Parliamentary committee examines anti-Semitism in Canada
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Photograph by: Julie Oliver, Ottawa Citizen, Scott Reid, Conservative MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, is vice-chair of a parliamentary inquiry that began Monday into anti-Semitism.
OTTAWA — A group of federal MPs and senators began a parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism Monday, saying there has been a global resurgence and they want to find out where Canada fits into the picture.
The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat anti-Semitism says it will hear from police investigators, academics and international experts as it probes why Jews both at home and abroad are being targeted.
The first group of witnesses, who appeared at hearings Monday to present a global perspective, included Denis MacShane, a British Labour MP who chaired parliamentary hearings into anti-Semitism in London in 2005.
"We want Canadians to learn from the experience of other countries that are fighting to eliminate anti-Semitism," said Conservative MP Scott Reid, vice-chairman of the inquiry.
"The phenomenon seems once again to be on the rise and this panel of international experts will help us to determine to what extent Canada is in danger of experiencing the same thing."
MacShane contends that anti-Semitism is a resurfacing global problem that demands a united response.
The inquiry has also invited 25 Canadian university presidents to testify later this month "in an effort to better understand the phenomenon of campus anti-Semitism in Canada," the coalition said in a news release.
The parliamentary coalition includes MPs and senators, both Jewish and non-Jewish, from all political parties. The group will issue a report after hearings which conclude in December.
The inquiry got off the ground following an international conference on anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom earlier this year.
The Jewish advocacy group B'nai Birth reported earlier this year in its annual report that there were 1,135 anti-semitic incidents in Canada in 2008, the highest number recorded since the yearly audit began 27 years ago. There were 803 cases of harassment, 318 of vandalism and 14 of violence.
The report blamed the increase on the economic recession —which prompted disgruntled citizens to seek scapegoats for their personal problems.
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