Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing criticism after his government’s new advisory council on antisemitism was revealed to include a former minister who once objected to labeling the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a terrorist group and a lawyer who represented anti-Israel encampment activists.

Speaking in Toronto, Carney acknowledged that “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians” as he unveiled the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion. He called antisemitism a scourge and tasked the group with an initial mandate to examine the drivers of anti-Jewish hatred. The announcement noted that Jewish Canadians, roughly 1 percent of the population, were targeted in more than two-thirds of religion-motivated hate crimes last year.

But the membership quickly drew fire. Among the appointees is Omar Alghabra, a former transport minister and former president of the Canadian Arab Federation. In a 2004 press release, Alghabra’s organization chided CanWest publications for inserting the word “terrorists” into wire stories describing Middle Eastern groups, citing a National Post story that called the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a terrorist group. The federation rejected the terror labeling after Ottawa had already listed the group, and had earlier opposed Canada’s designation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorist entities.

Alghabra also told the Jewish Tribune in a 2006 interview that he “didn’t believe that Hamas wants the elimination of Israel,” despite it stating so in the very first paragraph of the terrorist group’s charter.

Also named was litigator Avnish Nanda, who represented pro-Palestinian campus activists in a lawsuit against the University of Alberta in 2024 after the university called in police to clear an encampment it said raised public safety concerns.

The council’s other members include former senator Marc Gold, LGBT activist Martine Roy, retired Olympic skater Catriona Le May Doan, Metis advocate Gary LaPlante, and academic Aftab Erfan. Gold previously chaired the Jewish Federations of Canada, and critics noted he is the council’s only Jewish member. The body, chaired by Culture Minister Marc Miller, replaced the special envoy positions on antisemitism and Islamophobia that the government eliminated in February.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blasted the appointments. “I’m not sure he’s the right guy to combat antisemitism,” he said of Alghabra, accusing him of previously lobbying to keep Hezbollah legal before entering politics. “The last thing we need is another council. This is the problem with Mark Carney. Every time there’s a problem, he creates a new bureaucracy, agency, council, that does nothing except pay high per diems and expenses to a bunch of Liberal insiders.”

Critics in the Jewish community argued the council lacks expertise on antisemitism. Law professor Michael Geist wrote that the body has been asked to approach antisemitism with more study and data collection, “but we are long past the time when the community needs more study.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)