MPs Call for Anti-Hate Task Force to Safeguard Religious Freedoms

Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 19, 2022. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

A government committee is asking cabinet to establish a federal task force to protect religious freedoms so Canadians can worship and attend religious institutions without fear.

The Commons justice committee, in a Dec. 6 report to Parliament, recommended the creation of an anti-hate crime task force “to coordinate the protection of faith communities.”

Canadians should be able to attend a Hebrew school or menorah lighting without being harassed, Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman told the committee, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“There is a timeliness to all of this,” said Ms. Lantsman, who is Jewish. “All of those who are going to attend afternoon prayers or church during the holidays, I want them to know Ottawa is talking about how to keep those institutions safe.”

The committee’s report, “Measures to Protect Canadians,” also recommended that cabinet designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code, “expel the estimated 700 Iranian agents operating in Canada,” and establish a public registry of foreign agents.

“A lot of these things are things we all agree on,” said Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, adding that local police “often do not know how to deal properly” with incidents like anti-Semitic street protests.

Mr. Housefather, who is also Jewish, said he was recently in a building that had a Molotov cocktail thrown at it just an hour-and-a-half later.

“I understand how communities throughout this country are terrorized, are afraid,” the Montreal MP said. “I have people in my riding who are afraid to send their kids to school.”

A series of anti-Semitic incidents across country since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel were documented in the justice committee’s report.

The report follows a number of incidents in Canada including gunfire outside a Jewish home in Winnipeg, street protests targeting Jewish shopkeepers in Toronto, and the attempted firebombing of Jewish kindergartens and synagogues in Montreal.

Conservative MP Rob Moore called the acts “shameful.”

“Verbal abuse, vandalism, hate, intimidation, and violence acts—these acts must never stand in our country,” Mr. Moore said. “In recent years we have seen communities face intimidation and threats by nefarious foreign actors.”

He said the Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities have all been victimized.

Anti-Semitic acts have surged in Canada since Oct. 7 when terror group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. The conflict has so far claimed eight Canadian lives. In response, Israeli forces conducted a seven-week bombardment of the Gaza region, where Hamas is based.

Since then, multiple attacks and threats have targeted Jewish communities in Canada. Incidents include the firebombing of a synagogue and a Jewish community centre in Quebec on Nov. 7. Subsequently, two Jewish schools in Montreal were hit by gunshots on Nov. 9, while on Nov. 17, a Toronto private Jewish high school and a nearby daycare were evacuated following a reported bomb threat. None of the incidents resulted in injuries.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.