November 18, 2021
Hon. Marc Garneau Member of Parliament
House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Garneau;
Recently the students and several members of the teaching staff at the Toronto school in your name, Marc Garneau Collegiate, have engaged in distinctly antisemitic activities and continue to post horrendous lies about the Jewish state and to intimidate Jews.
We draw your attention to this and urge you to speak up on behalf of the government which has condemned BDS as antisemitic, condemned Israel Apartheid Week as antisemitic, and adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. We urge that you consider requesting your name be removed from this school given the level of hateful Jew hatred on display.
The school administration has not come out condemning this behaviour but may have facilitated it as it took place on a school day during school hours. The Toronto District School Board has also not condemned it nor has the City of Toronto Mayor and Council, so it suggests that antisemitism is normalized and acceptable in our community. This is VERY dangerous and totally unacceptable for Jews and non Jews.
Mr. Garneau, this should get your attention for this is Canada and the presentation of hate and lies on our streets is a significant danger signal. Your name is associated with an ancient hatred and you must demand action.
Here is a link to some of the worst tweets and a TDSB letter that attempts to mollify the situation but in our view does little and supports more lies.
See message below calling for destruction of Israel.
Thanks for acting now to stop hatred before it escalates.
Regards,
Andria Spindel,
Executive Director
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation
PO Box 77598 Sheppard Plaza PO
Toronto, ON
M3H 6A7