To those MPs who make up the CPCCA.

 
On the face of it your Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism is a noble thought, though I wonder why only anti-semitism, which is on the decline, is selected when there is so much real hatred around.
However the purpose that appears to be behind this CPCCA is not so noble at all.
Firstly let me look at Canada.
Quebec has a very special place in this country as they retain their French heritage and have French as their first and main language, and Canada has an official two language policy as a result.  Does this follow throughout the country? The answer is no.
In New Brunswick people are truly bi-lingual in French and English, but in BC it is English and Hindi or Mandarin, and in Alberta the second language is probable Ukrainian. In the north it is probably English, French and the language of the Inuit.
Because of ignorance due to lack of proper education most Albertan and BC people have no time for Quebecers, believing them to be separatist. This is acerbated by the present government constantly feeding into their perceived distrust of the Bloq. Personally I believe the best Prime Minster for Canada right now could be the leader of the Bloq.
So let us for one moment take the position of Quebec and separatism.  The last referendum to separate was defeated, narrowly yes but defeated.  This means that there were more people who wish to stay in Canada than those who wish to leave.  Our current Prime Minister ignores that majority as he disparages their representatives in the House of Commons claiming falsely that they only wish to break up Canada, thus fuelling the fires of ignorant anti-Quebec feelings in his part of the country. He is encouraging the attitude of hate towards Quebec, First Nations people, gays, artists and women all in the same way.
 
Canada is rife with racial, religious, life style and political hatred spurred on by the bigots from pulpits and political leadership.
 
Does this mean that criticizing the Canadian government’s actions in causing all this hatred is also criticizing the Canadian people who are brainwashed and apathetic? Are we now to correlate with your intention and make criticizing Canada also a hate crime?  Surely our right to freedom of speech applies to both Canada and Israel.
 
Should not your ad hoc committee be also looking at that?
 
The point here is that people such as I, and I know with the younger generation this is also true, really do not care who and what you are because you are another human being travelling between birth and death doing the best you can.  I may not understand you, I may even hate what you stand for but I stand by your right to have those beliefs.  I do not stand by your right to exert those beliefs on either myself or any one else any more than I have the right to force my beliefs on you. 
 
If you are a black, gay, female Jew, then good for you.
 
However, I also claim the right to be critical of the governments of Canada, Israel or North Korea in equal measure.  In a perfect world those governments would represent their people but in these three cases they do not.  A criticism of those governments is not an indictment of the people of those countries anymore than it is an indictment of a Jew, North Korean or Canadian living in New York, on Vancouver Island, or in Australia.
Israel claims to be the home state of all Jews but does not accept that many Jews do not wish to be there and many Jews do not condone the actions of the government of Israel.
 
Anti-Semitism has been around for centuries and will be with us as long as it is promoted by organizations such as yours, which in spite of its name now wishes to promote a “new anti-Semitism”, in order to include the State of Israel in that definition.
 
Israel is just another country which should not expect and should not receive special treatment from anyone, nor should they be above international law.   Do you have even one really good reason why this should not be so?
 
I would go so far as to say that the two most terroristic countries in the world are the USA and Israel, and we, through this Reform/Alliance coalition government particularly, blindly befriend them both, so what does that make us?
 
Lastly I am reading a book entitled Antisemitism Real and Imagined, which is largely comprised of submissions which your committee received but neither acknowledged nor considered as they did not fit with your pre-determined outcome. They were all against the concept of criticism of Israel being considered a hate crime in Canada, which appears to be your real reason for meeting.
 
As with those learned writers, mostly Jews, so am I against such an aim by the CPCCA considering it a hypocritical waste of time, and because you are all paid by the people of Canada, I object to such a waste of money as well. Perhaps you would all do well to pay attention to your constituents instead of your masters from Israel.
 
Jeremy Arney