Rick Ekstein: A question for Mark Carney — what's the future for Canada's Jews?

National Post

4 hours ago

On a recent mission to Israel, it broke my heart to hear a young Jewish Canadian question whether he had a future in Canada. One participant responded: 'Only the Prime Minister of Canada can answer that.'
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So, Prime Minister Mark Carney, I ask you plainly: Do Canadian Jews have a safe and secure future in this country? Because if the answer is yes — and I hope it is — then you need to start showing it. Now.
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Since October 7th, Canadian Jews have watched in horror as Hamas terrorists unleashed unimaginable brutality — murdering, raping, torturing, and kidnapping innocent Israelis. It was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. And yet, from your government, we've heard equivocation, moral hedging, and, increasingly, empathy for everyone but the Jewish people.
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You've spoken — repeatedly — about Palestinian suffering. And yes, there is deep suffering in Gaza. But why is your empathy so one-sided? Why does your language suggest that Jews are the aggressors, Israelis the oppressors, and the Jewish state, somehow, less worthy of defence than any other democracy under attack?
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You have failed to clearly condemn Hamas. You have failed to affirm Israel's right to self-defense. And you have failed to stand with Canada's Jewish community at a time when we are being vilified — physically, emotionally, and institutionally.
To many Jews in Israel and around the world, it is still October 7th. And now, with the direct war between Israel and Iran, we are reminded that October 7th was not an isolated atrocity, but part of a much larger campaign by those who seek to destroy the Jewish state and destabilize the region. The trauma continues, because the crime continues. Fifty-three hostages remain in Gaza. Israel believes about 20 are still alive — women, children, and elderly. Until every last one is freed, there can be no healing. That should be a matter of universal outrage. And your foreign minister's remarks have only deepened the sense of abandonment among Canadian Jews.
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Here in Canada, synagogues are vandalized. Jewish schools threatened. Students assaulted on university campuses. Protesters wave Hamas flags in our streets. And your government responds with platitudes instead of protection.
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My grandparents were murdered by the Nazis. And just months ago, my grandchild and his mother — my daughter — were verbally attacked on a Toronto subway for being Jewish. Three generations have suffered. One through extermination. One through fear. One through open hatred — right here in Canada. I hope you can see why I'm worried.
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The double standard is impossible to miss. Your reluctance to confront the normalization of antisemitism in Canada has been chilling. And your silence as Jewish Canadians wonder whether they still belong here is, frankly, unforgivable.