32 Liberal MPs Sign Letter Calling for Safety of Jewish People in Canada

Thirty-two Liberal MPs have issued a statement to condemn the rise of anti-Semitism in Canada, after the latest attack last week saw a Jewish woman stabbed in an Ottawa grocery store.

The MPs, among whom are a few current and former cabinet ministers, said Jewish Canadians have the right to feel safe in the country but currently there is a “deep sense of unease, fear and unsafety” among many of them.

The signatories noted that while Jews represent slightly more than 1 percent of the population, they are the victims of 70 percent of religious-based acts of hate. The 2021 Census documented 335,295 Jews living in Canada, whereas there were 920 police-reported hate crimes targeting Jews in 2024, according to Statistics Canada.

“This spreading hate is a call to action for all Canadians, all levels of government, law enforcement, schools, public institutions and places of work,” said the Liberal MPs in the Aug. 31 statement, signed by cabinet ministers Evan Solomon, Julie Dabrusin, and Rebecca Alty.

Yearly police-reported hate crimes against Jews nearly doubled after terrorist group Hamas conducted raids inside Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to Israeli retaliation that continues to this day.

The latest major incident took place in Ottawa on Aug. 27 when a 71-year-old man stabbed an elderly woman who was shopping at a Loblaws store. Police said the attack was unprovoked and is being considered a hate-motivated crime. The man has been charged with aggravated assault and possessing a dangerous weapon.

The Liberal MPs said that three years ago such an event would have been “shocking,” yet today anti-Semitism is becoming “normalized” as attacks against Jewish institutions and businesses have become a common occurrence. Recent years have seen multiple incidents of shootings and arsons targeting Jewish-owned or -run places.

The National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa was also vandalized with red paint by a City of Ottawa lawyer in June. Iain Aspenlieder, since let go by the city, had written “FEED ME” on the memorial in large letters with red paint. He pleaded guilty to one count of mischief over $5,000 in July.

Reactions

The statement by 32 Liberal MPs was welcomed by both praise and criticism on the X platform.

“A very important and meaningful step of solidarity with the Jewish community!” said Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed.

Deputy Tory Leader Melissa Lantsman, who is Jewish, remarked that only 32 Liberal MPs out of a caucus of 169 members signed the statement. “The rest don’t see a problem — or see votes,” she said. “After 10 years of power, your plea to ’the government’ is pathetic. You are the government.”

Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith called the MPs’ statement “too little too late,” with only 18 percent of the government caucus supporting it, and said that actions are needed and not only condemnation. “Jews are being attacked in the streets. What we need are actions that move the needle, and we need them now,” the group said.

Some actions are being planned by the government to deal with the rise of social tensions in recent years.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said in June that his government would table legislation on creating new Criminal Code provisions against the blocking of access to places of worship, schools, and community centres. The legislation would also make it illegal to intimidate or threaten people attending these places.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, a statement signatory who is Jewish, responded to criticism about the low number of MPs who signed it. He said the fact that only 32 MPs signed doesn’t mean that others didn’t want to participate.

“The letter was drafted and signatures gathered over 24 hours on a holiday weekend,” he said. “Originally it was going to be from Jewish caucus and then we asked some others. Virtually everyone who was asked signed on and others have when they saw it today.”

Palestinian Statehood

Housefather, during the previous Parliament, had pondered his future with the Liberals given his party’s stance on some questions related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, such as a vote in support of an NDP motion in the House of Commons to recognize Palestinian statehood. Housefather was one of three Liberal MPs who voted against the motion in 2024.

The Liberal Party under the new leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to advance this move by recognizing Palestine during the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month. Around three quarters of U.N. member states recognize Palestinian statehood, whereas currently no G7 country does.

Carney made the announcement in late July, following in the footsteps of France and the United Kingdom, saying that “any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state.”

Carney said his intention to recognize Palestinian statehood is “predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms.” The Palestinian Authority rules over the West Bank whereas Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Neither territory has held elections in nearly two decades.

Israel and the United States have condemned the plan by Canada and other Western countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, saying it rewards Hamas. The U.S. State Department said last week that it will not issue visas to Palestinian officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

The two entities need to “repudiate terrorism” and end “incitement to terrorism in education,” the U.S. State Department said in a press release on Aug. 29. It also said the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to secure a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state are contributing to Hamas’s refusal to release Israeli hostages and to the breakdown of Gaza ceasefire talks.

The Palestinian Authority has called for a reversal of the visa decision, saying it will “only increase tension and escalation.”

The Canadian Press and The Associated Press contributed to this report.