Episode Details

During the Senate’s 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.

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’t 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 “clear and present danger” of antisemitism was so serious, they wanted their recommendations for action to come out immediately.

“We’re not asking for the government to sort of dither around and think about it. There’s nothing more to think about. There’s a blueprint right now. Implement that blueprint with immediacy,” he says.

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—a former provincial court judge and longtime Chief of Saskatchewan’s Human Rights Commission—believes our education system has failed to produce informed citizens. As a result, he believes young people are more susceptible to misinformation they find online.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Arnot joins host Ellin Bessner to explain why he is convinced there’s no more time to waste to fix “this black mark on Canadian society.”

Related links

• Read the report’s findings and get Canadian Jewish leaders’ reactions, in The CJN .
• Watch the news conference where the Senators share their report’s findings, on April 21.
• Hear why Senator Leo Housakos was unhappy that fringe anti-Israel and anti-Zionist groups and witnesses were permitted to testify during the hearings, on The CJN’s “North Star” podcast from Jan. 2026.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

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