Justice committee  Very quickly, Statistics Canada, yes, gets good data, but it's always a year behind. When you talk with the U.S., France and Britain, they basically can get the information if not in a weekly way, at least in a monthly way. This helps everybody, including decision-makers, and that is something that Canada should be able to do.

Justice committee  In terms of police, a lot of police forces say that they don't really have the resources or the expertise to train their people well. I think there's a role to play for the federal government to basically have a turnkey program for prosecutors and for police forces to say, “You know what, police force?

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Morantz, for your question. Our disagreement with the government on some of its decisions regarding the current Hamas-Israel conflict is well known, and we're public about that. Our disappointment with and our condemnation of the vote at the UN was public, and when we had to disagree with the government, we disagreed.

Justice committee  I understand, but I just want to say—

Justice committee  Please let me finish—

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. MacGregor. Think about it. For many Jews, going to synagogue is like going through the airport. There's security at the door. Imagine your church or your temple having to go through that level of security. It is very expensive for members of the Jewish community, when they belong to a synagogue, to have to pay for this.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Fortin. Religion is not an acceptable defence for inciting hatred and should never be, period. If I were an MP, as I was 25 years ago, I would vote for this bill.

Justice committee  Thank you, sir. In a word, yes, we need better training. I mentioned this. Judges need to be better trained. Law enforcement needs to be better trained. The entire system needs to be better trained. There is a lack of understanding of what anti-Semitism is and how pervasive it is.

Justice committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here on behalf of CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. I'll be frank and direct: There is a crisis of antisemitism in Canada. The Prime Minister called the recent rise of anti-Semitism “terrifying”, and he's right. Since October 7, we've seen in Toronto a 93% rise in hate crimes, the majority of which are directed at the Jewish community.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It goes further than school. I think the vast majority of Canadians, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had no idea about the Holodomor—the systemic creation of famine to kill millions of Ukrainians. Canadians did not know about that or about how the Ukrainian community here was impacted by this.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for your question, Ms. Fortier. There are several levels. First, there's the presence of these guests in the House, and then there are the tributes paid to them. As for their presence, it's the responsibility of the House, but also of each of you and your offices, to ensure that the people invited to the parliamentary precinct won't cause this kind of problem.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First of all, members of Parliament have to do part of the verification. Second, the names must be submitted to the House Administration, and the House security services must have the means to ensure that the people who are invited won't cause this kind of problem. Then, when the intention is to pay tribute to a guest, the verification should be even more thorough.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's exactly it, Ms. Fortier. They must also be given the resources to do so.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's a worthwhile proposal, as long as the people around the table have the resources to do their job properly. Once again, you are overwhelmed, running from committee to committee, sitting in the House, your constituents are calling you, and so on. So I understand the constraints you have as human beings.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No. I mentioned the importance of properly vetting.