OTTAWA — Record levels of antisemitism were recorded in Canada last year, with sharp increases in Quebec and British Columbia, according to a report published Sunday.
The annual audit by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith found there were 2,799 anti-Jewish hate crimes, including beatings, vandalism of synagogues and swastikas in schools.
Antisemitic incidents rose overall by seven per cent, but the number of violent incidents rose by over 700 per cent from nine in 2020 to 75 in 2021.
In one recorded incident a man allegedly gave a Nazi salute before assaulting a woman at a Toronto subway station, the report said.
In another, an employee at an Ontario liquor store was assaulted by a customer who called him a “dirty f—king Jew.”
In January, swastikas were spray painted on the doors of a synagogue in Westmount, a Montreal suburb. In June, Montreal Kosher Bakery was firebombed, and in December, in Mount Royal, Que., huge swastikas were traced in the snow at an outdoor hockey rink.
The report found there was a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes last May coinciding with escalating violence in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. Jewish pro-Israel demonstrators were beaten, had rocks thrown at them and were spat on.
At an anti-Israel rally in Winnipeg a man paraded a sign showing a figure dumping a star of David in a garbage can over the slogan, “Please keep the world clean.”
David Matas, senior legal counsel for B’nai Brith, said the Jewish community “leads the list” of minorities subjected to religious hatred.
“If you are Jewish you are more likely to be a victim of a hate crime by far than if you are a member of another minority,” Matas said.
He told a press conference in Ottawa there was a “surge” in antisemitic incidents on university campuses.
The report said post-secondary institutions were “significant breeding grounds for antisemitism” with Jewish students increasingly reporting vandalism and threats of violence.
Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman said there is a “rising tide of antisemitism in this country” not just among the far-right but also among university faculty.
“Antisemitism is one of the ugliest manifestations of racism,” she said.
The report found harassment of Jewish Canadians dropped slightly to 2,460 incidents in 2021 from 2,483 in 2020. But there was a rise of 12 per cent in online hate, attributed to more people communicating online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
B’nai Brith, which verifies incidents, found that some Jewish candidates in the federal election, including Montreal-based Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, had their posters daubed with swastikas.
At a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, Housefather said antisemitism “is a grave problem.”
He said he personally witnessed people in a car driving down a busy street in his constituency “screaming insults” out the windows including “kill the Jews, kill the Jews.”
The MP said the abuse frightened many constituents and that one asked if she should remove the mezuzah, a small decorative case containing lines from the Torah, from outside her door because it would identify her household as Jewish.
Marvin Rotrand, national director of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada, outlined “troubling trends” in a number of provinces.
The most antisemitic incidents occurred in Quebec last year, which saw 828 incidents last year, up from 686 in 2020.
British Columbia saw a 111 per cent increase, to 409 incidents in 2021 from 194 in 2020, including 56 cases of vandalism and 296 incidents of online abuse and hatred.
Anti-Jewish abuse sharply increased in Alberta, and more than doubled in the Prairies and Nunavut.
In Atlantic Canada there was a decline to 80 reported incidents in 2021 from 199.
Ontario had the second-highest number of reports, but the 821 incidents in 2021 was a decline from the 1,130 in 2020.
NDP MP Randall Garrison, who represents Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, said he was shocked by the rise in cases in B.C.
The report included a case in Richmond, where a wooden post with the message “COVID is Jew World Order” was found on a busy street.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2022.
Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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