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: