Canadians must reflect on the consequences of ignorance and hatred, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.
Speaking at the event at the National Holocaust Memorial, Carney said Canada was complicit in the murder of millions of Jewish people during the Second World War because it stayed silent.
He said history must be remembered to ensure it is never repeated.
“The liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau exposed the scale of Nazi crimes to the world and became symbols of the horrors of the Holocaust, the guilt of the enablers and the resilience of the survivors,” Carney said.
“Today, we acknowledge that looking away is not a passive act, but an act of betrayal.”
Carney speaks at the National Holocaust Monument on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Holocaust Remembrance Day was created by the United Nations in 2005 to remember the millions of lives lost under the Nazi regime. About six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis between 1941 and 1945 in a state-orchestrated genocidal campaign.
Antisemitism was rife in Canada at the time, contributing to immigration policies that prevented many Jewish refugees from settling in Canada as they attempted to flee the Nazis in Europe. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights says Canada accepted the smallest number of Jewish refugees of any Allied nation during the war.
The federal government says about 40,000 Holocaust survivors settled in Canada following the end of the Second World War.
Carney said Canadians have a responsibility to remember and act on the lessons of the Holocaust and to support the survivors and their families who continue to live with the fallout.
Data from police and Jewish organizations shows reports of anti-Jewish hate have risen dramatically in recent years, including incidents of violence such as firebombings at Jewish schools and synagogues.
Earlier this week B’nai Brith Canada called on Ottawa to launch a commission on antisemitism, as the group says more people are blaming all Jews for the policies of the state of Israel.
Carney highlighted the work happening in Parliament on Bill C-9, which would create a new offence under the Criminal Code of intimidating someone to make them afraid to access a religious or cultural institution, and a new offence of intentionally obstructing someone trying to lawfully access those places.
“We know these laws are tragically necessary, but they’re far from enough,” Carney said, adding he was working with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on the bill.
“Laws can deter acts of hate and punish them if they occur, but they can’t prevent hate from taking root.”
Poilievre speaks at the National Holocaust Monument on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Poilievre, speaking after Carney, said antisemitism is on the rise in Canada and around the world.
“Today’s antisemitism, regretfully, is more top-down than bottom-up. It is spread through university faculties, and other educational institutions that teach people to fear and hate Israel,” Poilievre said. He added earlier that anti-Israel sentiment often morphs into antisemitism.
“We must stand up for the right of Jews to live safely, peacefully and openly with the Star of David on their chest, with a mezuzah on the door, with a kippah on their heads, proudly proclaiming their Judaism and celebrating who they are as both Canadians and Jews,” Poilievre said.
“When we do that, and when every single Jew feels safe and accepted in this country, then and only then will we have lived up to our oath — never again.”
