Advocacy @ HBT: The week of December 10, 2025

Advocacy @ HBT: The Special Envoy Must Be Appointed! Educate Yourself About Bill C-9 

Canada has been without a Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism since mid-July, when Deborah Lyons resigned from the position. You can read more about Lyons’ resignation here. 

Mark Sandler, Chair of ALCCA (Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism), wrote a recent editorial calling for our government to step up and fill this leadership void. The Advocacy Committee here at Holy Blossom amplified his message several weeks ago. We are now bringing you further action that you can take, courtesy of our friends at ALCCA.  

The ALCCA encourages you to write to the Prime Minister and your local MP, strongly encouraging them to fill the Special Envoy position without delay. A draft message can be found below.   

Dear Prime Minister Carney, 

Canada has been without a Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism for more than four months. There has never been a more pressing need for advocacy to combat antisemitism within and outside government. Hate crimes targeting Jews are at unprecedented levels. Despite representing only 1% of the population, Jews are the victims of 70% of religiously motivated hate crimes in Canada. 

Antisemitism has become normalized in Canada. It continues unabated. It often manifests as anti-Zionism. This isn’t about criticism of Israel, its conduct or policies. This is about the demonization and marginalization of all those (including about 94% of Canadian Jews) who support Jewish self-determination in their ancestral lands. Zionism, properly understood, is not incompatible with Palestinian self-determination, although its meaning has been distorted to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. Prime Minister Trudeau declared himself to be a Zionist and said that no one should be afraid in Canada to call themselves a Zionist. But in many Canadian spaces, it is no longer safe to call oneself a Zionist. 

The need for a true advocate within government to fight this normalization has never been more urgent. I urge you to appoint a new Special Envoy immediately, to publicly reject efforts to demonize our community and delegitimize Israel’s very existence, and to proactively address the scourge of antisemitism in Canada. 

Sincerely, 

[Name] 

In response to the growing hate-motivated acts of violence and intimidation in Canada, particularly against Jewish Canadians, the federal government recently introduced Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, in the legislature. 

The outcomes of the Bill are intended to: 

• Introduce new intimidation and obstruction offences protecting people entering schools, places of worship, and community centres;   
• Establish a new standalone hate-crime offence to ensure meaningful accountability for offenders;   
• Remove a barrier that currently requires the Attorney General to consent to prosecute police-laid (not private) charges; and 
• Establish a new hate propaganda offence on the display of hate.   

 Several Jewish institutions, including CIJA, B’nai Brith Canada, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and others, have been following the Bill closely and have made submissions and suggestions to strengthen the Bill, while encouraging its passage.  
 

To learn more about this issue, please join legal experts tomorrow, Thursday, December 11, at 7 p.m. for a virtual Community Town Hall. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about how you can help to advocate for this important initiative.  Please click below to register for the session: 

https://www.cija.ca/r?u=4dK45lttTuUsIY8LgEmvroCyp8VvZF6Gu_3vodTtiG8VgF9xHMnN1vdnNsXtKmHaV6d2FroG-E5sT2fVa-4trw8j1Lim1A7FQMgBQiS9imX3MoirmzePwd0tMFLuXee5&e=a51f551fb31479d93e9e9de68c9d06b8&utm_source=cija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=25_12_07_joint_statement_by_ci&n=4 

Learn more about Advocacy@HBT here.