Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, Prime Minister Trudeau's special adviser on antisemitism and Jewish community issues, said he said yes to Trudeau when offered the position, "because you are re doing a very bad job," of this. Housefather, an MP from Montreal, who spoke before a crowd of about 150 people at Etz Chayim Synagogue took on this role after he briefly considered leaving the Liberal party after the government voted to stop military aid to Israel (He and MP Ben Carr and another Liberal MP were the only three Liberals who voted against this measure)
Housefather spoke of needing "bubble legislation" at the municipal level which would mean protesters cannot be allowed within 25 meters (for example)of a community centre. He noted that Pro-Palestinian protests outside a Jewish community centre or synagogues, are “anti-semitic” as diaspora Jews do not set Israeli policy and ought not to be harassed outside of their community institutions. This bubble legislation would be valuable in ensuring safety and in not allowing for intimidation and harassment, he said .
Regarding university campuses, in addition to not allowing encampments, universities ought not to tolerate "hateful speech," according to Housefather. Hateful speech casts a wider net than hate speech under the criminal code, which is narrowly defined. Housefather also said that Equity, Diversity and Inclusion officers at universities must include Jews as a protected group, as Jews are the target of discrimination. He added that professors ought not to be allowed to give out grades based on a student's view on Israel. Housefather added that one issue that continues to need attentions is the fact that Universities need a proper complaint process, and need to set up a standardized complaint system. But he noted that this would be under the jurisdiction of the provinces. (Housefather also indicated that he and Ben Carr and others were on the parliamentary committee that interfaced with Presidents of Universities about antisemitism on campuses). He said "Universities need to be following their own codes of conduct."
Housefather said he believes “8-10 percent of the country is antisemitic" but this vocal minority is having an effect on discourse in Canada. He explained that he is an advocate of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and "wants to convince" universities to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and he said he thinks this could happen if several universities adopted this as a group at the same time.
On the subject of hate crime prosecutions, Hosuefather said that there needs to be "specific hate crime prosecutors" who have expertise in this area. He spoke of incidents where the police have not been doing anything against demonstrators who are violating the law. According to Housefather, Jews are only 1.2 % of the Canadian population but are the targets of over 50% of hate crimes.
Housefather said that he had worked to make sure that Samidoun was recognized as a terror group in Canada, which was done in conjunction with the United States recognizing this as well. He said work had been done "to ensure our intelligence services had enough grounds to list them as a terror group."
He also made reference to the fact that there has been more funding for upgrades in security, such that Jewish community institutions can receive better security under the federal program in this regard.
Housefather who says he is "a centrist" and that "there are eight and a half Jews in the Liberal Caucus outlined why he remained in the Liberal party."We need people in our caucus in the Liberal party" to advocate for Jewish community issues and Israel, as if not "then we'll become like the NDP." He indicated he remained in the Liberal party to "fight the good fight."
Housefather said that "Zionism is a simple belief that Jews have the right to a state within our indigenous territory." he said he is of the view that Canadians need to support Israel because it is the best democracy "in the whole region."
He also indicated that he we need to have Jews counted in the questionaire/survey pertaining to the Federal Public Service to "know if there is systemic discrimination of Jews in the Federal Public Service.”
Housefather said Jews "were somewhat spoiled" as we "felt included" in Canada, but there needs to be "moral clarity" in all parties to see antisemitism as a threat to all Canadians. We need "non-Jewish leaders" to speak up on this issue.
Regarding the antisemitic claim that "Jews control the world," Housefather joked that “there is no point in having elections if Jews control the world.”
He noted that antisemitism in Canada, is being fuelled by bots (software programs that perform automated tasks) from Russia, China and Iran, all of whom have a role “in creating dissension in North America.”
Housefather was introduced by MP for Winnipeg South Centre Ben Carr and there was a fireside chat between him and Rabbi Kliel Rose. While in Winnipeg Housefather also spoke at the Shaarey Zedek synagogue, and at Gray Academy of Jewish Education and met with Jewish university students.