Chris Selley: Activists on the public sector payroll will not solve the problem of intolerance

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To many political observers, particularly on the pro-Israel side of the post-October 7 unrest, Montreal MP Anthony Housefather seemed the ideal choice for a new government position on the fight against anti-Semitism. The issue is no doubt on his mind, as he is the most vocal opponent of the anti-Israel protests, encampments, rallies and marches since October 7 of last year within the Liberal caucus – which he regularly describes (often with good reason) as riddled with anti-Semitism, if not inherently anti-Semitic.

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But he is not an ideal choice. Not at all. The problem is that many people “on the other side” do not believe that Housefather is acting in good faith. They believe he is claiming anti-Semitism where there is only demonstrable anti-Zionism or anti-Israelism. They are not entirely wrong.

In May, Housefather released a video with fellow Liberal MP Marco Mendicino from the University of British Columbia campus. They claimed to have seen signs “glorifying violence and terrorist organizations,” signs “with people holding hand grenades and signs glorifying the (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) Al-Quds Brigade,” but provided no visual evidence.

“We are a country governed by the rule of law,” Housefather said in the video. “The laws protect us all. They must be enforced.”

Neither Housefather nor Mendicino are cabinet ministers, but when government MPs say something is illegal and demand enforcement, it is serious business. However, the only alleged visual evidence of an alleged lawbreaking was a painting of a presumably Palestinian woman with a gun under the words “Right to Resist.”

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While this is provocative, it is a world away from illegal speech. There is no law in Canada against “glorifying terrorist organizations,” only against knowingly and materially encouraging their actions. It is really not ideal to have MPs going around reinforcing people’s misconceptions on this matter and demanding that free speech be shut down according to their wishes.

All of this, however, is quite beside the point when it comes to Housefather’s new position. You cannot fight anti-Semitism in Canada without engaging the most ardent Palestinian supporters, some of whom are clearly Do mean “Jew” when they say “Zionist,” at least in my eyes and ears and in the ears of many other Canadians. If Palestinian supporters can’t stand the sight of Housefather, then surely he’s just wasting his time preaching to a congregation that is already fully aware of the problem.

This is exactly the situation Amira Elghawaby has faced since her appointment as our first “Special Representative for Combating Islamophobia” in 2022.

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You can’t fight Islamophobia in Canada without engaging Quebec’s nationalists, many of whom make no secret of their fear of Islam and what devout Muslims could do to Quebec society. You can’t fight Islamophobia without talking to the only province that bans teachers, prosecutors and police officers from wearing the hijab.

But Elghawaby cannot and never will be able to talk to Quebec because of her history of ignoring Quebec’s all-consuming victim complex. “I feel like throwing up,” she wrote on Twitter in response to a historian’s claim that French Canadians are “the largest population group in this country… to be the victim of British colonialism.”

And while some Quebecers are unusually willing (by Canadian standards) to express their distrust of Islam, you can never label Quebecers as “Islamophobic.” This is a unanimous accusation in the National Assembly, as was the case with Elghawaby when he observed that “the majority of Quebecers seem to be influenced by anti-Muslim sentiments” regarding Bill 21 banning the hijab.

If Elghawaby didn’t understand that these comments torpedoed everything she was trying to accomplish regarding Islamophobia in Quebec, then she was unfit for the job. As it stands, she is certainly wasting her time, just like Housefather, preaching only to her own people.

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Elghawaby chose remorse toward Quebecers as her way out. It didn’t help. Housefather seems to care much less about his critics. This week he praised Meta (i.e., Facebook) for a new content moderation policy that will “remove speech directed against ‘Zionists’ in several areas where… the speech tends to refer to Jews and Israelis with dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm, or denial of their existence.”

“We will remove content that attacks ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement, but uses anti-Semitic stereotypes or threatens other forms of harm through intimidation or violence against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacks on Zionists,” Meta said.

That might be a solid policy (though I would have thought that a general policy against threatening harm, intimidation, or violence against anyone for any reason might do the trick). Meta can – or should – police its users’ content as it pleases; if users don’t like it, they can leave.

But it gets tricky when politicians stick their fingers in the mix and essentially demand that private actors censor free speech on behalf of government and society. This activates, at least in spirit, our fundamental right to free speech, protected by the Charter. It is not in Canadian tradition to legally ban controversial or inflammatory speech. Encouraging this is not a way to win the hearts and minds of the people who need to be won if you are truly trying to combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or any other form of intolerance or prejudice.

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Once upon a time, Canada had an Office (and a Commissioner) for Religious Freedom. The Liberals abolished it when they took over because, ugh, religion. That office didn’t do anything particularly remarkable, but it did have a principled, multi-faith mandate. Zionists, Israelis, Jews, Palestinians and Muslims have no shortage of activists willing to voice their concerns. Putting them on the government payroll is counterproductive at best.

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