Justice committee  I think that all our leaders need to speak out against demonizing speech all the time. I think they need to model behaviour that is compassionate and empathetic, and recognize that there are always two parties when there's a conflict.

Justice committee  First of all, I'd say that, historically and presently, there has been and is discrimination against very vulnerable groups: indigenous people, people of colour, homophobia, etc. That is real. The question is this: Is DEI the answer? In what I've seen with my experience with DEI, it's been more divisive than it has united people.

Justice committee  Okay. I want to add one more thing about DEI. You know, one of the problems with the DEI and the identity politics is intersectionality, which causes the piling on. It causes the social media epidemics and amplification. That's what we're seeing. In terms of whether we're able to select appropriate candidates right now, the University of British Columbia says there are certain groups of people who are preferentially going to be accepted: people of colour, indigenous people, LGBTQ, etc.

Justice committee  I will say one line. I would refer you to Dr. Philip Berger's article in the Toronto Star, which says we're making a huge mistake. We're selecting people based on identity rather than qualification.

Justice committee  Thank you. I would just like to make two comments. First of all, anti-Semitism is not recognized at UBC's faculty of medicine. If you go on their search engine, it doesn't exist. How can you say there's a problem if it doesn't exist? If you feel discrimination, make a complaint that you're discriminated against, but don't say you're Jewish or that it's Jew hatred or anti-Semitic.

Justice committee  It's terrible. I can tell you that when the petition went around from the UBC medical students, we felt it like this massive gut punch. Worse than that, like the ovation that was heard at the University of Manitoba, was the silence from our colleagues. Not only was there silence, but there were social media attacks on students who said they wouldn't sign the petition.

Justice committee  I would give them an F. I want to show you.... I have some posters here about some of the Jew hatred that is accepted in the faculty of medicine.

Justice committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I truly feel honoured to be here today. I feel the weight of Jewish physicians and health care workers across Canada, who feel attacked and marginalized in our universities and hospitals. I feel the weight of the majority of Canadian Jews, who have been shocked by the unprecedented outbreak of anti-Semitic Jew hatred and are demoralized by the inadequate response from our leaders.