Canada Denies Plan To Outlaw Israel Boycotts
The Canadian government has denied a report that it is considering criminalizing boycotts of Israel.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s website earlier this week posted a story saying Ottawa “is signaling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel,” saying such a move “could target a range of civil society organizations.”
The report came after CBC reporter Neil Macdonald asked the government what it meant by earlier statements that it would show “zero tolerance” for those who promote boycotts of Israel. In a speech at the United Nations in January, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney stated Canada has a “zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, including in rhetoric towards Israel, and attempts to delegitimize Israel such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.”
Macdonald received a reply from Blaney’s office saying Canada “has the most comprehensive sets of laws against hate crime anywhere in the world,” and that the country “will not allow hate crimes to undermine our way of life, which is based on diversity and inclusion.”
Macdonald claimed the response implied that the government could launch criminal actions under its hate crimes provisions against pro-BDS religious groups such as the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Quakers, as well as campus and community organizations, labor unions, and others who promote BDS.
Blaney’s office denounced the story as “inaccurate and ridiculous,” adding, “these laws have been on the books for many years and have not changed. We won’t dignify this bizarre conspiracy theory with further comment.”
Honest Reporting, a media monitoring group, wrote that Macdonald’s “animus against Israel is well-known.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
