SouthernWorldwide.com – Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to take action against antisemitism in Canada, a move that comes amid significant backlash concerning the composition of a newly formed anti-hate council.
Carney acknowledged this week that Jewish Canadians are facing “brutal targeting.” This statement was made shortly after the announcement of a new anti-racism council, which reportedly includes two members with controversial views regarding the Jewish state.
Following Carney’s speech on antisemitism, critics expressed outrage over the selection of council members. They questioned how a body designed to combat hate and antisemitism could include individuals allegedly hostile to the concerns of the Jewish community.
One such member is Omar Alghabra, a former Liberal party cabinet minister and Member of Parliament. Alghabra has faced criticism for previously mourning the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has identified Arafat as “the father of modern terrorism.” Furthermore, in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Alghabra reportedly declined to condemn them when questioned by Canada’s Rebel News.
Alghabra has also drawn scrutiny for past remarks concerning Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that in 2005, he criticized Toronto’s police chief for participating in a “Walk with Israel” event. He described the event as “a show of solidarity for a foreign state currently in the midst of an unresolved conflict” and referred to Israel as “a country that is conducting a brutal and the longest contemporary military occupation in the world.”
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Canada’s opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, highlighted a separate past interaction involving Alghabra and a terrorist organization. Poilievre told reporters that he recalled Alghabra lobbying him before entering politics to keep Hezbollah legal, expressing doubt about Alghabra’s suitability to combat antisemitism.
However, The Jerusalem Post also reported that Alghabra had referred to Hamas as a terrorist organization during a parliamentary debate in 2016.
The second controversial member of the council is Avnish Nanda. Nanda reportedly represented efforts to maintain a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Alberta. Critics of this encampment argued that it fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students, particularly in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7th terror attack on Israel.
In April, B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights released a report indicating that 6,800 antisemitic incidents occurred in Canada in 2025. This figure represents a 9.4% increase compared to 2024. On average, this translates to 18.6 incidents per day, marking the “highest volume” the organization has recorded since it began tracking such events.
“Canadian Jews are struggling to understand how our prime minister believed this would be a constructive appointment.”
During the announcement of the new Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, Carney stated that its mission is “to combat racism and hate in all their forms and to guide the Government of Canada as part of our efforts to build a fairer, more just, more inclusive society.” He further emphasized that “The crisis of antisemitism in Canada today is specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response. And that is what our government is fully committed to,” according to Reuters.
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In response to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement, B’nai Brith Canada, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization, welcomed the prime minister’s acknowledgment of escalating antisemitism. However, the organization believes that more substantial action is required to address what it perceives as a growing crisis for Canada’s Jewish community.
At the same time, Wolle questioned the new council’s authority and scope, expressing doubt about its ability to effectively tackle the issue.
“But we are concerned because the council does not have the power or scale to address this crisis in an appropriate and meaningful manner,” he stated. “It is an important aspect of the government’s approach to combating antisemitism, but it is not sufficient.”
Wolle added that B’nai Brith Canada will “continue to call on the government to establish a National Emergency Task Force on Antisemitism, among other initiatives, because the Jewish community needs immediate action, not just words during this time of violence, hate, and threats to our right to exist and participate in Canadian society.” Wolle did not offer specific comments regarding the appointments of Omar Alghabra and Avnish Nanda.
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Canadian Jewish activist Ariella Kimmel also voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of the newly established council.
“The Jewish community makes up just 1.2% of Canada’s population, yet is the target of 75% of hate crimes, which is astoundingly disproportionate. Canada does not have a hate problem; it has a Jew-hatred problem. There is a very specific virus spreading rapidly across this country, and our prime minister is administering a broad catch-all antibiotic that will not help.”
Kimmel criticized Carney’s speech for lacking concrete solutions and failing to address what she described as increasing hostility towards Jewish communities.
“There was nothing on the vile chants we hear on the streets, nothing about the mobs that target Jewish neighborhoods, nothing calling for police to enforce the laws that already exist,” she stated.
“What Canada doesn’t need is another special council on racism. We need to address the real elephant in the room, the targeting of Jews using ‘Zionism’ as an excusable reason, led by radicalized progressives and Islamist fundamentalists.”
