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Hello everyone.

Thank you Bardish for your kind words and for your leadership. It’s been an honour to work alongside you every day to build a better Canada and I look forward to much more work to do together into the future.

Special Envoy Cotler, leaders and members of Canada’s Jewish communities, politicians of different stripes, and everyone joining us – thank you for being here.

Today’s Summit is important, it’s necessary, and I’m glad we can all come together to discuss and identify how we can move the dial on combatting antisemitism.

Before I begin, I want to say a few words about my friend Rabbi Reuven Bulka who passed away recently.

With his kindness, optimism, and devotion, he encouraged people to ask themselves: what can we do to make the world a better place? Certainly his legacy will include the national Kindness Week here in Canada, but today and every day, let’s be inspired by his memory as we work to build a more inclusive Canada. And may his memory be a blessing.  

As you know, over the last few weeks, I’ve visited several communities across the country to talk about our post-pandemic recovery.

Everywhere I go, I share our team’s vision for rebuilding a Canada that is stronger than ever before.

A Canada with a prosperous economy.

A Canada that protects the environment.

And a Canada where everyone is respected and safe.

Today, we’re here to continue to fight – and reject – antisemitism in all of its forms.  

The rise in hate-motivated crimes against the Jewish community in the past few months is not only alarming, it’s completely unacceptable.

As Jewish Canadians, too many of you have told me you’re feeling isolated and vulnerable.

You’ve shared that this spike in violence, and this harassment, has left people in fear to publicly and proudly live Jewish lives.

Every Canadian deserves to be – and feel – safe.

And I want to reassure you that our government will always stand with you against this hate.

When someone in our country is attacked because of where they come from, their religion, or the colour of their skin, it affects all of us.

The rise in hate-motivated crimes concerns everyone.

And we’ll always be there to fight antisemitism in Canada, and around the world.

No Canadian should ever fear to practise their religion.

Of course, good intentions are not enough.

We’ve seen the rise recently in antisemitism, but it wasn’t zero before.

We have seen over the past months, years, and decades the reminder that antisemitism persists and is pernicious.

That’s why good intentions are not enough to counter them.

That’s why we have fought, and will continue to fight hatred and division in our country.

As you know, we adopted the working definition of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). And we will continue to firmly defend it.

In line with our commitment to promote and defend pluralism, inclusion, and human rights, we also appointed Irwin Cotler to advance Holocaust education, to preserve the stories of survivors through younger generations, and combat antisemitism, among other responsibilities.

And we’re not stopping there.

Earlier this year, we listed additional far-right extremist groups as terrorist entities. This will help police forces stop these groups’ dangerous activities.

In recent years, we also quadrupled funding for the Security Infrastructure Program to help protect communities at risk.

In fact just this morning, we announced that 149 projects representing over $6.4 million have been recommended for development.

This is the largest investment for a given year in the history of the program. And it will enhance the security of many synagogues, Jewish schools, and community institutions across the country.

With the right investments, we will keep people safe.

I remember back in February, when I spoke to Rabbi Adam Scheier whose synagogue in Montréal had been vandalized with hateful graffiti.

My friend Adam told me about the cameras that were installed with the help of this program, through which the security guard was able to catch the perpetrator quickly before he could do even more harm.

All these measures make a real difference in our fight against antisemitism.

But frankly, in an ideal world, we shouldn’t need programs like this. Because in an ideal world, there wouldn’t be any antisemitism or acts of hatred or vandalism or criminal intent.

So yes, we need to continue to do more as a government, but we also need to have this conversation as a society.

And that’s why we’re here today.

Because antisemitism isn’t a problem for the Jewish community to solve alone – it’s up to everyone to take on this challenge.

We know that these past months have been difficult, particularly with the distress and tension caused by the conflict in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

Canada stands firm in its support for Israel’s right to live in peace with its neighbours within secure boundaries, and for Israel’s right to defend itself.

We condemn the indiscriminate barrage of rocket attacks fired by Hamas into populated areas of Israel, putting civilians and children at risk.

We remain committed to supporting progress towards a two-state solution, and continue to oppose unilateral actions that jeopardize the prospects for peace. And we will stand firmly with the Israeli and Palestinian peoples in their right to live in peace and security, and with their human rights respected.

The implications of the conflict also reverberated around the world with an unacceptable spike in antisemitism, including here in Canada.

In June, Special Envoy Cotler led Canada’s delegation at the IHRA Athens Plenary. He worked with partners to garner unanimous support for a statement on the increase in antisemitic violence and hate speech stemming from the violence between Hamas and Israel.

Earlier this month, Minister Garneau made an official visit to Israel, and I recently spoke with the new Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, as well as with Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

I was pleased but not surprised by how warm and constructive these conversations were.

We discussed our common goal to build on Canada and Israel’s long history as close friends and allies, based on our shared democratic values and the many ways in which our countries can work more closely together, including on combatting antisemitism all around the world.

While we sincerely hope to end antisemitism once and for all, today’s conversation will not be the last.

We’ll be there to fight online hatred and radicalization.

We’ll continue to work with our provincial and municipal partners.

And we’ll always listen to Jewish communities across Canada.

Because we’re stronger together.

My friends, the progress we’ve made as a country didn’t happen by accident, and it won’t continue without effort.

Our government will always stand with and support the Jewish community.

Today, we’re here to listen.

And we’re ready always to do the work needed and to continue taking action.

Together, I know that we will build a better Canada, a Canada where everyone is safe, no matter who they are, and no matter where they live. A Canada where every Canadian is part, an active part, of standing against intolerance and hatred in all its forms.

Thank you. It’s now my pleasure to turn it over to Karina Gould, who will introduce Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, Irwin Cotler.