December 18, 2024
OTTAWA – Federal funding programs should be aligned with Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) has recommended in a report.
This was one of the key recommendations B’nai Brith Canada made to FINA during its consultations for next year’s Federal Budget.
FINA’s report also incorporates B’nai Brith’s recommendation for the Government to increase funding to its Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs). These groups connect local police forces to national agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Last July, such inter-agency cooperation contributed to the arrest of Ahmed Eldidi and his son, Mostafa, who allegedly planned to carry out an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack in the Greater Toronto Area.
“We are pleased that FINA Chair Peter Fonseca and the other members of the committee endorsed our recommendations,” said David Granovsky, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Government Relations. “We hope that the new Minister of Finance (Dominic LeBlanc) carefully considers our recommendations which were included in the FINA report as the Government determines what it will prioritize in the next Federal Budget.”
B’nai Brith debuted the proposals in an Aug. 1, 2024, written submission to FINA. In addition to aligning federal funding programs with Ottawa’s anti-racism strategy, B’nai Brith called for the Government to improve post-secondary students’ understanding of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Earlier this month, our IHRA literacy recommendation received support from another committee, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST).
“It is particularly important to the Jewish community that the FINA committee has recognized the significance of our IHRA literacy ask,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “We are pleased that it was included in this report.
“The Government adopted IHRA, and even commissioned a handbook for implementing it, but to date, there has been no federal program to introduce it to the public. As antisemitism has skyrocketed within the past year, the need for such a program has never been more pertinent.”
