The BC Civil Liberties Association has provided a written submission to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy urging that the Government of Ontario not adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (“IHRA”) definition of antisemitism put forward in Bill 168, Combating Antisemitism Act, 2020.
Bill 168 requires the Government of Ontario to be guided by the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and the list of illustrative examples of it adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance plenary. While we vehemently condemn antisemitism and all forms of racism, the IHRA’s definition and list of illustrative examples is extremely vague, open to misinterpretation, and not suitable for any legal or administrative purposes in Canada. In our submission, Bill 168 is an unreasonable, unjustifiable, and, hence, unconstitutional, infringement on freedom of expression.
