Independent Jewish Voices thanks the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) for pressing Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree to address the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism in the Summer 2026 National Commitments to Combat Antisemitism Progress Report. His October 16 response offers a very limited clarification, but falls well short of the full public correction that is needed to address the harm caused by his department’s report.
The minister writes that the report was not intended to suggest that all criticism of Zionism, Israeli government policies, or the State of Israel is antisemitic. However, this clarification appears to directly contradict the progress report’s assertion that anti-Zionism is antisemitic. This raises serious questions about which position the government actually endorses, and whether the minister’s statement is really only an attempt to soften the report’s implications.
This limited acknowledgment reflects the pressure the government has faced from thousands of participants in IJV’s letter campaign and NCCM’s and CJPME’s sustained advocacy. The minister has been compelled to respond, but has yet to correct the public record. A private assurance to one organization does not resolve the government’s public conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. The report remains on the government’s website, where it states:
“Antisemitism, which includes anti-Zionism, is not always obvious,”
“Contemporary manifestations of antisemitism [include] anti-Zionism.”
Therefore, government officials and pro-Israel advocacy groups that seek to discredit Palestine solidarity can and will continue pointing to that uncorrected language as the government’s position.
The letter also leaves the central issue unresolved. Saying that not all criticism of Zionism is antisemitic does not clearly affirm that anti-Zionism is itself a legitimate political position. In fact, the letter does not address anti-Zionism at all.
Anti-Zionism cannot just be reduced to criticisms of any one Israeli government policy. Anti-Zionism reflects a commitment to equality and a rejection of a political system that privileges Jewish rights and subjugates everyone else.
Much of the minister’s response also reaffirms the government’s commitment to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition – the very framework at the heart of our concerns – and its Canadian handbook, which IJV has explicitly condemned and critiqued through our “Silenced in our Name” report. The letter acknowledges IHRA’s use in law enforcement education. Repeating that the definition is non-binding does very little, if anything, to address how it shapes institutional decisions and the treatment of Palestinian rights advocacy.
The government must make its public record and institutional practices consistent with its assurances. It must immediately and publicly retract the report’s conflation, publicly affirm that anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitic, and remove this conflation from government guidance and police and justice-sector training materials.
If the government is serious about combatting antisemitism, then it must respect the political diversity of Jewish communities and protect the right of Palestinians and their allies to challenge Zionism and advocate for freedom and equality for all.
Take action today and send Public Safety Canada an email demanding that the public record be corrected: