Antisemitism in Canada
Encyclopedia
Canada
’s Jewish community dates back to the 18th century, and antisemitism in Canada has confronted the nation's Jews
since this time.
. Hart was sworn in on a Hebrew Bible
as opposed to a Christian Bible. A great objection was raised that Hart had not taken the oath in the manner required for sitting in the assembly — an oath of abjuration, which would have required Hart to swear "on the true faith of a Christian". Hart was expelled from the assembly, simply due to his religious beliefs.
A major exponent of anti-Semitism in the 19th century was the anti-Semitic prominent writer and critic Goldwin Smith
, who spread his hatred through books, articles and letters. He claimed Jews were "parasites," "dangerous" to their host country and "enemies of civilization."
Anti-Semitism was very strong in the province of Quebec, where the Church viewed Jews as a threat.
The most notorious incident of violence against Jews occurred in Quebec City
in 1910 when many people attacked Jewish storekeepers and damaged their businesses, urged on by Joseph Plamondon.
The shopkeepers wanted to see legal action against Plamondon, but were only awarded minimal costs, four years later.
consul-general in Ottawa
, wrote to the Department of External Affairs for laws that would require “race or colour” to become a factor of legal consequence, pertaining to laws that govern issues such as the exercise of civil
and political rights, marriage
, sexual relations, professions, school and university acceptances, and immigration
.
During the 1930s and 1940s, several societal models reflected this anti-Semitism
: In British Columbia
and Saskatchewan
, several laws denied voting rights on the ground of race in provincial and federal elections. Those disqualified from the vote were also forced to abstain from jury duty
, public office and volunteering in war.
Between 1930 and 1939, Canada almost completely rejected all Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe, receiving only 4,000 of the 800,000 total Jews looking for refuge across the globe. For example, the SS St. Louis
sailed out of Hamburg
into the Atlantic Ocean
in May 1939, carrying 936 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution
. Because Jewish immigration
was contrary to public policy in Canada at the time, the passengers were denied entrance to Canada. A 1943 Gallup poll put Jews in third place, below the Japanese
and Germans, as the most undesirable immigrants to Canada.
The Great Depression encouraged a search for scapegoats amongst “foreigners,” including Canadian-born Jews, and the rise of Hitler in Germany, along with international anti-semitic propaganda
, justified prejudiced and exclusionary practices against Jews in Canada.
Some outbreaks of violence against Jews and Jewish property culminated in 1933 with the Christie Pits riots
; six hours of violent conflict between Jewish and Christian
youths in Toronto
, Ontario
. Local synagogues were set ablaze, and swastikas and Nazi slogans began to crop up on Toronto’s eastern beaches, where Jewish bathers were also attacked.
In 1934, Adrien Arcand
started the ‘Parti national social chrétien
’ in Montreal
, patterned after the Nazi party. His party’s actions brought about anti-Semitic rallies, boycotts, propaganda and literature, which lead to the inception of several other Nazi-like organizations throughout Canada. In 1938, the National Fascism
Convention was held in Toronto's Massey Hall
, showing Canada’s complete passivity about the domestic spread of fascism and propaganda.
The outbreak of World War II
saw even more anti-Semitic practices put into place. Units in the Canadian Forces
rejected Jewish volunteers, and the Canadian National Selective Service discriminated against Jews when assigning workers to munitions factories. A post-War Gallup poll placed Jews second, behind the Japanese, on the list of most undesirable immigrants.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, employment discrimination
against Jews in Canada was rampant. During this time, there were racial prohibitions that stopped Jews from becoming lawyers, pharmacists, miners, loggers, or fishermen, and denied them minimum wage
rights and welfare benefits. Typical employment applications asked for racial origin and religion, and if a Jew was inadvertently hired by misrepresentation, he or she could be fired. There were few to none Jewish teachers
, professors, architects, principals, engineers or accountants. Many institutions maintained quotas on how many Jews they would hire, or hired none at all (such as the City of Toronto, who refused to hire Jewish police officers and transit workers). Often owners and managers tried to deflect them by putting up signs with slogans such as “Gentiles Only,” or “No Jews or Dogs Allowed.”
A 1948 article on anti-Semitism in Canada, written for MacLean’s magazine by Pierre Berton
, illustrates this racism
: Berton hired two young women to apply for several of the same jobs, one under the name Greenberg, and the other under the name Grimes. While Grimes received interviews for nearly every application, positions that were available for Grimes were “already filled” when Greenberg applied for them, or Greenberg’s applications were simply never answered. When Berton contacted several of these companies, he was told, “Jews did not have the right temperament,” that “they don’t know their place” or that “we don’t employ Jews.”
Universities and professional schools also set quotas on Jewish enrolment or refused Jewish students completely. For example, the Toronto General Hospital
accepted only one Jewish internship per year.
Clubs and resorts in Canada also denied Jews access with their “exclusive clientele” policies. The St. Andrews Golf Club in Toronto sported a sign that said, “This course is restricted to Gentiles only. Please do not question this policy.” A Montreal resort boasted a sign that read “Christians Only,” but also employed someone who “walked along the beach with a megaphone, politely inquiring whether there was a Jew present despite the warning, and asking him to leave as quickly as possible.”
Berton, during his research on Canadian anti-Semitism, sent two letters to each of 29 summer resorts, one under the name of Marshall, and one under the name of Rosenberg. “Marshall” received twice as many reservations as “Rosenberg,” including at some resorts who told “Rosenberg” they were full, or who did not reply to him at all.
Anti-Semitic residential separation was also prevalent during the 1930s and 1940s, and was done through racial restrictive covenants. These either involved agreements among owners of neighbouring properties to not sell or rent their houses to members of certain races, or were clauses placed in deed
s by land developers that restricted ownership according to racial origin. Once instituted, both types of covenants were legally registered and could be enforced by the courts.
Anti-Semitism is still a concern in Canada, however. In 2009, anti-Semitic incidents reached over 113 incidents, with some reports listing 479 in Toronto alone.
In 2009, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism
was established by all four major federal political parties to investigate and combat antisemitism, namely new antisemitism. However, anti-semitism is less of a concern in Canada than it is in most countries with significant Jewish populations. The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith
monitors the incidents and prepares an annual audit of these events.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
’s Jewish community dates back to the 18th century, and antisemitism in Canada has confronted the nation's Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
since this time.
Antisemitism in Canada
Antisemitism has been apparent in Canada ever since the first Jews arrived in the 18th century.Up until the 1930s
In 1807, Ezekiel Hart was elected to the legislature of Lower CanadaLower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. Hart was sworn in on a Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
as opposed to a Christian Bible. A great objection was raised that Hart had not taken the oath in the manner required for sitting in the assembly — an oath of abjuration, which would have required Hart to swear "on the true faith of a Christian". Hart was expelled from the assembly, simply due to his religious beliefs.
A major exponent of anti-Semitism in the 19th century was the anti-Semitic prominent writer and critic Goldwin Smith
Goldwin Smith
Goldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford...
, who spread his hatred through books, articles and letters. He claimed Jews were "parasites," "dangerous" to their host country and "enemies of civilization."
Anti-Semitism was very strong in the province of Quebec, where the Church viewed Jews as a threat.
The most notorious incident of violence against Jews occurred in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1910 when many people attacked Jewish storekeepers and damaged their businesses, urged on by Joseph Plamondon.
The shopkeepers wanted to see legal action against Plamondon, but were only awarded minimal costs, four years later.
1930s-1940s
On March 14, 1938, Dr. H U. Granow, the GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
consul-general in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, wrote to the Department of External Affairs for laws that would require “race or colour” to become a factor of legal consequence, pertaining to laws that govern issues such as the exercise of civil
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and political rights, marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, sexual relations, professions, school and university acceptances, and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
.
During the 1930s and 1940s, several societal models reflected this anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
: In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, several laws denied voting rights on the ground of race in provincial and federal elections. Those disqualified from the vote were also forced to abstain from jury duty
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
, public office and volunteering in war.
Between 1930 and 1939, Canada almost completely rejected all Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe, receiving only 4,000 of the 800,000 total Jews looking for refuge across the globe. For example, the SS St. Louis
SS St. Louis
The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner most notable for a single voyage in 1939, in which her captain, Gustav Schröder, tried to find homes for 937 German Jewish refugees after they were denied entry to Cuba. The event was the subject of a 1974 book, Voyage of the Damned, by Gordon Thomas and...
sailed out of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in May 1939, carrying 936 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
. Because Jewish immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
was contrary to public policy in Canada at the time, the passengers were denied entrance to Canada. A 1943 Gallup poll put Jews in third place, below the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
and Germans, as the most undesirable immigrants to Canada.
The Great Depression encouraged a search for scapegoats amongst “foreigners,” including Canadian-born Jews, and the rise of Hitler in Germany, along with international anti-semitic propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
, justified prejudiced and exclusionary practices against Jews in Canada.
Some outbreaks of violence against Jews and Jewish property culminated in 1933 with the Christie Pits riots
Christie Pits
Christie Pits Park, originally Willowvale Park, is a Toronto public recreational area located at 750 Bloor Street West at Christie Street, just west from the TTC Christie subway station...
; six hours of violent conflict between Jewish and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
youths in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Local synagogues were set ablaze, and swastikas and Nazi slogans began to crop up on Toronto’s eastern beaches, where Jewish bathers were also attacked.
In 1934, Adrien Arcand
Adrien Arcand
Adrien Arcand was a Montreal journalist who led a series of fascist political movements between 1929 and his death in 1967...
started the ‘Parti national social chrétien
Parti national social chrétien
The Parti National Social Chrétien was a Canadian political party formed by Adrien Arcand in February 1934. The party identified with anti-semitism, and German leader Adolf Hitler's Nazism. The party was later known, in English, as the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party or National Unity...
’ in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, patterned after the Nazi party. His party’s actions brought about anti-Semitic rallies, boycotts, propaganda and literature, which lead to the inception of several other Nazi-like organizations throughout Canada. In 1938, the National Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Convention was held in Toronto's Massey Hall
Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
, showing Canada’s complete passivity about the domestic spread of fascism and propaganda.
The outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
saw even more anti-Semitic practices put into place. Units in the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
rejected Jewish volunteers, and the Canadian National Selective Service discriminated against Jews when assigning workers to munitions factories. A post-War Gallup poll placed Jews second, behind the Japanese, on the list of most undesirable immigrants.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, employment discrimination
Employment discrimination
Employment discrimination is discrimination in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation. It includes various types of harassment....
against Jews in Canada was rampant. During this time, there were racial prohibitions that stopped Jews from becoming lawyers, pharmacists, miners, loggers, or fishermen, and denied them minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
rights and welfare benefits. Typical employment applications asked for racial origin and religion, and if a Jew was inadvertently hired by misrepresentation, he or she could be fired. There were few to none Jewish teachers
Teachers
Teachers may refer to:* Teachers, people who provide schooling for pupils and students* Teachers , one of the five Ascension Gift Ministries* Teachers , a British sitcom* Teachers Teachers may refer to:* Teachers, people who provide schooling for pupils and students* Teachers (ministry), one of the...
, professors, architects, principals, engineers or accountants. Many institutions maintained quotas on how many Jews they would hire, or hired none at all (such as the City of Toronto, who refused to hire Jewish police officers and transit workers). Often owners and managers tried to deflect them by putting up signs with slogans such as “Gentiles Only,” or “No Jews or Dogs Allowed.”
A 1948 article on anti-Semitism in Canada, written for MacLean’s magazine by Pierre Berton
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
, illustrates this racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
: Berton hired two young women to apply for several of the same jobs, one under the name Greenberg, and the other under the name Grimes. While Grimes received interviews for nearly every application, positions that were available for Grimes were “already filled” when Greenberg applied for them, or Greenberg’s applications were simply never answered. When Berton contacted several of these companies, he was told, “Jews did not have the right temperament,” that “they don’t know their place” or that “we don’t employ Jews.”
Universities and professional schools also set quotas on Jewish enrolment or refused Jewish students completely. For example, the Toronto General Hospital
Toronto General Hospital
The Toronto General Hospital , is a part of the University Health Network, and a major teaching hospital in downtown Toronto, Ontario. It is located in the Discovery District, directly north of the Hospital for Sick Children, across Gerrard Street West, and east of Princess Margaret Hospital and...
accepted only one Jewish internship per year.
Clubs and resorts in Canada also denied Jews access with their “exclusive clientele” policies. The St. Andrews Golf Club in Toronto sported a sign that said, “This course is restricted to Gentiles only. Please do not question this policy.” A Montreal resort boasted a sign that read “Christians Only,” but also employed someone who “walked along the beach with a megaphone, politely inquiring whether there was a Jew present despite the warning, and asking him to leave as quickly as possible.”
Berton, during his research on Canadian anti-Semitism, sent two letters to each of 29 summer resorts, one under the name of Marshall, and one under the name of Rosenberg. “Marshall” received twice as many reservations as “Rosenberg,” including at some resorts who told “Rosenberg” they were full, or who did not reply to him at all.
Anti-Semitic residential separation was also prevalent during the 1930s and 1940s, and was done through racial restrictive covenants. These either involved agreements among owners of neighbouring properties to not sell or rent their houses to members of certain races, or were clauses placed in deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
s by land developers that restricted ownership according to racial origin. Once instituted, both types of covenants were legally registered and could be enforced by the courts.
1950-present
Since World War II, there has been a large decline of antisemitism, with new ideas and leaders and the creation of Israel.Anti-Semitism is still a concern in Canada, however. In 2009, anti-Semitic incidents reached over 113 incidents, with some reports listing 479 in Toronto alone.
In 2009, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism
Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism
Formed in March 2009, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism is a group of Canadian parliamentarians organized for the stated purpose of confronting and combating antisemitism in Canada...
was established by all four major federal political parties to investigate and combat antisemitism, namely new antisemitism. However, anti-semitism is less of a concern in Canada than it is in most countries with significant Jewish populations. The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith
B'nai Brith Canada
B'nai Brith Canada is the Canadian section of B'nai Brith . It was founded in 1875 and is the country's oldest Jewish service organization.-Members:...
monitors the incidents and prepares an annual audit of these events.