KINSELLA: Is Prime Minister Mark Carney antisemitic?

As someone who has exposed and opposed antisemitism for 40 years, I’ve paid close attention to what Carney has said and done – and it’s not terribly encouraging

Published Jun 27, 2026  •  Last updated 17 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at Holy Blossom Temple synagogue in Toronto on June 1, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun

The question always comes up: is Mark Carney antisemitic?

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For a couple months, I’ve been touring the country to give talks about my new book and documentary. The book is called The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda and the documentary is called The Campaign: Disinformation in a Time of War, both of which should give you an idea what I’ve been talking about.

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The tour has involved lots of synagogues, community centres, hotel meeting rooms, podcasts – in front of hundreds of people. Jewish, Muslim, Christians, whatever: lots of folks, diverse backgrounds. (No mentions at CBC or in the pages of the Toronto Star, however.)

Usually, there’s a question and answer part, and I get all kinds of queries about the explosion in antisemitism that has happened globally. I get asked about Canada, too, where the Jew hatred problem is among the worst. And then that one question inevitably comes up:

Is Prime Minister Mark Carney antisemitic?

I usually parry that one. I’ve known a lot of Prime Ministers, I’ll say, and I’ve worked for one. But I don’t really know Carney. He’s a bit of mystery, to me. As someone who has been exposing and opposing antisemitism for 40 years, I’ve paid pretty close attention to what Carney has said and done – and, more importantly, what he hasn’t said and done – and it’s not terribly encouraging. Lately, it’s been alarming.

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Let’s look at what Mark Carney has said and done about Jews and the Jewish state in the past year or so.

April 2025: On the campaign trail, Carney said “I’m aware” when challenged about the fake “genocide” in Gaza.  Later, during the French-language leaders’ debate, he said he planned to continue funding the United Nations agency whose employees had participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre of Jews. 

June 2025: Carney directed that Canada vote for a UN resolution that demanded a ceasefire in Gaza – but no sanction of Hamas. 

July 2025: In this month, Carney was busy. He accused Israel of violating international law, then announced Canada’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state – which is a state, then and now, run by a designated terrorist entity, Hamas. He pledged lots of funding, too.

September 2025: Carney-led Canada recognized Hamas-led Palestine as a state, and again accused Israel of violating international law. (Again: not Hamas.)

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October 2025: In the unlikely event he ever came to Canada, Carney said he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested for crimes against humanity. (Netanyahu, for his part, did not pledge to arrest Carney for the Liberal Party’s previous acknowledgement of genocide against Indigenous peoples.)

March 2026: Carney again condemned Israel for fighting back against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He called it “illegal.”

May 2026: Carney denounced Israel’s treatment of Gaza “aid” flotilla participants, calling it “appalling.” He did not comment on the fact that the Gaza flotilla arrived without any “aid.”

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Earlier this month, Carney spoke at Holy Blossom Synagogue in Toronto. (Full disclosure: I’m speaking there on Monday.) In the lead-up to it, Carney and his communications apparatchiks made a big deal about what he was going to say. I fell for their spin.

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The speech was eviscerated by every single Jewish organization and Jewish leader in Canada, however. Not one of them had anything good to say about it. Among other things, they were angry that Carney created an antisemitism advisory panel that would include a former Liberal MP who had previously advocated against Hamas being designated as a terror group. That one: wow.

Carney applauded Trump’s deal with Iran

A few days later, Carney applauded Donald Trump’s deal with Iran, which would give the Jew-hating Islamist dictatorship billions and let it keep its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program. Carney said the deal, which is insane, was a “game-changer” that “exceeded” his expectations.

And then, this week, the cherry on top: Carney said Canada was “at a disadvantage” because it doesn’t have a diplomatic presence in Iran, the world’s leading abuser of human rights and exporter of terror. There was talk online, too, of Carney permitting Iran to reopen its embassy in Ottawa, which has been closed since 2012.

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Why does Mark Carney do these terrible, awful things? I don’t know. My personal theory is that his economic policies make Stephen Harper look like a Bolshevik. So, to keep the NDP at bay, and to keep their voters voting for him, he periodically throws an anti-Israel bone to the Left.

In the U.S., the Democrats are doing the same thing. It’s disgusting and cynical, of course, but it makes Carney – the most conservative Liberal leader, ever – look “progressive.” 

But it also makes him look something else, doesn’t it?

So, on Monday night at Holy Blossom in Toronto, I will almost certainly be asked about that, again. I will be asked if the Prime Minister of Canada is an antisemite.

I plan to say what I usually say.

“I don’t know.”

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