the provincial, national and international levels. This includes co-hosting weekly meetings with the province's hate crime and extremism investigative team, and continued partnership with the RCMP and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. It also includes taking part in national and international summits, including last year's Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh to share ideas and build working relationships between subject matter experts and various government agencies, community leaders, academics and law enforcement members.

The hate crime unit is also responsible for reviewing, classifying and recording all reported hate-motivated occurrences. The classification of hate crimes is based on the criteria set in the Criminal Code and guidelines set by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

This coming Friday, the service will be presenting its “2023 Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report” to the Toronto Police Service Board.

With the exception of 2022, the number of reported hate crimes has been steadily increasing since 2018. There are multiple factors that can affect the fluctuation in the number of reported hate crimes and the different community groups that are victimized, including geopolitical events and heightened awareness stemming from community educational programs, hate crime training and increased media coverage.

In 2023, the service experienced a 47% increase in reported hate crimes compared to 2022, from 248 to 365. Over the past 10 years, between 2012 and 2022, the average number of reported hate crimes has been approximately 174 per year. The ongoing Middle East conflict that escalated after the events of October 7, 2023 is a significant contributing factor to the increase in reporting.

In 2023, there were increases in reported hate crime in the following victimized categories. Anti-Semitic occurrences increased from 65 in 2022 to 135 occurrences in 2023. Anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab occurrences increased from 12 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Anti-2SLGBTQ+ reported hate crimes increased from 40 in 2022 to 65 occurrences in 2023.

There was a 32% increase in the number of reported hate crimes after October 7 during the months of October, November and December in 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022. Mischief to property offences were the highest reported—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Detective Bisla, we'll come back to you. Thank you for the opening remarks.