Canada appoints Deborah Lyons as new special envoy on antisemitism

Justin Trudeau has appointed former ambassador Deborah Lyons as Canada’s new special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism.

Lyons is the former ambassador to both Israel and Afghanistan. She replaces former attorney general Irwin Cotler who held the role for three years.

The role entails collecting data and advocating for Jewish people when faced with antisemitic attacks in Canada and abroad. Similar roles exist within the federal government for Muslim and LGBTQ2A+ communities in the country.

Lyons was named Monday morning during a conference on antisemitism being held in Ottawa.

Speaking with reporters, she said her appointment comes at “the malignancy growing here, that cancerous hate speech, that desire to polarize and divide and disrupt and destroy the spirit that is Canada.”

To help combat this hate, and to strengthen Holocaust education, I am appointing Deborah Lyons as Canada’s new Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. Learn more about her and the work she’s going to do in this role: https://t.co/6cMiS5qYnP

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 16, 2023

Lyons’ move into the role follows a gruesome attack on Israel led by Hamas on Oct. 7. The ongoing violence has left at least 1,400 dead and has sparked concerns from the United Nations that Israel is violating humanitarian law by depriving Palestinian civilians of food, water and electricity.

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The events have been marked by rallies and protests throughout Canada, some of which have included overt antisemitic messages.

“Although we might each feel alone in this pain and misery … there is only one pathway and that is for all Canadians to come together, as Canadians, in our shared humanity,” Lyons said.

She said her job will be to tackle a rise in hate speech targeting Jewish people, particularly on university campuses and on social media.

“Working with communities across Canada, we must and will promote and support extensive efforts on antisemitism education. And yes, we will visit the universities,” she said.

“We will be working very hard with the major corporations and governments everywhere to address the online antisemitism.”

While Lyons herself is not Jewish, she says it is important for all Canadians to work together to eliminate dehumanizing rhetoric and learn from the horrors of the Holocaust.

The new Special Envoy says she supports a definition of antisemitism that has been embraced by many western countries, including with the current federal Liberals, though it has been opposed by human-rights groups.

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The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance says that antisemitism includes “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” and “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

In April, 104 civil society organizations from Israel and other countries urged the United Nations not to use the definition, with groups such as Human Rights Watch arguing that it hinders serious inquiry about whether Israel is undertaking apartheid against Palestinians.

Lyons argues that the definition helps to determine when someone is making fair criticism and when they are zoning in and out of Israel out through an anti-Jewish lens.

“The purpose of the antisemitism definition is very clear and the definition itself is clear,” she said.

“When it becomes a complete and constant target, without any other focus, or balance with other conflicts or controversies, then it becomes very obvious that it is done from an antisemitic perspective.”

Thus far Lyons has declined to weigh in on whether Israel is respecting international humanitarian law in its current “total siege” of the Gaza Strip, saying she can advise the government privately but does not have a mandate to weigh in on geopolitics.

This report was created with files from The Canadian Press 

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