Matthew Taub: After Carney’s announcement, Canadian Jews are discussing a Plan B

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

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Years ago, my wife and I were out for a walk when she asked me a question that has never left me.

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“When did they know it was time to leave?”

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She was talking about Jewish communities in other countries and other eras — communities that believed they were safe, established and fully integrated into the societies they called home. When did they realize things had changed? How did they know that what was happening around them was not temporary? At what point did leaving stop being unthinkable and start becoming necessary?

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At the time, it felt like a historical question, the kind of thing you wonder about but never expect to apply to your own life.

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Today, around Shabbat tables across Canada, a different version of that same question is being asked: If things continue on this path, where would we go?

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That question alone should alarm every Canadian.

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Not because people are packing their bags tomorrow. Most are not. But because the answers are already being discussed. Florida. Texas. Panama. Israel.

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For most Canadian Jews, these are not vacation destinations in this conversation. They are possibilities. They are options. They are what has come to be known as Plan B.

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And that is what many Canadians do not understand.

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Canadian Jews never had a Plan B.

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We were not constantly looking over our shoulders. We were not maintaining contingency plans. We were not quietly preparing escape routes. Canada was the plan.

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For generations, Canadian Jews believed they had found what previous generations could only dream of: a country where they could live openly as Jews, build businesses, raise families, contribute to society and know that their future was secure.

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Canada was Plan A.

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Canada was also Plan B.

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That assumption is beginning to crack.

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Since October 7, Canadian Jews have watched Jewish schools being shot at, synagogues being firebombed, community centres being targeted, university campuses becoming hostile environments, and antisemitic incidents reaching levels that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago.

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Equally damaging has been the response. Too often, Jewish concerns have been treated as political complications rather than urgent warnings. Too often, institutions have appeared more interested in managing optics than confronting reality.

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The result is not panic.

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It is something far more significant.

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It is doubt.

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In recent days, I have heard more discussion about Plan B than at any other point since October 7.

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Ironically, it came after the prime minister’s announcement on antisemitism and the creation of a new council tasked with addressing it.

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The announcement was intended to reassure Canadian Jews. Instead, for many, it had the opposite effect.

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Not because Canadian Jews oppose efforts to combat antisemitism. We have been demanding action for nearly three years.