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Antisemitism in Canada surged following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, culminating in a record 920 hate crimes targeting Jews last year.
The spike in incidents prompted Deborah Lyons, the country’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, to step down earlier this month, citing exhaustion from “waking up every day to a fight.”
Lyons told The Canadian Jewish News last week that the “job was one that tore at you physically and emotionally. I mean, I faced a lot of hate out there myself… a lot of nasty words and in some cases actions,” she said.
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A man fixes the lock of the doors of Congregation Beth Tikvah as police investigate an alleged arson at the synagogue in the suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux in Montreal, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
“I would say that during this period, these last two years, I’ve been really quite amazed and often become quite despondent and despairing about the fact that it was hard to get people to speak up, to speak with clarity, to speak with conviction about what we were seeing happening here on Canadian soil,” she added.
Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian Justice Minister and Lyons’s predecessor as special envoy on antisemitism, told Fox News Digital that the “explosion” in Jew-hatred has been met not with broad condemnation, but with “silence, denial, acquiescence, support, and justification.”
“The government can’t just virtue signal or be performative—it needs to act,” Cotler said. “That’s something Deborah had to contend with. She’s a very loyal civil servant, and I’m sure it was difficult for her—disheartening even—to see the government not moving as quickly, effectively, or decisively as the mandate required.”
Although Jews make up less than one percent of Canada’s population, 18.8% of all reported hate crimes in 2024 were motivated by antisemitism.
Of the 1,342 religiously motivated hate crimes reported last year, 920—or 68.5%—targeted the Jewish community.
TORONTO, CANADA – JANUARY 4 : Anti-Israel demonstrators gather outside Union Station during a rally in Toronto, Ontario on January 4, 2024. Demonstrators demanding ceasefire gathered outside Union Station in downtown Toronto. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Since Special Envoy Lyons took office, we’ve seen a 124% increase in antisemitism,” Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, told Fox News Digital.
“The situation has become increasingly untenable for the community. And although some positive steps were taken by the federal government, not enough has been done to stem the tide—putting someone like the special envoy in a very tough position,” he continued. “So it’s understandable that she felt fatigued and disheartened by the current state of hate in Canada.”
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Both Cotler and Robertson acknowledged key accomplishments by Lyons during her tenure, including the publication of a handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, produced by the envoy’s office. According to Cotler, the resource is now being used internationally by governments for training police, prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and public servants.
Lyons was also an important voice in the international coalition of special envoys for combating antisemitism, giving Canada a presence with global resonance, Cotler said. He also highlighted her success in building out the Office of the Special Envoy with a strong staff and dedicated budget—an institutional foundation that did not exist before.
Anti-Israel agitators protest at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Lyons also helped organize the National Forum on Combating Antisemitism, held in March 2024 and co-chaired by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. The forum brought together leaders from all levels of government to address the growing public safety threat posed by Jew-hatred.
“We need a whole-of-government approach,” Robertson said. “That’s why, immediately following the election of Mark Carney, we wrote to the prime minister and outlined key ministries that could be mandated to have an immediate impact on the crisis of antisemitism. This isn’t something the special envoy can resolve alone—it requires coordinated government-wide effort.”
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Deborah Lyons, left, the former Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, speaks with David Moscovic, a Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor, before an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Noah Shack, CEO of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), told Fox News Digital that when law enforcement or public institutions have directly confronted antisemitic protests, harassment, or intimidation, they quickly collapsed.
“I think that’s instructive—that when our public institutions take action to push back, it dissipates,” he said. “We really need government, law enforcement, and broader society to recognize that we all have a duty to stand against this hate that is targeting the Jewish community right now, but also targeting our core values as Canadians. And if we fail to stand up, it will overtake our society and lead to a very dark future for all Canadians.”
Shack outlined three urgent actions he believes Canada can take to meaningfully address the issue. First, he emphasized the need to follow through on commitments to establish safety zones around places of worship, community centers, daycare centers, schools, and other sites where the Jewish community gathers.
Second, he called for increased support for Jewish community security programs to protect these facilities from the violent threats they face.
Anti-Israel protesters gather outside Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue hosting ‘Israeli Real Estate Event’ in Thornhill, north of Toronto, Ontario on March 7, 2024. Thornhill is home to a large Jewish population. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We’ve had schools shot at, synagogues set on fire. This is a very concerning situation, and we need to ensure that the government is funding and integrating our community security programs at a level that exponentially improves safety,” he said.
Third, Shack emphasized the need to address the growing issue of radicalization seen on the streets and within public institutions.
“Canada’s anti-terrorism laws should be aligned with those of countries like the UK, where the glorification of terrorism and membership in a terror organization are criminal offenses,” he said.
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Shack also cautioned against attempts to separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism, stating that the premise itself is flawed, and stressed that blaming Jews around the world for disagreements with Israeli government policies is equally hateful.
“I don’t represent the government of Israel; I represent myself as a Jewish person living here in Canada. Just like my friends, family, and colleagues who live in the U.S. are Jewish Americans, we deserve to be treated with the same respect and rights as any other Canadian or American citizen, period,” he said.