As antisemitism reaches record highs across Canada, the federal government has chosen to dissolve its dedicated antisemitism envoy and replace the role with a broad “Rights, Equality and Inclusion” advisory council. The new body, announced this week, is being framed as a unifying initiative meant to combat all forms of hate. Yet for many in Canada’s Jewish community, the timing and substance of the decision signal retreat, not resolve. The move comes months after the resignation of Canada’s last antisemitism envoy, who openly admitted exhaustion over the nation’s unwillingness to confront rising Jew-hatred directly.

Jewish advocacy organizations warn that collapsing antisemitism into a generalized inclusion framework risks rendering it invisible. In 2024 alone, more than 6,200 antisemitic incidents were reported nationwide—an all-time high in a country with fewer than 400,000 Jews. Leaders from groups such as B’nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs argue that antisemitism is not merely another bias but a unique and persistent hatred that requires focused leadership, accountability, and Holocaust remembrance. Replacing a clear mandate with a vague council of unnamed academics and “community leaders,” critics say, sends a message that Jewish concerns can be managed, diluted, or deferred.

SOURCE: JPost