Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak to the growing threat of anti-Semitism in Canada.
On March 11, the League for Human Rights of B'nai B'rith Canada released its annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents for 2003. It is important that Canadians from coast to coast heed this wake up call and speak out against hatred of the Jews.
Some 584 incidents were reported to the league in 2003, an increase of 20% over the previous year and double the number since 2000. There was a 45% increase in Toronto and a 17% increase in Montreal.
In my City of Winnipeg, a Jewish organization and a Jewish business received anti-Semitic mailings. This past week the greater Toronto area, as we heard, experienced gravestone desecrations and racist graffiti on homes, synagogues and schools.
There is no doubt, Jewish communities across Canada are under attack. The Jewish community is the only ethnic group in Canada that is forced to hire private guards to defend its schools, synagogues and community centres.
Canadians of all ethnicities must stand tall against the threat to our way of life. We as government must work with other governments and with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to combat anti-Semitism.