With quotations from the prophets Isaiah and Amos, the philosophers Aristotle and Charles Taylor, and the Nobel Laureate Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a landmark speech on antisemitism at Toronto's Holy Blossom Temple on Monday, June 1, 2026. The address aimed for rousing oratory, urging all Canadians to engage with a challenge that should not be for Jews alone.
However, the strongest reaction in the audience came from what the prime minister left unsaid. Mark Sandler, a prominent criminal lawyer and former national chair of B'nai Brith League for Human Rights, noted, "He did not use the word 'Zionism' once and he could have." Sandler welcomed Carney's statement that no Jewish community member should be held collectively responsible for events elsewhere, but expressed disappointment: "The contemporary antisemitism we’re experiencing is so often tied to anti-Zionism. We need explicit references that antisemitism embraces anti-Zionism, the demonization and delegitimization of those who believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. If that is not front and centre, we’re going to fail."
Steven Pinkus, vice president of Mainstreet Research, described that as "the overwhelming reaction in the room." Still, he was encouraged by the speech's content and what it signals about the Liberal government's priorities. "I am so tired, angered, at hearing from the Jewish community that the man is an antisemite, and he clearly put that to rest," Pinkus said.
The speech was hotly anticipated, given the seriousness of the issue and the fact it could have been delivered with similar urgency months ago. In her welcoming remarks, Yael Splansky, Holy Blossom's senior rabbi, said, "We are listening carefully for your clear commitment to confront antisemitism wherever it festers." She emphasized that antisemitism is "not a Jewish problem," just as racism is not solely for people of colour and misogyny is not for women alone. "Only government can govern," she added. Splansky noted that congregants often feel forced into an impossible choice to "relinquish one identity or the other" as Jewish Canadians, and do not want to live in fortresses.
Pinkus pointed to the ministers alongside Carney as encouraging, including Vince Gasparro, Danielle Martin, Anthony Housefather, Gary Anandasangaree, and Leslie Church. Evan Solomon gave welcoming and closing remarks, and Marc Miller was announced as chair of the new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion. Pinkus concluded, "The antisemitic voices in the Liberal caucus have been silenced. I see it reflected in who’s around him and who he’s listening to."
