Antisemitism on campus a ‘significant problem,’ university leaders say

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OTTAWA — The head of Universities Canada said Monday he supports shutting down anti-Israel encampments on campuses across the country, and the presidents of the four largest universities in Canada admitted that antisemitism is a “significant problem.”

Universities Canada president and CEO Gabriel Miller also said that enforcing university speech codes against antisemitic hate has been a challenge.

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Miller and the university presidents were testifying at the Commons justice committee on combating antisemitism on Monday. Afterwards reporters asked Miller, whose industry group represents all the major universities across Canada, if he was in favour of ending the encampments.

“The goal… is for these encampments to come to an end in a peaceful way, in a way that respects and upholds legitimate freedom of expression and academic freedom. But yes, we need our universities to be able to return to a place where everyone is able to learn and feel secure and safe on campus,” he said.

During the committee meeting, the presidents of McGill University, Concordia University, University of British Columbia and University of Toronto called antisemitism on their campuses a “significant problem.”

McGill University president and vice-chancellor Deep Saini said it is “simply unacceptable” that Jewish students have felt intimidated on their campus, a position echoed by the three other university presidents at the committee.

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But they also confirmed that no members of their faculties had been disciplined as of yet for antisemitic incidents, though many confirmed that an unspecified number of internal investigations were ongoing. They said they had to respect due process.

University of Toronto president Meric Gertler said an unspecified number of students had been suspended or expelled from the school for violating the school’s code of conduct, but that none of the incidents were related to the encampment on the school’s grounds that began over three weeks ago.

“Actions are underway, but it does take some time to follow the process,” Gertler said on the same day his administration filed for a court injunction against the encampment.

At the Toronto encampment, protesters said they were prepared to fight back with their own legal team and refused to leave the site, ignoring an 8 a.m. Monday deadline set in a trespass notice that had been issued Friday.

At the committee hearing, MPs from all parties grilled the presidents of the four universities about what they called a disconnect between their words denouncing antisemitism on their campuses and their actions.

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“There seems to be a disconnect between what (students) are saying and then what you’re saying,” Liberal MP Julie Dabrusin told the university presidents.

“University has absolutely become a place for hate and intolerance,” Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman said.

Jewish groups, anti-hate activists and police forces across the country have reported an increase in antisemitic incidents since the brutal attacks by terrorist group Hamas against Israel on October 7.

Many Jewish students and Jewish groups on Canadian university campuses have also reported being attacked, verbally and physically.

Despite those incidents, Miller said that enforcement of university rules against hate speech continues to be a challenge. He was not able to say whether any students or university faculty had been disciplined for antisemitic events.

He told reporters after his testimony that the “biggest gap” is understanding and awareness for all individuals on campus about what is “legitimate criticism” and what is hate speech.

“There’s no question we have to do much, much better on this. And I think there may be instances where the sensitivity to the importance of antisemitism isn’t as great as it needs to be,” he said.

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Two weeks ago, students from multiple schools said during a press conference in Ottawa that they are being harassed and assaulted on their campuses. On Monday, MPs and witnesses such as lawyer Mark Sandler detailed incidents at the encampments of protesters shouting antisemitic chants and slogans.

The leaders of the four major universities avoided making the same missteps as some of their American counterparts during a U.S. congressional hearing in the fall, when they declined to say if calls for the genocide of Jews violated their codes of conduct.

The heads of McGill, Concordia, UBC and UofT all roundly denounced antisemitism in all its forms as well as any calls for the genocide of Jews and said that they did not support the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (commonly known as BDS) movement that the encampments are demanding of them.

National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com

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