Hear why a non-Jewish senator from Saskatchewan became a champion in the fight against antisemitism.<\/p>\n
During the Senate\u2019s year-long study on antisemitism, released a week ago on April 21, Senator David Arnot admits to becoming deeply upset when learning some Canadian Jews want to leave the country because they no longer feel safe.<\/p>\n
The study began in Dec. 2024. During the year, Arnot and his colleagues on the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights heard 44 witnesses over seven meetings. They also received 36 written briefs. It wasn\u2019t nearly as extensive a study as one done two years ago on Islamophobia, and the committee had until the end of 2026 to release its findings, but Arnot and his colleagues felt the \u201cclear and present danger\u201d of antisemitism was so serious, they wanted their recommendations for action to come out immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for the government to sort of dither around and think about it. There\u2019s nothing more to think about. There\u2019s a blueprint right now. Implement that blueprint with immediacy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Aside from asking Canada to restore the now-cancelled position of the special envoy on antisemitism, and create a federal task force on antisemitism, Arnot\u2014a former provincial court judge and longtime Chief of Saskatchewan\u2019s Human Rights Commission\u2014believes our education system has failed to produce informed citizens. As a result, he believes young people are more susceptible to misinformation they find online.<\/p>\n
On today\u2019s episode of The CJN\u2019s North Star podcast, Arnot joins host Ellin Bessner to explain why he is convinced there\u2019s no more time to waste to fix \u201cthis black mark on Canadian society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related links<\/p>\n
Transcript:<\/p>\n
Sen. David Arnot: This is why it\u2019s so compelling. We have to have action! No dithering. The time\u2019s now.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: One week ago, Senator David Arnot and his colleagues held a media conference in Ottawa to release their report entitled \u201cStanding United Against Antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study launched during the final months of the Trudeau government in December 2024, but after just two hearings, the work suddenly stopped when the former prime minister\u2019s departure triggered an election. Ten months went by.<\/p>\n
With Mark Carney elected to Parliament, Arnot pushed for the study to resume. He was successful, and last fall, the Standing Committee on Human Rights held five more hearings. A total of 44 witnesses, plus received 36 written briefs.<\/p>\n
The study wasn\u2019t nearly as broad as the Senate\u2019s look into Islamophobia two years earlier. That work involved travel and tripled the number of interviews, but Arnot and his colleagues felt they\u2019d heard enough about anti-Semitism. And mindful of the Bondi Beach massacre and synagogue shootings and Jewish businesses targeted with gunfire in Canada, that their report couldn\u2019t wait even though it wasn\u2019t due until the end of this year. \u00a0Arnot and his colleagues admitted to being deeply moved by some of what they heard \u2014 Jewish university students telling them why they hide their identities, that foreign-funded groups seem to be behind some of the protests and attacks inside academia, unions, and the street protests, and that Jews remain the biggest target of any religious minority for hate crimes. But what seemed to affect Senator Arnot most wasn\u2019t the data. It was when he heard that some Jewish Canadians no longer feel safe enough to stay here.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: You need to work collectively and collaboratively if you\u2019re going to deal with this, and we have to deal with it. It is very acute. And it\u2019s a real black mark on Canadian society to have this level of antisemitism alive in Canada today.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: I\u2019m Ellin Bessner, and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for Wednesday, April 29th, 2026. Welcome to North Star, the flagship podcast of The Canadian Jewish News, made possible thanks to the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n
Before he was appointed to the Senate five years ago, David Arnot was a longtime chief of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and before that a provincial judge. No Jewish senators were part of the work of this antisemitism study, and in the past, some of the committee members, including the chair, took strong public positions critical of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza. But the final report didn\u2019t take any position on the conflict in the Middle East or tackle the definition of anti-Semitism. And that was on purpose. The report also sidelined testimony from a half dozen anti-Zionist and anti-Israel witnesses. Among the 22 recommendations, the top one was to bring back the position of special envoy on anti-Semitism and to fund it better, set up a federal anti-Semitism task force, and get tough with digital social media platforms that push anti-Semitic content and lead to radicalization \u2014 which Arnot thinks can be offset by boosting Holocaust education and teacher training, so Canadian kids won\u2019t fall prey to antisemitic posts they see online. Senator Arnot joined me from his office in Saskatoon. This is his first media interview since the report came out.<\/p>\n
And welcome to The Canadian Jewish News\u2019 North Star podcast. It\u2019s an honour to meet you.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Oh, thank you very much, Ellin. It\u2019s an honour to be here. I look forward to our discussion.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Senator, we watched the press conference, of course, we read the report. I\u2019ve been following this story for months. I want to ask you before we get into some of the whys, just about the reaction that the report, if any, has had that you\u2019ve been aware of since it came out on the 21st.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, I think people realize the seriousness of the report and the need for action. I know that CIJA has responded very well, and I think from what I\u2019ve heard, people understand it, and I hope the Canadian Jewish community sees it as a very strong report and one that can motivate the federal government to address these issues in a really, focused way immediately.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Why did you personally, Senator, want to have this issue studied by the Senate?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, a couple of reasons. One is we studied Islamophobia and it calls out to study antisemitism, obviously. But I\u2019ve been engaged in this issue for quite a while. I was the Chief Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission for 13 years. One of the things that I\u2019m really proud of about the work we did there is we took the hate speech case to the Supreme Court of Canada.<\/p>\n
I know the Saskatoon Jewish community quite well for a lot of reasons. And I really understand, I think, the pain of antisemitism and how destructive it is and how antithetical to democratic values it is, and it needs to be addressed. In my opinion, it\u2019s a very acute issue right now. And so personally, I feel that it\u2019s so fundamentally wrong and discredits our democratic country, a free and democratic society, if we can allow this kind of hate to be pervasive to the extent that it is.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: I wanted to go back to what you just said, which is about hate speech. And a lot of it, as your report says, comes from digital misinformation on the internet or digital actors. I think that was a really key recommendation from the committee to tackle this. I even think somebody said \u2014 and it might have been you \u2014 that the Canadian education system has failed, because students aren\u2019t learning what it is.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: It was me. I feel very strongly about this. I really respect the power of education, and I see education as probably the primary way to address antisemitism, because all of these -isms are based on ignorance and fear, and the only way you can attack that, I think, is getting into the schools. And I say it from some experience in the sense that when I was at the Human Rights Commission, we created a set of resources that answer the question: what does it mean to be a Canadian citizen? What are the rights of citizenship, but also what are the responsibilities that come with those rights? And there is one fundamental responsibility of all Canadian citizens, in my opinion, and that is to respect your fellow citizen \u2014 no exceptions. And we have a set of resources, Grades K to 12, that does that, and it does that in a very intentional way, because you have to start at a very young age and you have to do it sequentially, intentionally, very purposefully. You know, Canada is described as the best example of a pluralist society by many people. Yet we haven\u2019t invested in education to inculcate in students \u2014 in their minds, their hearts \u2014 what it means to be a Canadian citizen.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Can I just interject there for a minute? It is a provincial matter. This is a big issue. You may say do this, do that, but it\u2019s the provinces who control the curriculum. Mandatory Holocaust training, which is starting now or has started in several provinces in certain grades \u2014 but then the teacher unions are all being sued for their antisemitism and their anti-Israel policies, and that\u2019s the issue: you have other actors between you and the classroom. So how do you deal with that?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: We challenge the Heritage Minister, Heritage Canada, to work collaboratively with all education ministers because this is really a collaborative issue. If you look at our report, I believe it\u2019s very strong. I believe it\u2019s very prescriptive. I think it\u2019s the most prescriptive report done by the Senate in a number of years. And it\u2019s not my opinion \u2014 it\u2019s the opinion of some others who have spoken to me.<\/p>\n
We did that on purpose. You know, you can get hung up in the constitutionality of education, but really there are some fundamental common denominators. One is that the Heritage Minister has a responsibility to educate the whole community, the whole of Canada, about our cultural values, our democratic values. We have failed. It\u2019s unfortunate.<\/p>\n
We have such a strong governance model, strong institutions in education, justice, and government. We haven\u2019t done enough to really engage citizens. So you can say that you\u2019re the world\u2019s leader in pluralistic society, a multicultural, multiethnic society, but if you don\u2019t teach that, you\u2019re going to lose it. It\u2019s not going to happen by osmosis. It\u2019s not going to be manna from heaven. You have to do it in a way that\u2019s very purposeful. And if we don\u2019t, we have failed. And I think the evidence of the failure is everywhere.<\/p>\n
These are democratic principles, and this is why there\u2019s a real link between anti-Semitism and the weakening of our democracy. And that\u2019s another thing we said in this report. The Senate has a role to play. We\u2019re reflecting the voices of what we heard. I\u2019m not hung up on the constitutionality and the arguments over this space and that space. What I\u2019m saying to all ministers of education, to the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, is there is a collective responsibility in all Canadian citizens to deal with antisemitism, and that responsibility can play out in any number of ways, but it requires collaboration and cooperation.<\/p>\n
This Prime Minister \u2014 the current Prime Minister we have \u2014 is one who can lead us out of a very difficult situation. We have good ministers in the government that I\u2019ve met, and I know they\u2019re engaged in these issues, so I expect a strong response from Minister Fraser, the Minister of Justice, from Minister Anandasangaree in Public Safety, and from Minister Miller in Heritage, Canadian culture. If you\u2019re going to deal with this, and we have to deal with it \u2014 it is very acute, and it\u2019s a real black mark on Canadian society to have this level of antisemitism alive in Canada today. And there are tools that we have. If they\u2019re implemented properly with the right spirit and intent of what these 22 recommendations say, it will make a difference. You know, one of the questions I asked in committee of Heritage Canada:\u201dYou say you\u2019ve been working on racism, gender discrimination, and anti-Semitism \u2014 what\u2019s the result?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not good enough. Whatever the result is, we need to make a change. We need to make a cultural change in Canada to really understand \u2014 we have all these principles, but we have to put the theory into practice.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Mark Miller and the Prime Minister announced in February they\u2019re scrapping the special envoy for antisemitism and the special representative for Islamophobia and wrapping it into some advisory council. Why did your committee recommend bringing this back in a much more focused way?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: We felt very strongly about this. I know Deborah Lyons. I know the work she did on these issues. She worked very hard. She made relationships with the business community, with the universities, with the Jewish community. She made a number of relationships. She had a big role to play in education. She did a wonderful job in my opinion, but you have to be funded commensurate with the mandate, and I don\u2019t believe she was.<\/p>\n
Why eliminate a champion on these issues when they can be helpful? We need a number of vectors going all in the same direction. There are other players that can play a role in this \u2014 university presidents, the business community. So don\u2019t eliminate. And I felt that it was a mistake. It\u2019s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Why do that? It makes no sense<\/p>\n
We\u2019re asking in one of the recommendations for more research, but actually a national education awareness program in Canada. And that\u2019s basically what Lyons was trying to get started. She created the foundation \u2014 build on it, don\u2019t throw it out. And to me, there was very little consultation, and I was quite surprised to hear of the elimination of the special envoy.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: You mentioned at the start of our interview that the Senate studied Islamophobia \u2014it was the one that came out in 2024. They had 153 witnesses. They traveled; they spent a lot longer in terms of the breadth of who they spoke to. The one on antisemitism \u2014 and of course we had an election in the middle of it, so that kind of messed things up.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m just wondering, do you feel that you had enough information, that the study on antisemitism wasn\u2019t given short shrift compared to what the one on Islamophobia had?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Yeah, well, I was on the one on Islamophobia, and we did travel throughout Canada, etc. Time was of the essence really on the antisemitism study, but I look at the quality of the report and the quality of the evidence. I have no hesitation in saying we had really powerful witnesses \u2014 the right witnesses, very focused, very concise, very professional. I think we heard all the voices that we could in a realistic time frame. If we had done it with many more witnesses and more traveling, we\u2019d still be writing the report. I believe one of the factors is this issue is so acute in Canada. So I don\u2019t see any deficiency in this report or the manner in which we conducted it. I think the quality of the report is high, and I\u2019ll be frank \u2014 in my opinion, the quality of these recommendations is much more prescriptive and very, very specific. In the Islamophobia report, we touched on the issue of education, rights, responsibilities, but we didn\u2019t do it in a focused way. And I argued with my colleagues and we got much more precision, and we weren\u2019t fettered by the constitutional siloing arguments of provincial and territorial versus federal rights.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: I was shocked that of the witnesses that came, there were at least six, if not eight, who were decidedly anti-Israel, anti-Zionist. Some were Jewish, some were not. And I need to ask: how did they allow those witnesses to get a hearing, when even you and others pushed back and said they\u2019re marginal groups?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: I believe the steering committee felt that they were lobbied by a number of individual groups, and I think the committee wanted to err on the side of hearing as many voices as possible, and we did. If you look at the final report, it\u2019s the credibility of the witnesses that we focused on and talked about in the report \u2014 that speaks to the way the committee heard the evidence. What I\u2019m saying there is we focused on the strongest voices, the most reasonable voices, and those are what\u2019s reflected in the final 22 recommendations. The credibility of some of these individuals \u2014 I think the questioning in some of the committee hearings where we heard those witnesses demonstrated that there was a credibility gap.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: One of them said that the Jews are making too much of it \u2014 that they\u2019re actually faking the arson and faking some of these attacks. And I know some of the senators, including yourself, pushed back on it.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, I think it was disturbing to hear it from the point of view of the senators as well.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: There are four colleagues on the committee who, at the start of this study, had spoken out against Israel, signed petitions, spoken in public forums against Israel, including the chair. Did you notice whether they also had a shift in their views as they started hearing this testimony, because the report was unified \u2014 you said at the press conference, a unified voice?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: The quality of the evidence was such and the emotion, the passion from some of the witnesses was such that you couldn\u2019t help but be moved by it. And I can only speak for myself, so I won\u2019t speak to other colleagues. But I think the reaction, the words that were used at the press conference, are reflective of a real deep understanding of the quality of this hatred and the effect it has on individuals, the effect it has on communities, and the effect it has on the whole of Canadian society. And when you see it from that perspective, I think the report speaks for itself.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: The report didn\u2019t go in to define antisemitism. Can you explain why you thought it was not your role to do that in this report?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, yeah, we heard about the IHRA definition \u2014 ten years to get agreed to and supported by the government of Canada \u2014 also the Jerusalem Declaration, New Jersey, etc. Look, we weren\u2019t going to debate the semantics of a definition. It\u2019s just a tool to give people an understanding about what antisemitism is. That\u2019s all you can say.<\/p>\n
What we can say is antisemitism and hatred against Jewish people in Canada is on the streets every day in this country, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re aiming at. We weren\u2019t going to be distracted by those voices that wanted us to make some kind of a statement about which definition is better or stronger. It\u2019s the action that we see in the streets that we wanted to address.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: The report was being written after Bondi Beach in December in Australia, and then March 7th, the three synagogue shootings, the Jewish businesses in Toronto being targeted with gunfire, which I covered. Was the report still being written at that time? And if so, how did that impact the urgency of your message?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, the report is written by a committee, so it was under construction. I know what happened \u2014 we mentioned right in the opening that we were shocked, as all Canadians were, about what was happening on the streets in Canada, in Toronto. It just says the urgency and the immediacy is amplified by those very acts that are happening in the space of a few months while we\u2019re writing a report.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: So what responsibility did it bring to the whole process \u2014 what influence, if any, did it have?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Clearly we\u2019re asking for an immediate response. We\u2019re not asking for the government to dither around and think about it. There\u2019s nothing more to think about. There\u2019s a blueprint right now. Implement that blueprint with immediacy. And in my opinion, there\u2019s no explanation that\u2019s worthy of an excuse not to implement this as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: My last question. We have this report come out about a week before the federal economic statement, which comes out April 28th, And the day before that, B\u2019nai Brith\u2019s annual antisemitism audit comes out. So where do you think your recommendations will land?<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Well, I\u2019m hoping that the report will be a foundation for other voices \u2014 not only the Senate \u2014 to amplify the seriousness, build on our report, and hold the government to account on each one of these issues. You look at education, we spoke strongly about all of those points. Digital education \u2014 get on with it. We know AI, we\u2019ve got an AI minister, we should be dealing with these things in a very focused way. And I\u2019m hoping that voices will come together, whether it\u2019s from the police chiefs and others who know about these things.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re asking for hate crimes units in every large municipality in Canada and certainly in every province and territory.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Ontario\u2019s \u2014 I know you mentioned one of your colleagues mentioned \u2014 just announced it\u2019s forming one for the provincial attorney general\u2019s department.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: These are reasonable responses reflecting the gravity of the concern, and these are incredibly valuable, vulnerable communities. We know that Jewish Canadians are concerned about the lives and safety of their children, their families, their community. And we\u2019ve heard in our testimony Jewish Canadians born in this country, who have lived their whole lives here, are thinking of leaving Canada.<\/p>\n
And I saw a report out of the United Kingdom just last week that said that 20% of Jewish people living in the UK are either leaving or thinking of leaving. This is remarkable. This is outrageous. Canadians should be reacting with alarm. How could this be? That\u2019s the extent of the concern, and it\u2019s valid.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: I appreciate this really extended interview. Thank you very much for coming on to The Canadian Jewish News North Star podcast.<\/p>\n
Senator David Arnot: Thank you, Ellin. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to Canadians about these issues, and I would certainly like to answer any questions that come forward from any of the listeners.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: And that\u2019s what Jewish Canada sounded like for this episode of North Star, made possible thanks to the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n
Now that the report is out, there\u2019s no firm deadline for the Carney government to officially respond, but yesterday\u2019s spring economic statement did answer one of the report\u2019s recommendations. The government is boosting safety subsidies for communities at risk of hate attacks to the tune of $75 million over the next five years.<\/p>\n
You can read the report for yourselves or watch the press conference through the links in our show notes.<\/p>\n
And if you want to write to the senator, we\u2019re at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our show is produced by Zachary Judah Kauffman, with Michael Fraiman as the executive producer, and Alicia Richler is our editorial director. Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n Credits<\/p>\n Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner<\/a> )Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)Music: Bret Higgins<\/a><\/p>\n Support our show<\/p>\n