Mr. Speaker, B'nai Brith Canada released its 36th annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents. While 2017 was a year of celebration for most Canadians, it was truly a difficult year for our Canadian Jewish community. Last year, as in the year before, anti-Semitism reached record-breaking highs, with acts of vandalism having doubled and acts of violence increasing by almost 50%.
The audit highlights disturbing instances of anti-Semitic occurrences on campuses, including calls for physical violence by a student leader at McGill, bomb threats at York, and an attempt by the University of Ottawa student union to revoke the status of a campus Jewish group.
What is even more disturbing is that this year there is a section called “anti-Semitism in the political sphere”, which discusses the actions of elected officials, including members of this House. Many experts who study racism refer to anti-Semitism as “the canary in the mine”, an indicator of general patterns of racism across the country. I call upon all members of this House to be active and loud in denouncing all acts of racism, particularly anti-Semitism. Anything short of that brings shame upon this place.