Liberal MPs ask universities if calling for genocide of Jews violates school codes
Five Liberal members of Parliament are asking 25 Canadian university presidents to say whether calling for a genocide against Jewish people or the elimination of Israel violates their school policies.
The letter, shared online by Montreal MP Anthony Housefather, comes amid a rise in antisemitism during the Israel-Hamas war, including on campuses.
Former justice minister David Lametti, fellow Montreal MP Anna Gainey, Winnipeg representative Ben Carr and ex-public-safety minister Marco Mendicino also signed the letter,which they made public on Thursday.
Housefather and Carr are Jewish, and the letter says all five MPs have been hearing from students in their constituencies who are being harassed by peers or "subjected to hostile environments in some classrooms."
The heads of U.S. schools have been facing similar questions during recent congressional hearings about antisemitism on campuses.
Former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill recently resigned amid controversy after telling lawmakers, when asked repeatedly about calls for genocide, that decisions around what would violate a school's conduct policy are "context-dependent."
She clarified the next day that such language would be considered harassment or intimidation.
"We do not believe that any context is necessary to confirm that the call to eradicate an identifiable group constitutes harassment, intimidation and incites hatred, and merits the strongest disciplinary measures available to a university," the letter from MPs reads.
Earlier in the week, Housefather also asked that the House of Commons justice committee study the issue of rising antisemitism, including at post-secondary institutions.
The letter says the MPs plan to submit university presidents' responses to a parliamentary committee.
They are asking Canadian teachers to respond to their question by Jan. 20 and outline steps being taken to protect Jewish students facing "hostile environments."
"Whereas a university campus should be a safe sanctuary, we hear instead from Jewish students who are afraid to go to campus or certain classes," the letter reads.
"This is entirely unacceptable."
Canadian universities have struggled with how to manage tensions since the war began.
In Montreal, McGill University asked a group called Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill to drop the reference to the university from its name after it characterized Hamas's Oct. 7 surprise attacks on Israel as "heroic" on social media.
Four pro-Palestinian student groups, including the one in question, later pushed back saying they were not celebrating violence but rather "looking at the prospect of liberation."
In late November, the Quebec Superior Court issued an order to temporarily block a McGill University student group from ratifying a policy that a large majority of students approved in a recent referendum.
The policy pressed the school administration to condemn what it called a "genocidal bombing campaign" against Gaza and to cut ties with corporations or institutions that are complicit in "settler-colonialism" or "apartheid."
An unnamed Jewish student from McGill went to court to challenge the policy, and the case is expected to resume next March.
The MPs do not name a specific school or incident in their letter, but point to recent referendum votes.
They also write that many students have had to walk through protests "calling for the elimination of the world's only majority Jewish state."
Students have also faced "hostile environments" in some classrooms as well as in the form of other student groups and associations.
"Since October 7, we have seen gunshots fired at Jewish schools, fire bombings at Jewish institutions, threats of boycott against Jewish-owned businesses and reports across the country of Jewish students feeling unsafe on their campuses," the letter says.
"This has been accompanied by a lack of action by university leadership to protect Jewish students."
Carr, Mendicino and Housefather also spoke out this week against Canada's decision to favour a non-binding resolution at the United Nations General Assembly that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The vote broke from Canada's long-standing policy of voting with Israel at the international body, and the resolution has received criticism from Jewish groups for not including any specific condemnation of Hamas.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.
-- With files from Morgan Lowrie and The Associated Press.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Israel launches strikes on military targets in Iran, escalating Mideast wars
Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military targets in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though there was no immediate information on damage or casualties.
'If it were me, I'd be leaving': Longtime Liberal New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna on whether Trudeau should go
Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 shoes, at this point in the government鈥檚 mandate, he would step down.
How will the U.S. election affect the way Canadians vote?
As months, become weeks, become days left before this U.S. election cycle comes to an end, here's a look at what each outcome might mean for Canadian politics.
Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.
An abrupt goodbye to a guerilla goldfish aquarium beneath a leaky Brooklyn fire hydrant
A makeshift aquarium that popped up this summer in a puddle beneath a leaky fire hydrant in New York City has been paved over, to the dismay of neighbours who turned the area into a hangout spot and goldfish shrine.
Scotiabank confirms outage for mobile, online banking resolved
Scotiabank has confirmed outages affecting mobile and online banking services, according to a statement published to its X account.
Women's hockey is growing, but junior athletes play fewer competitive years on average. A new league aims to change that
Teams are facing off in a new eastern Newfoundland hockey league aiming to bring competitive play 鈥 and a few extra years on the ice 鈥 for young women in the province.
Mother who beat and starved her 5-year-old son to death sentenced to over 50 years in prison
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
Pizza inadvertently infused with THC sickens dozens in Wisconsin
Pizza inadvertently laced with THC has apparently sickened dozens of people in Wisconsin.
Local Spotlight
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.