Canada Appoints New Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism

Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons delivers a statement during the 2020 Afghanistan donor conference hosted by the United Nations in Geneva on Nov. 24, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Amid Israel’s ongoing response in the wake of attacks by the Hamas terrorist group, Canada has appointed Deborah Lyons as Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.

“My appointment to this role comes, as you all know, at the most critical point and time. I could not have imagined the brutality of the Hamas attack on Israelis, nor the antisemitism across the globe that followed these horrific attacks,” Ms. Lyons told an audience in Ottawa on Oct. 16.

“After the recent events, therefore, I stand before you even more committed to preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism. And know that although we might each feel alone in this pain and misery and we might wonder about the way forward, know that there is only one pathway, ... and that is for all Canadians to come together.”

Ms. Lyons most recently served as special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for Afghanistan and was head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that position, she served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 2016 to 2020, and to Afghanistan from 2013 to 2016.

The federal government created the position of Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism back in November 2020. The special envoy works alongside the minister of foreign affairs, minister of diversity and inclusion and youth, and “other implicated ministers” to inform the Canadian government’s policy and programming.

Ms. Lyons said that in her new role, she will work with communities across Canada, including universities, to promote and support “extensive efforts” on antisemitism education. She will also work to highlight the “many magnificent contributions” of Canada’s Jewish community.

“And we will be working very hard with the major corporations and governments everywhere to address the online antisemitism,” Ms. Lyons said. “We will also be stressing the need for accurate data collection, for evidence-based decision-making and programs. I don’t want anyone to tell me that we don’t have the data and that this is not real.”

‘Shadow’ of Hamas Attack 

Irwin Cotler, who was Canada’s first appointee to this special envoy position back in November 2020, told the audience that he was “delighted” Ms. Lyons is taking over the role. He said that given her past experience as Canada’s ambassador to Israel, she had been on the “front lines.”

“I could not be happier because I’ve been trying for 18 months to have Deborah Lyons take over. She is the best person, not only to succeed me, but the best person to be in this role, to be in this position of leadership. The right person in the right place at the right time,” he said.

Mr. Cotler said Ms. Lyons’s appointment was especially important in the “shadow” of the events of Oct. 7, which he called “one of the worst days, if not the worst day, in Jewish history since the Holocaust.”

On that day, armed militants from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel from the air, land, and sea. The attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis to date, 199 abducted Israelis whose families have been notified, and over 6,000 rockets fired at Israel, according to the official Israel Defence Forces daily update of Oct. 16.

Liberal MP and parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs Pam Damoff told the audience that in each of her roles, Ms. Lyons had demonstrated a “deep commitment to the values that we as Canadians hold dear.”

Ms. Damoff said that in her new role, Ms. Lyons would lead Canada’s engagement with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), working to “strengthen global efforts to fight the scourge of antisemitism.”

The IHRA is an intergovernmental organization of 35 countries dedicated to supporting Holocaust education, research, and remembrance in member countries and around the world. Canada became a full member of the IHRA in 2009.

Ms. Damoff added that the “unacceptable rise in antisemitism,” Holocaust distortion and denial, and accompanying conspiracy theories around the world are eroding trust in institutions and that the Canadian government is “extremely concerned.”

“We know all too well that this can lead to violence. And let me be clear, no person or group should ever be subjected to hatred, discrimination, or prejudice,” she said.