A few weeks ago, I received a photograph of my ancestors taken in 1918, shortly after they arrived in Canada from present-day Ukraine. Three generations stare out from another world but at the same time seem so familiar — my great-grandfather in particular looks strikingly like my 11-year-old son.
In today’s precarious times for Jews in Canada, I can’t help but reflect on their experience and what they would think of our current moment.
Historical Discrimination
Throughout their lives in Canada, they and other Jewish Canadians faced admission quotas, outright exclusion and open discrimination. Universities restricted Jewish participation. Employers refused to hire them. Entire neighbourhoods and institutions made it explicitly clear Jews were not welcome.
If they were with us today, they would have been amazed by our contributions to Canadian culture, arts, medicine, science, academia and countless professional fields.
They would have been impressed to visit our community’s Jewish schools, summer camps, synagogues, charities and cultural institutions.
They would be astonished to see this year’s Walk with Israel Festival in Toronto, where 60,000 people of all backgrounds proudly celebrated Jewish heritage and Israeli culture.
And having seen a world where police were often complicit in mob violence against Jews, they would have been relieved by the exceptional protection of police — including seeing Toronto’s Chief of Police, Myron Demkiw, in attendance.
Building Roots
Despite concerns about the unprecedented hostility and threats to Canada’s Jewish community, my ancestors would have still seen the Canada of their dreams. Their decision to build deep roots in this country would be affirmed.
For countless Jewish Canadian families, building those roots — families, businesses, and communities — meant facing and breaking down historic barriers.
The battle that Jewish and Italian Canadians waged against swastika-bearing thugs at Christie Pits in 1933. The legal fight led by Jews to strike down discriminatory land covenants against Jewish, Asian, and Black Canadians. In every generation, we made our community stronger, and we made our country better, helping shape a Canadian way of life that is now under attack.
Current Threats
The sound of gunfire at Jewish schools. Firetruck sirens outside smouldering synagogues. The sound of shattering windows. Shouts of “Intifada Revolution.” The cheers of a crowd as a Canadian flag burns. Police announcing another terrorist plot, narrowly thwarted.
These are real examples of the threat unfolding before us — and a glimpse of a future no Canadian wants to live in. They reflect Prime Minister Mark Carney’s admission that “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians,” and that if this “covenant fails for one of our communities, it fails us all.”
