CAEF Grades Prime Minister Carney’s Address to Jewish Canadians as D+

For Immediate Release

Jun 2, 2026

Statement on Prime Minister Carney’s Announcement on Antisemitism

Holy Blossom Temple, June 1, 2026

Prime Minister Carney set up a new equality and inclusion council tasked with confronting antisemitism as its first priority.  One of the appointees is Omar Alghabra.  Here he is, right at home with the “Palestine” squad, and with his buddy Firas Al-Najim, who is famous for picketing synagogues and old folks homes.

It could have been worse.

Mr. Carney could have appointed Yves Engler (who today called the Holy Blossom Temple a “bastion of Jewish supremacy”), Daniela Bonamico (of the Gaza Mediterranean Cruise and Bathurst & Sheppard infamy), and Rabbi David Mivasair (who calls antisemitism in Canada “a totally fabricated issue”) to this worthy new council.

It could have been worse.

The Prime Minister’s press release says that: “The Government of Canada reaffirms the importance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which Canada adopted in 2019 as part of its Anti-Racism Strategy. In 2024, the government published the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism to help Canadians understand and apply the definition.”

We appreciate that Mr. Carney didn’t cancel Canada’s adoption of the IHRA Working Definition or withdraw the Handbook.  This way, the Government of Canada still officially knows what antisemitism is, even if some provincially regulated school boards and professional regulatory bodies, such as the Ontario College of Teachers, get hopelessly confused about what antisemitism looks like every now and again.

It could have been worse.

The Prime Minister told us that Canada has failed its Jewish community.  That was the understatement of the year.  He promised to study the issue, with the help of this committee, and collect some data.  He also bragged about throwing $36 million at a “Center for Community Engagement” and a $75 million partial rebate to Jewish institutions for the hundreds of millions of extra security costs imposed on them in dealing with the ever-present threat of midnight shooters, or worse.  He also bragged about Bill C-9 which might help somewhat for hate-motivated crimes and the hate mobs targeting synagogues and seniors residences, but which still doesn’t address the problem of (a) hate criminals being eligible for absolute or conditional discharges that carry no criminal record, or (b) advocating terrorism, incredibly, still being legal.

It could have been worse.

Mr. Carney displayed the minimum of moral clarity to recognize that Jewish Canadians should not lose their jobs or be purged from their professions on account of what the government of the State of Israel does or does not do.  Where that moral clarity ended was with Jewish Canadians who have the temerity to actually support the State of Israel as it fights for its survival against enemies who would perpetrate the October 7 atrocities again and again if given the chance.  When it comes to upholding the rights of Jewish Canadians to be open publicly and proudly Zionist, as a core element of their identity as Jews, suddenly Mr. Carney goes wishy-washy.

Summary

CAEF commends the Prime Minister for making a nice speech, demonstrating awareness that antisemitism has become a problem in Canada, creating a committee (of questionable membership) to reassess and develop something, and throwing around some taxpayer money.

It could have been better – a whole lot better

D+

Contact: Andria Spindel, Executive Director, CAEF andria@caef.ca 416-409-3822