In a stark year-end column, commentator Warren Kinsella issues a grave warning about the state of Canada, arguing that antisemitism is spreading through the country like an insidious cancer, often going unnoticed until it is too late.
A Chilling Historical Parallel
Kinsella draws a direct line to the work of Milton Sanford Mayer, an American journalist with Jewish heritage. After the Second World War, Mayer interviewed ten ordinary German men about their views on National Socialism and Jews. None had criminal records, save one who had burned a synagogue, yet all spoke fondly of Hitler and expressed disdain for Jewish people.
Mayer's crucial insight, as quoted by Kinsella, was how societal evil takes root. "In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next," Mayer wrote. The transformation happens gradually, until a moment of clarity reveals that "everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose."
The Canadian Reality: A Pattern of Violence and Hate
Kinsella poses a pressing question: When did this shift begin in contemporary Canada? He points to a series of violent incidents targeting Jewish individuals globally and at home:
- The shooting of 15 Jews on a beach in Australia.
- Two Jewish children killed in Washington by an assailant yelling "Free Palestine."
- An elderly Jewish man burned to death in Boulder, Colorado, by another man screaming the same phrase.
Within Canada, the evidence mounts. Kinsella highlights banners proclaiming "Intifada"—a call for violent uprising—being unfurled at Toronto's Eaton Centre while police stood by. He notes a Toronto Jewish school for young children being shot at on multiple occasions. He also mentions the arrest and subsequent release on bail of an alleged ISIS enthusiast on terrorism charges.
A Community Living in Fear
Throughout what he calls a "cruel and terrible" past year, Kinsella has spoken to Jewish groups from Calgary to Halifax. The emotions he encounters are uniform: anger, terror, anxiety, defiance, and a profound sense of betrayal. Some discuss aliyah, moving to Israel, while others consider new forms of activism.
As an Irish Catholic ally, Kinsella expresses frustration at being asked why he speaks out, seeing the very question as a symptom of the problem. "It reminds me that too many—too many friends, too many colleagues, too many people I once admired—have chosen silence," he writes. This silence and indifference, he argues, have fundamentally altered the country.
Concluding with a deeply personal and alarming step, Kinsella reveals he has purchased a bulletproof vest after suggestions from others that he needed one. "That is the country we live in, now," he states grimly. He braces for 2026, believing it will be worse than the preceding year, but vows to continue speaking out against the rising tide of hate.
