What Did the Government's Antisemitism Forum Accomplish?

Governments sometimes mean well. As I’ve written, no one can object to the principle driving the Liberal’s 2023 “national action plan to end gender-based violence”. But by the time policy officials hack their way through the conflicts of interest, political bias, poor research inputs, and a muddled understanding of the street-level realities, the actual execution is underwhelming.

Well here’s another brightly painted case study.

Jew hatred is a growing problem in Canada. In an unexpected cloud of righteous zeal, Public Safety Canada just hosted a National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism where, among other things, it was announced that “antisemitism is unacceptable and has no place in Canada”.

The participants (notable more for who wasn’t there than for who was) even published a “Statement of Intent” reaffirming their:

“commitment to addressing hate crimes that target Jewish Canadians and all Canadians...[They] pledge to uphold the rights and safety of all Canadians [and] foster trust in our justice systems...”

Well that’s certainly a welcome relief. A Statement of Intent!

For all their wonderful intentions, I get the clear sense that someone at Public Safety Canada hasn’t thought this one through. What is it, exactly, that they’re trying to combat:

• Acts of violence like setting fire to synagogues and Jewish schools?

• Acts of intimidation like staging illegal demonstrations outside Jewish community buildings and Jewish-owned businesses?

• Acts of nastiness like insulting and threatening Jews?

• Inappropriate attitudes?

The first two of those shouldn’t require a fancy forum: just a quick reminder to police forces that their one job is maintaining public safety and order. And the last two are matters that, perhaps, lie far outside any government’s remit. That’s because, for the most part, governments shouldn’t be in the business of social engineering. And because they’re awful at it.

Am I suggesting that addressing noxious attitudes like antisemitism is not a matter for government policy? Yup. That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. You can’t mandate thoughts and beliefs. And you’ll probably never eliminate the world’s oldest pathology.

Does that mean that Jews - and other vulnerable groups - are destined to sometimes suffer cruel and baseless insults and threats? Sadly, that might just be one of the costs of living in an open society. We’re all better off focusing on our many polite and reasonable neighbors. But the mob is out there.

The official news release did contain some individual announcements worth examining, including:

• “Up to $10 million in immediate new funding to support grassroots organizations and work done on the ground to help address all forms of hate, including antisemitism.”

With just a tiny handful of international exceptions, the success rate among government-funded grassroots organizations mandated with changing hard-held social beliefs is pretty much zero. And, to my knowledge, there have been no academic studies identifying an intervention methodology that’s been successful for reducing Jew hatred at the population level. So where do you suppose that money will end up?

• Investing $26.8 million over four years to support police colleges to provide training on all hate crimes to provincial and municipal police forces.

Beyond reminding police cadets that hate crimes are wrong (which is a service I’d be happy to provide for a lot less money), what will all that funding buy? And where’s the hard evidence that the deliverables will actually make a positive material difference to Canadian Jews?

• “Greater transparency in tracking the progress of our collective efforts in addressing the public safety threat of antisemitism. Advancing this shared responsibility by having ongoing engagements.”

Progress tracking is undeniably a good thing. But I can tell you right now that there’s nothing in any of these commitments that will move the needle, so there’ll be precious little progress to track.

• “Examining potential amendments to the Criminal Code to strengthen tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to address hate crimes.”

Well, given their track record, you can be sure that any Criminal Code amendments this government could dream up will end up infringing on existing rights of law-abiding citizens - especially speech rights. And they won’t solve any real-world problems.

But the bigger point here is that we don’t need any new laws. As I’ve written, criminal intimidation (Section 423) and criminal mischief (Section 430) already give the police all the tools they need to prosecute the criminal behavior we’re talking about. As the past couple of years have shown us, police forces - and their political masters - just prefer not to enforce those laws. There’s nothing in this government communication that offers to change that.

• “Working with provinces and territories to identify ways to improve the criminal justice system responses to hate crimes, including those motivated by antisemitism.”

This isn't rocket science. See a crowd of people covering their faces, waving Hamas flags, engaging without a permit in a noisy demonstration, and blocking all or some drivers and pedestrians from accessing their schools, homes, workplaces, or lawful activities? The Criminal Code provides clear guidance.

Yes there can sometimes be valid strategic considerations that impose constraints. But there's never any excuse to repeatedly expose innocent citizens to criminal intimidation without at the very least offering unambiguous messaging explaining who are and are not on the right side of the law.

By contrast, Toronto Police Services recently had to formally apologize for officially portraying Muslims as the true victims of Hamas’ October 7 massacre of Israelis. And even the retraction was only extracted under pressure.

• “Delivering $1.4 million in new funding for 7 new initiatives through the National Holocaust Remembrance Program.”

I don’t personally believe that Holocaust education ever reduced Jew hatred on a meaningful scale. And I think classroom-based Holocaust curricula are both counter-productive and deeply harmful when the teachers and administrators tasked with delivering or enabling them are hostile to Jews and Israel. The Toronto District School Board is an excellent example: would the educators and organizers responsible for that official school trip to an anti-Israel demonstration be suitable for teaching about the Holocaust?

Don’t get me wrong, the Holocaust is seared in my soul. My parents lost family and I grew up in the 60’s surrounded by still-traumatized survivors displaying an alarming range of raw physical and psychological wounds. The slaughter is a stain on human history.

But it’s not useful - or appropriate - as a tool for social engineering.

Having said all that, I’m completely on board with this commitment:

• “Ensuring that transfer payments are designed, delivered and managed with integrity, accountability and transparency, and that recipients of government funding respect the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

…I just have limited confidence that the government has the required ability and enthusiasm to make sure it happens.