OTTAWA – At the second hearing of the Canadian Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism, parliamentarians listened to testimony about the issue of antisemitism at some Canadian Universities.

“Among democratic countries, Canada and the United Kingdom are the international pioneers in this field,” said Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, director of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs. “Your country’s image is increasingly being tainted abroad, by both the incidents of antisemitic hatred on a number of your campuses and also the poor reactions of campus administrations against it.”

The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) has invited the presidents of major Canadian universities to testify about the problem of antisemitism on some campuses in Canada and hopefully explain to the panel what can be done about it.

Representatives from six universities were expected to appear before the panel on Tuesday, Nov. 24, including:

• Dr. Sheldon Levy, president, Ryerson University;
• Prof. Patrick Monahan, vice-president Academic and Provost, York University;
• Dr. Fred Lowy, President Emeritus, Concordia University;
• Dr. Bernard Shapiro, president emeritus, McGill University;
• Francine Page, director, Centre for Equity and Human Rights, University of Ottawa, and
• Robert Steiner, assistant vice-president, University of Toronto.

 For more information on the parliamentary inquiry, as well as dates and locations of hearings, visit www.cpcca.ca/inquiry.htm.