Terry Newman: Carney isn’t serious about antisemitism — and neither is CBC

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a visit with members of the Jewish community and law enforcement leaders at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Ontario on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Peter Power/Postmedia News)

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Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t serious about antisemitism, and neither is our national broadcaster.

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In a speech on Monday at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he suggested that the antisemitism the Canadian Jewish community has been experiencing can be boiled down to differences in a pluralistic society that are generating friction due to competing claims that we can have legitimate debates about.

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Interestingly, the CBC did not provide Canadians with this part of Carney’s speech, nor did it inform them that the council Carney tasked with solving antisemitism includes members with histories tied to groups and causes that are widely viewed as hostile to Jews or supportive of designated terrorist organizations.

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The synagogue’s chief rabbi, Yael Splansky, who couldn’t be there in person because her father had just received surgery in the United States, pre-recorded a video thanking Carney for being present and provided a detailed outline of the fears felt by the Jewish community.

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“We are listening carefully for your clear commitment to confront antisemitism wherever it festers,” she said, pointing out that antisemitism “is not a Jewish problem,” and that “only government can govern.”

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Local Liberal MP Leslie Church spoke about the community, telling a story about bringing her daughter to a synagogue, and her confusion over why it would need police security when their church doesn’t.

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Liberal MP Evan Solomon — whose family has deep, multi-generational ties in the congregation — said the same things Jewish-Canadians have been hearing since October 7: that they are “facing a level of antisemitism that is unacceptable, it’s frightening and it’s dangerous.”

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None of these speeches reached Canadians through the CBC, however. And neither did most of Carney’s remarks, because the public broadcaster did not provide its audience with the full, uninterrupted speech.

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Instead, readers were presented with an article containing three short clips, all under four minutes in length (Carney’s actual speech was just over 26 minutes long). And one of them was the CBC’s TV news story on the speech, which its flagship news program, the National, buried behind numerous other stories, including artificial intelligence and an unfavourable court ruling for U.S. President Donald Trump — showing just how much our public broadcaster cares about this issue.

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Carney’s proposed solution to rising antisemitism is a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, chaired by, of all people, the minister of Canadian identity and culture, Marc Miller.

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The prime minister said the council will “co-ordinate a whole-of-federal-government approach to antisemitism,” ensuring that “federal policies, workplaces, public safety programs and community initiatives are aligned in protecting Jewish-Canadians, confronting hate and promoting inclusion.”