NDP statement on Jewish Heritage Month

QUEEN’S PARK—Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles (Davenport) and MPPs Jill Andrew (Toronto-St. Paul’s, critic for Culture and Heritage) and Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre), critic for Anti-Racism and Equity), made the following statement to mark Ontario’s Jewish Heritage Month:

“Jewish Heritage Month is a chance to honour Jewish culture and history in Ontario, and to take an unequivocal stand against the rising threat of antisemitism.

Disturbingly, antisemitism is on the rise, with reported hate crimes against Jewish people in Canada growing in recent years. As political leaders, we must be vigilant in denouncing anti-Semitism in every instance and form, ensuring this pernicious hatred has no place in Ontario. We must ensure Jewish people everywhere in Ontario feel safe.

By understanding our collective history, we can better prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated. As leaders in Ontario’s Official Opposition, we are committed to fighting for policies and laws that protect Jewish communities and institutions and promote education about antisemitism—what it looks and sounds like, and how it has manifested in Ontario and Canada—and the Holocaust.

The Ontario NDP is strongly urging the provincial government to:

• Fully fund the Anti-Racism Secretariat
• Implement a province-wide anti-racism strategy to tackle the alarming rise in antisemitism
• Establish an Ontario Anti-Racism Advisory and Advocacy Council that meets regularly with the minister responsible for anti-racism
• Erect a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of Queen’s Park to ensure the atrocities of the Holocaust are never forgotten
• Implement an anti-racism strategy in schools and post-secondary that addresses and fights all forms of systemic racism, including antisemitism
• Provide funding to assist religious centres and places of worship like synagogues with security costs, including cameras and the hiring of security guards

We honour the vital cultural, economic and social contributions the Jewish community has made to our province, including a longstanding history in Canada’s labour movement, wherein Jewish people have fought for social justice, workers’ rights and against discrimination. In 1947, the Jewish Labour Committee passed the first anti-discrimination resolution at the Canadian Congress of Labour. The motion called for strong action in ‘the fight for full equality for all peoples, regardless of race, colour, creed or national origin.’

We acknowledge the diverse, vibrant Jewish communities that exist in Ontario today, including Black Jewish community members and 2SLGBTQIA+ Jewish community members.

We celebrate Ontarians of Jewish heritage and commit to calling out growing antisemitism and hate across Ontario. We were proud to work with Jewish community members to help make their calls heard for mandatory Holocaust education in our province's schools. We must encourage ongoing education about antisemitism and the Holocaust, to ensure that the horrors of the past are never again repeated.”