Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and 31 of his caucus colleagues have issued a statement condemning a “deplorable rise of antisemitism in Canada” and calling on Canadians to stand up against hatred toward Jewish communities.
The statement was posted to social media by Housefather just days after a Jewish woman was stabbed in broad daylight at an Ottawa grocery store. Police have said they consider the incident a “hate-motivated crime.”
Joseph Rooke, 71, of Cornwall, Ont., was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon, police said. The victim, in her 70s, was critically injured.
Housefather and the other Liberals drew attention to the alleged attack in their statement. “Three years ago, such an incident would have been shocking. Today, much less so,” the statement read.
“From attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools and monuments, Jewish-owned businesses, Jewish community organizations and lately individual Jews themselves, antisemitism is becoming normalized.”
An unprovoked attack on a Jewish woman in her 70s on Wednesday afternoon at an Ottawa grocery store has drawn widespread condemnation from public officials. The victim is in critical condition. Police are considering the incident a hate-motivated crime.
According to Statistics Canada, there were 920 police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people in 2024 — a number that exceeds the number of hate crimes targeting other religious groups and represents a large jump from 527 reports in 2022.
The Liberal MPs said the “spreading hate is a call to action for all Canadians, all levels of government, law enforcement, schools, public institutions and places of work.”
“In Canada, like other countries, actions to target local Jewish communities and make them responsible for actions happening in the Middle East are wrong, unacceptable and antisemitic.”
Some signatories of the letter include Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, Crown Indigenous-Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Rachel Bendayan, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Protecting places of worship, schools, community centres
In their statement, the Liberal MPs said they stand behind Carney’s “commitment to quickly bring forward changes to the Criminal Code this fall to prevent unlawful fear and intimidation outside places of worship, schools and community centres.”
During the 2025 federal election campaign, Carney and the Liberals promised to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to intentionally and willfully obstruct access to any place or worship, schools and community centres.
The Liberals also promised during the campaign to significantly increase the annual budget of the Canada Community Security Program in order to help protect vulnerable communities and places of worship.
On Friday, Carney said the attack on the Jewish woman in Ottawa is “deeply disturbing” and told Canada’s Jewish community that “we stand with you against hate and threats to your safety, and we will act to confront antisemitism wherever it appears.”
