Episode 9 of Season 13 of The West Block: National

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THE WEST BLOCK

Location:
Ottawa, ON

Mercedes Stephenson: Scenes of hate and intimidation playing out across the country have some Canadians asking if they’re safe.

I’m Mercedes Stephenson, The West Block begins now.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “We are seeing an increase in threats of violence, in violence, in hatred.”

Mercedes Stephenson: A stark warning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a spike in antisemitism and Islamophobia plays out against the conflict in the Middle East.

Does Ottawa’s response go far enough? We’ll ask Government House Leader Karina Gould.

And the toxic legacy of burn pits, for troops who served in Afghanistan. Why are Canadian veterans still waiting for recognition?

Protests and demonstrations have filled many Canadian cities since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the October 7th attack by Hamas. Many have been peaceful, calling attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But this past week has seen a sharp escalation in antisemetic attacks that has alarmed officials.

Pierre Poilievre, Opposition Leader: “A Montreal synagogue has been firebombed. A hate preacher has called for the extermination of Jews. Jewish students have been called the ‘K’ word. Terrorists fired bullets at two different schools.”

Karina Gould, Government House Leader: “There is no room and there is no place for antisemitism in Canada. There is no room and there is no place for hate. There is no room and there is no place for violence.”

Mercedes Stephenson: But what specifically is the government doing to address the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia?

I’m joined now by Government House Leader Karina Gould. Minister, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

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Karina Gould, Government House Leader: Yeah, I’m glad to be here with you.

Mercedes Stephenson: I’d like to start today not speaking to you as a politician or as a cabinet minister, but speaking to you as a Jewish woman, you’ve been open about your faith, the mother of a young child, an expectant mother of another child to come into the world who is watching this alarming and growing antisemitism in Canada. How is this affecting you?

Karina Gould, Government House Leader: You know, Mercedes, I think the very first thing that I feel is just incredible sadness. You know speaking with friends and colleagues and folks around the country, I think a lot of people and particularly Jewish people right now, are feeling very worried here in Canada. I think there’s a recognition and there’s a lot of hurt and there’s a lot of pain coming out of what’s happening in the Middle East, obviously, both you know whether you’re Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian. There’s a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety, but the deep sadness that I have right now is what’s been happening, particularly what we saw in Montreal last week with the Molotov cocktail at a synagogue in a Jewish community centre, the gunshots that were fired at two Jewish schools. Yeah, I think it’s—there’s a lot sadness and fear out there because you know, here in Canada, even though we have differences and people come from all different parts of the world, ultimately everyone should feel safe to be who they are, to practice their faith despite what’s happening in other parts of the world, and the very real feelings and legitimate feelings that people have in that regard.

Mercedes Stephenson: Do you feel there’s been a shift in antisemitism in Canada? When I speak to some members of the community, they tell me not only have they never felt anything like this, they’d only been told about it by their grandparents in some cases were Holocaust survivors, but they never thought they would see or experience something like this in their life. There’s always Islamophobia. There is always antisemitism, but they feel like the environment is changing and like there is potentially a threat to the community in a way there hasn’t been previously.

Karina Gould, Government House Leader: Yeah, I think so. I mean the very real incidents that have happened over the past week, where you know that has crossed over into—you know fortunately no one has been hurt, but has into very real violent threats. I think, you know, we always talk about it and know that it’s there in present, but you know this is a very scary time for a lot of people. I think the community is resilient in many ways, but certainly people are on high alert. You know I’ve spoken to a number of people who are, you know, just worried to be themselves because they feel targeted as Jews in Canada, and that’s something that I think is—is just devastating. And as I said, nobody in this country should ever feel, no matter their faith, no matter their background, no matter their race, no matter their gender—should ever feel like they can’t be who they are in safety and in security in Canada. And certainly, we’ve seen a huge rise in antisemitism. We’ve seen a huge rise in Islamophobia as well, and both of those things are in many ways two sides of the same coin. And you know it’s hard right now. You know people are hurting a lot, but I think it’s also incumbent upon folks to not look at their neighbour and see anything but a Canadian right now. That doesn’t mean that they, you know, shouldn’t be protesting or expressing themselves, but to make sure that, you know, when we look at who we are as Canadians, we see Canadians first.

Mercedes Stephenson: And I know that, you know, this is obviously a very emotional time for a lot of people and we want to be very clear, and I know you do too, that we’re not talking about people who are criticising the Israeli government or who are standing up for the rights of Palestinians. We’re talking about people who are calling for violence and for harm, who are practicing hate speech, who are coming out and saying that they support what Hamas did, that that’s what we’re talking about not saying you don’t like Israeli government policy. And I think that sometimes those things get conflated. But one of the issues that is being brought up to me by minority communities, in particular right now the Jewish community, and I think of your former colleague Michael Levitt. He was a Liberal MP. He now says it is time to move beyond platitudes. It is time to move beyond, you know disavowing this and condemning it, that more needs to be done. What can the federal government do to protect Jewish communities right now?

Karina Gould, Government House Leader: Well, so I mean first of all, I think it’s also important to note that, you know, when we talk about I think what’s happened, particularly in the rise of antisemitism, is also the, you know, the threatening violent acts that have happened over the last week, in particular at Jewish institutions that, you know, again, thankfully nobody was hurt. But—but those are very scary for people and they’re very real when a Molotov cocktail is left outside of a synagogue or bullets are shot through schools. These are—these are real things that again, nobody was there, but I think there’s a real concern that there might be more escalation.

In terms of what the federal government can do and is doing, last week Minister Le Blanc, the minister of public safety, announced an addition $5 million to the Security Infrastructure program, which is a federal program that’s available to faith groups of all denominations, including Jewish groups, but it’s available to everyone to provide security infrastructure. So whether that’s security cameras or alarm systems at it could be places of worships, it could be community centres, it could be faith based schools, to be able to access to protect themselves. We’ve appointed two special envoys, one special envoy on combatting antisemitism in the promotion of Holocaust remembrance, as well as a special envoy on Islamophobia and continuing to encourage dialogue. I think that’s really important. I think lowering the temperature and not trying to escalate the tensions, making sure that we as the government but also as leaders across this country are really trying to…

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