← North Star with Ellin Bessner25 sept. · 24 min

Canada's Jewish leaders call for armed guards, more police at all their institutions

Canada's Jewish leaders call for armed guards, more police at all their institutions25 sept.24 min

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Warning: This podcast contains a clip of hateful language.

Both B’nai Brith Canada and Montreal’s Jewish federation, Federation CJA, have issued a call to change legislation in some provinces, including Quebec, that currently prevents private armed guards from working at Jewish institutions. B’nai Brith Canada also wants “a sufficient police presence at every Jewish institution in Canada.” CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, also called for more resources to keep Jewish communities safe.

Police and provincial officials in Belleville told a media conference Sept. 24 that the synagogue shooter had the motivation, means and materials to carry out a mass-casualty attack aimed at the Jewish community that could have destroyed the Sons of Jacob synagogue on Yom Kippur evening. While the police force did not have prior intelligence warnings about the shooter, who died in hospital on Sept. 21, Chief Murray Rodd said the former army corporal carried out a deliberate attack, “a hate crime,” and that proactively stationing an on-duty police officer at the synagogue “was the right place at the right time.”

His message to Canadian police forces: “It is clearly time that we all be proactive.”

Canada’s ministers of justice and public safety have condemned the Belleville attack. In a document released the same day as the Belleville police chief’s media conference, Ottawa pledged to do more to stop antisemitism, which the government now describes as “a threat to national security.” The report also defines modern antisemitism as a phenomenon that can include anti-Zionism.

On today’s episode of North Star, Yair Szlak, president and CEO of Federation CJA, speaks about security issues for Canada’s second-largest Jewish community and what they want to see happen. The interview was taped before the Belleville attack.