SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 48

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 29, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 48 - Mar/29/22
Ms. Ya'ara Saks (York Centre, Lib.)
  • Mar/29/22 2:05:16 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we have recently seen an increasing number anti-Semitic incidents across Toronto and in my riding of York Centre. Public schools have been vandalized, teachers harassed and faculty and students at the University of Toronto made to feel unsafe and “less than”. “I am safer on campus if I do not identify as Jewish” is something that I have heard time and again from university students in the schools of social work, medicine and education. The safety of Jewish Canadians in public spaces is not conditional. Jewish Canadians cannot face marginalization or denigration by virtue of their faith or connection to their community. When I first took my seat in this House, I shared that day with the announcement of Irwin Cotler’s appointment as Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. His work is essential. The events of the past few weeks and generations of anti-Semitism demand that we clearly define and address it, as we have done through the IHRA definition. These are difficult conversations. We know that diversity is a fact but inclusivity is a choice, and it is one that requires the respectful inclusion of Jewish voices in our community spaces.
208 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border