Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a council to combat antisemitism in Canada, to be chaired by Montreal MP Marc Miller.

Speaking from Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto on Monday evening, Carney asserted the crisis of antisemitism in Canada is “specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response.”

Across Canada — including Montreal — synagogues have been firebombed, Jewish schools hit with bullets, and Jewish community centres attacked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.

In his speech, Carney announced several new measures to combat antisemitism, including Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act. He also announced Canada’s new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion, to be chaired by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Marc Miller, who serves as MP for Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs.

“The council has a clear mission to combat racism and hate in all their forms, and to guide the Government of Canada as part of our efforts to build a fairer, more just, more inclusive society,” Carney said.

When Miller served as federal Immigration Minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, pro-Palestinian activists called for his resignation and regularly held sit-ins outside his office to protest the death of a Montreal resident’s 13-year-old daughter, who died in the Gaza Strip waiting for permission to come to Canada.

Mandate of the council

The prime minister directs that the first responsibility of the council is to address antisemitism from four directions: the council will first assess the nature, the scale, and the drivers of antisemitism in Canada, including across public institutions, workplaces, campuses, public services, professional bodies, and online spaces. 

“These are the places where the habits of civic life are formed, and where, if those habits fracture, the fracture quickly spreads,” he said.

Carney added the council will co-ordinate a “whole of government approach to antisemitism,” ensuring that federal workplaces, federal policies, federal public safety programs, and community initiatives are aligned in protecting Jewish Canadians confronting hate and promoting inclusion.

It will also improve research in the collection of data on hate incidents, so all orders of government and all police services are working from the same facts. The council is also directed to measure the impact of the government’s efforts.

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