Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am here on behalf of CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

I'll be frank and direct: There is a crisis of antisemitism in Canada.

The Prime Minister called the recent rise of anti-Semitism “terrifying”, and he's right.

Since October 7, we've seen in Toronto a 93% rise in hate crimes, the majority of which are directed at the Jewish community. In Vancouver, reports of anti-Semitism rose by 62% in 2023, and 70% of those occurred after October 7.

In Ottawa, the number of hate-related crimes and incidents rose in 2023 by 20%. In Ottawa, 1.4% of the population is Jewish, and Jews were the target of 27% of those crimes and incidents.

In Montreal, shots were fired at Jewish schools. Molotov cocktails were thrown at Montreal synagogues and community centres.

Bomb threats target Jewish schools in Toronto. Synagogues are picketed. Demonstrations take place around Jewish neighbourhoods for the sole purpose of intimidating their residents. Jewish-owned businesses are vandalized.

In our streets and on our campuses, we hear the apology of terrorism and violence.

On Parliament Hill, the very heart of Canadian democracy, on April 18, we heard praises for October 7, such as “Our resistance attacks are proof that we are almost free,” and “Oct. 7 is proof that we are almost free. Long live Oct. 7, long live the resistance, long live the intefadeh, long live every form of resistance.”

This was on Parliament Hill.

On October 28, in Montreal, a controversial imam was given the microphone. In Arabic, he declared: “Allah, take care of these Zionist aggressors. Allah, deal with the enemies of the people of Gaza. Allah, identify them all, then exterminate them. And spare none of them.”

Last week, we learned that he would not be charged.

Still in Montreal, yells of “death to the Jews” were heard in front of a Jewish school. It got so bad, the authorities were so passive, that the only solution the community found was to go to court to get injunctions to protect its institution. Let that sink in. An extraordinary recourse, those injunctions were granted and then extended and extended again.

The situation on university campuses is very bad. You heard certain things last week. You will hear more from the next group of witnesses. I will simply say the following.

The situation is so bad on campus that CIJA's legal task force is supporting a student at Toronto Metropolitan University for fostering a poisoned anti-Semitic environment. We are suing TMU. TMU breached its contract with her, breached its duties of care to her and discriminated against her by failing to apply its own policies and procedures explicitly designed to protect students like her from anti-Semitic environments.

We are putting universities on notice. There are and will be consequences for allowing anti-Semitism to take root on campus.

I could tell you about the situation in unions. I could tell you about the situation in the country's schools, where we have often had to protect students.

Since I don't have much time though, I will simply make eight recommendations.

One, political leaders must lead. That means there are laws on the books to deal with the current situation, but those are not applied. The justice minister must give clear direction that laws already on the books must be applied. Better training for courts, for police and legal systems is desperately needed.

Secondly, ban the Vancouver-based Samidoun group for its direct and open links with terrorist groups.

Three, create safe access legislation, also known as bubbles legislation. There is a role for Ottawa to play here.

Fourth, we have to combat online hate. That is something we will be discussing often.

Five, introduce the new anti-racism strategy and ensure no government funding goes to those promoting or platforming hate. In other words, no more Laith Marouf.

Sixth, ban the display of symbols of terrorist organizations that are listed under Canadian law.

Seven, list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. You voted twice for this. Now it's time to do it.

Eighth, improve the collection of data related to all of this.

I'll finish with this, Madam Chair. There's a crisis of anti-Semitism in this country. Words are not enough. We need action from you now.