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Or sign-in if you have an account.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at Holy Blossom Temple synagogue in Toronto on Monday June 1, 2026. Ernest Doroszuk/PostmediaTORONTO — Prime Minister Mark Carney is good at saying all the right things, as he did during a speech on combating antisemitism at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple on Monday afternoon. But talk is cheap. In terms of actual policy prescriptions, Carney might as well have held up a white flag and admitted he has no idea what to do.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorIn a prerecorded message preceding Carney’s address, the synagogue’s chief rabbi, Yael Splansky, called on Canada to “make good on its promise of peace, order and good government,” noting that, “When hate is tolerated, it grows … when laws are not enforced, permission is granted and lawlessness escalates.“And when Canadian elected leaders publicly condemn Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, Jewish-Canadians pay the price.” That was clearly aimed at Carney, who has been more critical of Israel than any prime minister in the last 20 years — which is saying a lot considering who his predecessor was.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againYet given Carney’s track record on Israel, it showed fortitude for him to stand next to an Israeli flag and forcefully condemn the sharp rise in antisemitism that this country has witnessed over the past three years. He admitted that Canada’s “civic compact is failing Jewish-Canadians,” and that the government has “a special responsibility to ensure that no culture, faith, race, gender or identity is threatened or suppressed.”He acknowledged that Canada’s very “nature is being tested, as one of our communities is being particularly and brutally targeted,” noting that, “Antisemites in Canada have fired bullets at Jewish schools. They have thrown firebombs at synagogues and attacked community centres. They have targeted Jewish-owned businesses. Harassed Jewish patients at hospitals. Drove Jewish students from the common spaces on our university campuses. And desecrated our Holocaust memorials.”The prime minister told a story about attending the opening of a Jewish centre at the University of Ottawa, saying that the “otherwise joyous event occurred under heavy police presence and was interrupted by angry shouts of some passers-by.”That heavy police presence could also be seen surrounding Holy Blossom Temple on Monday, with an army of police officers setting up camp in the parking lot and blocking traffic on the surrounding streets during rush hour. Likely the only reason the event wasn’t marred by the same antisemites Carney spoke of was because the Prime Minister’s Office kept the location a closely guarded secret.Sitting in the 170-year-old synagogue waiting for Carney to take the stage, one of my colleagues asked if I had any idea what the announcement would be. I mentioned the possibility that Carney might not announce anything at all.Surely the prime minister wouldn’t gather a large crowd — including members of Parliament, chiefs of police, community leaders and media — and not say anything worthwhile, I was told.But I argued that if Carney merely tries to sell the audience on the measures his government has already taken and announces the creation of a royal commission or something of the sort, it will show that the Liberals are intent on making it look like they’re doing something, while failing to do what’s necessary to deal with an intractable problem like the world’s oldest hatred.And indeed, the prime minister boasted about introducing “six pieces of legislation to bolster public safety and to combat antisemitism and other forms of hatred.” He bragged about Bill C-9 creating “new offences for intimidation and obstruction at places of worship,” even though these are already crimes.He expressed pride in committing $75 million to fund the Canada Community Security Program, right after Rabbi Splansky told the audience that it only covers “a fraction of the true cost of protecting ourselves from those who wish us harm.” And he lauded the police chiefs in attendance, going as far as to brag about giving them new laws to enforce, despite the fact that they’ve largely failed to enforce the ones we already have.Carney’s big “announcement” was the launch of a new Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, which will be chaired by Culture Minister Marc Miller. Only the advisory council had already been announced bback in February. The only thing new we learned is who will be sitting on it, and that its “first responsibility” will be to “address antisemitism.”The makeup of the new advisory council includes some questionable choices. Miller, for example, served as immigration minister from July 2023 to March 2025. Given that Canada has welcomed unprecedented numbers of newcomers over the past decade, many from countries with high rates of antisemitism, it seems unlikely that he will be willing to admit that some of his own policies may have contributed to the problem.It also includes Avnish Nanda, the lawyer who represented the anti-Israel students who launched a Charter challenge against the University of Alberta after they were evicted from their illegal encampment, and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.Alghabra, in particular, has faced considerable scrutiny for his views on Israel and questions over his support for Islamism. He’s the former president of the Canadian Arab Federation, a group that, after this tenure, lost federal funding for its apparent support of Hamas and Hezbollah. In 2022, he defended his attendance at a Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group reception attended by Nazih Khatatba, the editor of an Arabic-language newspaper accused of spreading antisemitism.This is not to say that either Nanda or Alghabra are antisemites, but given their history, they are certainly odd choices to lead a council tasked with, as Carney put it, “preventing radicalization and addressing institutional biases.”Carney said the advisory council will be charged with assessing “the nature, the scale and the drivers of antisemitism”; co-ordinating a “whole-of-government approach to antisemitism”; improving data collection on hate incidents; and measuring the impact of the government’s response.None of these are bad things, but they amount to little more than a plan to come up with a plan. We already know the ideology and groups that are driving antisemitism in Canada, but the prime minister refuses to call them out by name. We already have data showing a sharp increase in hate crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions.What we need is action to ensure that Canada’s immigration system is not fuelling antisemitism; that educators are training students to become productive members of society, not anti-Israel activists; and that police are enforcing the law to show those who are bringing anarchy to our streets that actions have consequences.Carney should be commended for calling out the “crisis of antisemitism” as something that is “specific, severe and demands a targeted response.” This is the kind of language that he and his predecessor shied away from for far too long. He is also right that the “deeper work” of addressing antisemitism “falls to each of us”; that we must speak out against hate when we see it and not allow it to metastasize.But merely setting the tone and calling on Canadians to be better people is not enough. It is not going to change the minds of those who think it’s acceptable to shoot at Jewish schools. It’s not going to overcome the indoctrination and radicalization that’s taking place on social media and in our school system.Talk is cheap, and although Mark Carney knows how to work a crowd and say exactly what people want to hear, his time in office has shown that all the talk in the world won’t build infrastructure, improve the economy or curb the lawlessness in our streets.National Post jkline@postmedia.comTwitter.com/accesd Get the latest from Jesse Kline straight to your inbox Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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