Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre vowed during a campaign event on Saturday to deport temporary visa holders who engage in antisemitic crimes if he is elected premier on April 28.
“We will bring in tougher laws to target vandalism, hate marches that break laws [and] violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion,” Poilievre told reporters, according to the Agence France-Presse.
“Anyone who is here on a visitor visa who carries out law-breaking will be deported from this country,” he added, accusing pro-Palestinian protesters of contributing to antisemitic hate crimes.
Poilievre on Saturday condemned the rise in “targeting of synagogues and Jewish schools with hate, vandalism, violence [and] firebombings.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar last year urged Ottawa to “take the strongest possible stance” against Jew-hate after a Montreal synagogue was firebombed in the second such attack on the same congregation since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023.
“I strongly condemn the antisemitic attack on Montréal’s Beit Tikvah synagogue. This surge in antisemitism must not be tolerated! This is the second(!) act of arson on Beit Tikvah—the first synagogue attacked after October 7th,” Jerusalem’s top diplomat wrote in a statement on Dec. 18.
Canada is home to the world’s fourth-largest Jewish community of around 400,000 souls, with nearly half in Greater Toronto and nearly a quarter in Greater Montreal. The North American country also boasts a large Arab population originating from countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney last week following remarks in which the Liberal Party leader appeared to agree with a protester who accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
During a rally in Calgary on April 8, an anti-Israel activist yelled, “Mr. Carney, there’s a genocide in Palestine” at the left-wing politician, who is seeking another term as prime minister in Canada’s national election after taking over from Justin Trudeau on March 14.
“I’m aware,” Carney told the protester. “That’s why we have an arms embargo.”
Asked the next day to clarify his response, Carney said that he did not hear the word “genocide” and that he was just “stating a fact in terms of the arms restrictions.”
“Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney,” Netanyahu posted on X. “But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the only Jewish state. Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible statement!”
Last month, Carney charged—without naming the Jewish state—that it was wrong to cut off electricity to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
“It has been more than two days that the supply of electricity to Gaza has been shut off,” he stated. “It must resume. Essentials including food, electricity and medical supplies should never be used as political tools.”
Carney added that “Canada must work with our allies to stand up for international law to promote sustainable peace and security in the Middle East and to support full access to humanitarian aid for Palestinian families.
“As this work continues, both parties must work towards the return of all hostages and the completion of the ceasefire agreement,” he said.
Pro-Israel commentators and Canadian politicians denounced the post.
“Both parties must work toward releasing the hostages? Are you kidding?” wrote Marty Morantz, a Jewish lawmaker representing Winnipeg West. “Hamas brutally kidnapped them on Oct. 7, 2023. They’ve been held in brutal captivity since then. Many have died including Canadians like Judi Weinstein. You should be unequivocally calling for their immediate release.”
