ICYMI – Jack Jedwab: Antisemitism flies in the face of Canadian multiculturalism

2026/07/03 Leave a comment

Agreed:

…“Outside Israel, Canada has one of the highest proportions of Holocaust survivors in the world — part of a community that has made a profound mark on this country. When that history is treated as expendable, Jewish belonging becomes easier to question as well. For that reason, Canadian Multiculturalism Day should be an occasion not only to celebrate diversity, but also to recognize the challenges multiculturalism faces when prejudice is rationalized, historical memory is minimized, or minority communities are made vulnerable by conflicts beyond Canada’s borders.

That is why it is important to guard against those who would appropriate Canadian Multiculturalism Day in support of political agendas. A day meant to celebrate pluralism and strengthen mutual respect should not be turned into an occasion for advancing political narratives that decontextualize history or invite Canadians to view one community through the grievances of another. Multiculturalism is not served by selective memory, nor by historical accounts that intensify suspicion and fuel resentment. Ideally its objective should be to reduce intercultural tension, not to exacerbate it.”

Source: Jack Jedwab: Antisemitism flies in the face of Canadian multiculturalism

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Canada’s mosaic is holding strong

2026/07/02 Leave a comment

Encouraging:

…Perhaps the most reassuring finding – appropriate as we mark Canada Day – is that most Canadians, regardless of their race or religion, identify with and feel a sense of belonging to the country. Certainly, some facets of identity are more important to some than to others. Race is more likely to be very important to the sense of identity of Black Canadians, religion to Muslim Canadians, and language to francophones. But these tend to co-exist with, and not compete with, a common sense of being Canadian. Only a handful of Canadians cherish an aspect of their heritage – such as their race or religion – without also identifying with Canada. 

Let’s be clear: No one is suggesting we all agree. There’s plenty for Canadians to argue about, from energy policy, to foreign policy, to challenging moral issues like assisted dying. And thank goodness for that: the whole point of living in a free and democratic society is that we get to shout our dissent from the rooftops. It’s not uniform thinking we’re after at all, but a willingness to work together to find compromises durable enough to get us from today to tomorrow. 

Our disagreements, however, are typically about our opinions, and not who we are: we do not say “yea” or “nay” just by looking at where someone was born, what they look like, or whether they pray every day or, like many Canadians, only during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Our disagreements are within communities, not between them. There are conservatives and liberals among new immigrants, among Quebeckers whose families have been here since the days of New France, and among Albertans working in the oil fields. That’s all part of the mosaic too. 

The beauty is in the arrangement, not the blending. Happy Canada Day.

Source: Canada’s mosaic is holding strong

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Counterpoint: The Muslim Association of Canada’s recent conference was about faith and community

2026/07/02 2 Comments

Valid critique of some of the Postmedia reporting and commentary:

…There are 50 entries visible in the word cloud. The three words that dominate the image, rendered in the largest fonts because word clouds scale by frequency, are “United,” “Justice” and “Strong.” Those were the words Canadian Muslim youth chose most. Below them, in slightly smaller font, sits words such as “Peace,” “Equality,” “Equity,” “Freedom,” “Safety,” “Diverse,” “Supportive” and “Impactful.” These are the words of a generation thinking seriously about how to contribute to this country.

One of the entries, the one that has triggered conversation on social media, was “Jew free.” The facilitator did not notice it. A Juno News contributor was present at the convention. The photograph was taken by Juno News. Juno News did not call it out at the moment, when there was an opportunity to do so. Juno News then published it, leading to public controversy.

The phrase “Jew free” is offensive and hurtful to Jewish Canadians, to Muslim Canadians, and to anyone committed to a pluralistic society. Neither MAC nor the Muslim community should be defined by an anonymous submission to an open platform, but we will always name hatred for what it is.

For greater clarity, the phrase is unequivocally against Islamic teachings and, as such, it does not represent the values of the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), the values taught at our convention or the values of Canadian Muslims. It is also worth stating something that should be obvious but has been obscured in this coverage: antisemitism and Islamophobia are not competing hatreds. They often travel together. Any organization genuinely committed to combating hate understands that you cannot separate them. MAC understands this all too well.

This is not the only misrepresentation of the convention, as we see it. Sessions of the convention were recorded, clipped and stripped of context. Specific remarks by speakers that directly contradict the narrative being constructed were not reported. For example, in one session, a speaker demonstrated a platform that helps citizens draft letters to elected representatives. The session was then framed as something threatening. The tool the speaker demonstrated is functionally identical to what environmental organizations, labour unions and faith-based advocacy groups across the political spectrum use every day, but apparently becomes sinister when Muslims use it….

Source: Counterpoint: The Muslim Association of Canada’s recent conference was about faith and community

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Canadian Museum for Human Rights made ‘error’ in Nakba exhibit presentation, minister says, Others defend as site for solidarity

2026/07/02 2 Comments

Of note:

Heritage Minister Marc Miller said Monday the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg made “an error” in its presentation of an exhibit about displaced Palestinians.

In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, Mr. Miller said the museum should change how it portrays the current conflict between Israel and Palestinians and update the museum’s oversight.

“It isn’t up to me to speak to, or insert myself in, the curation of any particular exhibit. But manifestly, you cannot deny the fact that this is an exhibit that is born in controversy – and perhaps some of it could have been avoided,” Mr. Miller said.

The museum says it is collecting feedback but is defending its phrasing in the exhibit.

In an interview Monday, Mr. Miller said he visited the Winnipeg museum Thursday morning and was troubled by how the exhibit portrayed the conflict that started in October, 2023.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Palestinian militants from Hamas – which Canada has listed as a terrorist entity for more than two decades – and its partners killed 1,200 civilians and soldiers in Israel. That attack prompted Israel to bombard the Gaza Strip in a relentless war that has killed roughly 73,000 people in the territory, according to data sourced in part from Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Mr. Miller said there are flaws in the museum exhibit that should be addressed.

“There are some words in there that are regrettable. Not identifying Hamas as a terrorist organization is, I think, a failure. And not clearly stating that, for example, Hamas intended to kill Jews is, I think, an unfortunate error in curation and should be rectified,” Mr. Miller said.

The exhibit, which opened to the public Saturday, focuses on the Nakba – Arabic for catastrophe – the forcible displacement of about 750,000 Palestinians from the region during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Museum spokeswoman Amanda Gaudes said Mr. Miller’s office has shared his concerns and they will be part of “an established content revision process.”…

Source: Canadian Museum for Human Rights made ‘error’ in Nakba exhibit presentation, minister says

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Nakba exhibit can serve as a site for solidarity

…The exhibit’s historic opening was an occasion for people from the Palestinian and Jewish communities in Canada to convene. There were many shared meals and receptions in the museum, Winnipeg restaurants and local community halls where Nakba and Holocaust survivors and their descendants broke bread together.

Having seen the exhibit and the processes behind its creation, the opening of this exhibit in a major human rights institution feels historic. It is a breakthrough for challenging the Palestine exception, and a stepping stone to deepening solidarity across difference.

To that end, all Canadians owe a debt of gratitude and respect to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for sharing this exhibit. It may have been difficult, but it validates Palestinian experiences, and, in so doing, reaffirms the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Source: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Nakba exhibit can serve as a site for solidarity

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Happy Canada Day, Bonne fête du Canada

2026/07/01 Leave a comment

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Isak | Moving to Canada was hard. It often wore me down. This gesture changed things

2026/06/30 2 Comments

In contrast to MP Jivani’s proposed elimination of all such months. As noted earlier, unlikely to fly politically even among most conservative voters:

…Imagine a July when their city marks Somali Heritage Month — when the story of their parents is told not as a tragedy survived but as a contribution made. It tells a child they do not have to choose between being Somali and being Canadian, and that the room they walked into is theirs too.

A month in the calendar will not pay anyone’s rent or open the jobs that stay closed to so many of us. Recognition is not the same as justice. But do not underestimate what it means for people to hear their name spoken with pride in the place they now call home. To those who spent years feeling invisible, it can feel like being handed back your own reflection.

I still remember walking off that field in Etobicoke that warm June day, feeling lighter than I had when I arrived. A heritage month would stretch that sense of belonging across a whole country — a month in which a boy, who once watched his city burn, could stand in Toronto and hear his people’s name said proudly, and out loud.

Source: Opinion | Moving to Canada was hard. It often wore me down. This gesture changed things

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StatsCan: Portrait of the Latin American populations in Canada

2026/06/30 Leave a comment

Another useful profile or portrait by StatsCan:

In 2021, 2% of the Canadian population reported being Latin American 

Latin American populations in Canada reached 726,820 people in 2021, almost triple the 251,585 people reported in 2001. Consequently, their proportion of the total population increased from 0.9% in 2001 to 2.0% in 2021. 

The most common places of birth of individuals in Canada who report being Latin American are Canada, Mexico and Colombia

In 2021, more than one-quarter (27.8%) of the Latin American populations in Canada were born in Canada, and 13.2% were born in Mexico. Of the 38.6% of people who were born in South America, Colombia was the most common country of birth (12.9%), followed by Brazil (7.4%). A further 13.8% of Latin Americans were born in Central America (excluding Mexico), and roughly half of them were born in El Salvador (7.0%). Among Latin Americans born in the Caribbean, most were from Cuba (2.0%) or the Dominican Republic (1.6%).

The main admission category of Latin American immigrants has shifted over time, and economic immigration is the most common since the 2000s 

From 1983 to 1992, most Latin American immigrants arrived to Canada as refugees, while, from 2008 to 2021, most arrived as economic immigrants. 

In 2021, among Latin Americans who immigrated during the period from 1980 to 2021, the largest proportion was economic immigrants (37.5%), followed by family-sponsored immigrants (31.1%) and refugees (28.8%). 

Most Latin American immigrants born in Brazil (72.0%) and Venezuela (60.6%) who immigrated during the same period were economic immigrants, while most immigrants born in Mexico were either economic immigrants (41.6%) or sponsored by family (36.9%). 

Most Latin Americans born in Central America who arrived during the 1980s and early 1990s (71.3%) were refugees. From 1994 to 2021, admission categories were more varied: 44.1% were sponsored by family, 27.9% were refugees and 23.1% were economic immigrants….

Source: Study: Portrait of the Latin American populations in Canada

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Some Indigenous people wary of Order of Canada’s “colonial symbolism”: federal study

2026/06/30 2 Comments

Somewhat surprising no reference to the chronic under-representation of women. My chart below:

My preliminary analysis of the June 2026 shows an increase to 41 percent for women, 14.8 percent for visible minorities and 11.5 percent for Indigenous peoples. While I can appreciate some of the identify and ideological concerns regarding the Order of Canada by some Indigenous organizations and persons, certainly from a pure representation perspective, there is no under-representation but over-representation in relation to the Indigenous population:

….Andrew Griffith, a former federal public servant who has compiled data on Order of Canada recipients, said he was surprised not to see a mention in the newly released documents of the under-representation of women.

Griffith’s data indicates that while women made up 51 per cent of the population in the 2021 census, they accounted for just 34.5 per cent of Order of Canada recipients from 2013 to 2024. The figure rose slightly to 36.8 per cent last year.

Griffith said in an interview that might be explained by the general under-representation of women at senior levels of organizations across society, with the exception of government and a few other sectors.

“But it’s still striking (for the Order of Canada) that they haven’t been able to really move the needle all that much.”

Source: Some Indigenous people wary of Order of Canada’s “colonial symbolism”: federal study

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Biro: Canada’s activist academy and the rise of anti-Zionism

2026/06/29 Leave a comment

Of note:

…But anti-Zionism is not, as it is commonly described, a form of legitimate criticism of Israeli politics, practices, or leadership. It is a movement predicated on the belief that Israel is, and was from the start, an illegitimate state, and, more fundamentally, that Zionism—the Jewish aspiration for self-determination in an indigenous, biblically prophesied homeland—is an evil enterprise with colonialist, racist, and genocidal motivations. And so, if Israel, the Jewish homeland, is a pariah state, it is axiomatic that Jews are a pariah people.

This is the essence of anti-Zionism. And it is the aim of my conference to expose and explain the hateful character of anti-Zionism and to reflect on what the prevalence of this ideology in the ranks of our human rights establishment and of our social sciences and humanities scholars says about the state of liberal democracy in Canada and throughout the West.

That Palestinian voices should be heard is not remotely objectionable or even controversial. That human rights grievances must be exposed and that corresponding political and legal accountability must result are givens. But what, one must ask, could the rationale be for wanting, as some in the university did, to include those sorts of divergent and critical perspectives in a conference about the nature and societal implications of antisemitism? What reason might there be to honour and conform to an institution’s “mission and approach” by such measures if not to provide at least some plausible explanation—not to say, justification—for the fact that Jew-hatred is all the rage?

For each type of undertaking there is a corresponding forum. Public education—be it in a high school, university, or taxpayer-funded public museum—must be non-partisan, politically neutral, socially and morally responsible, and, above all, truthful.

Our academy—which, in the broadest sense, includes all of our institutions of research, learning, and teaching—has succumbed to what the Vanderbilt Report describes as “a distinctive form of politicization in which the scholarly enterprise is taken to be subordinate to, or in the service of, political (social or moral) goals beyond the advancement of knowledge and understanding.”

In a world in which activism has supplanted truth-seeking as the overriding mission of the academy and the spirit of the age, we would do well to heed the late Christopher Hitchens’ admonition to be wary of taking refuge in the false security of consensus.

Source: Canada’s activist academy and the rise of anti-Zionism

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Ottawa adds retired judge Corrine Sparks to diversity council after pushback over membership

2026/06/29 Leave a comment

Hard to see how this oversight occurred but the discussions and debate being increasingly over religious diversity and the impact on integration and cohesion may have played a part:

The first Nova Scotian of African descent to be appointed to the province’s judiciary is joining the federal government’s newly formed Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, after scathing criticism directed at Ottawa for its initial omission of a Black representative.

Corrine Sparks, whom the federal government describes as “a national leader in judicial education,” will be part of a body tasked with fighting racism and hate, according to a news release issued by the Canadian Heritage department on Friday.

She retired from Nova Scotia’s Family Court in December 2021, after more than three decades of service in the judiciary. 

Source: Ottawa adds retired judge Corrine Sparks to diversity council after pushback over membership

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