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Or sign-in if you have an account.Hamas supporters protest in front of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto on June 5, 2025. Photo by Peter J. Thompson / NationalPostA June 2026 ACS-Léger survey finds that most Canadians reject the idea that the Holocaust belongs mostly to the past and has little relevance today. That’s reassuring. But the same survey also shows that roughly one-third of Canadians believe the Holocaust is no longer pertinent to the present. At first glance, this view might be interpreted as a desire to move beyond a painful and increasingly distant history. But a closer look at the survey results point to another explanation. The survey reveals that those relegating the Holocaust to the past are far more likely than other respondents to adopt antisemitic views.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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 AccountorAmong Canadians who say they have become more negative toward Jewish people in Canada since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, 51 per cent strongly agree that the Holocaust is mostly an issue of the past. This view is also held by 41 per cent of those who strongly agree that Israel’s military actions in Gaza justify negative attitudes toward Jewish people in Canada. Among those who strongly agree that Jewish people in Canada are responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, 55 per cent strongly agree that the Holocaust belongs to the past.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 againWhat explains the connection between endorsing antisemitic tropes and the desire to “move on” from the Holocaust? It’s that its memory gets in the way. For those seeking to justify hostility toward Jews in Canada as a legitimate response to events in the Middle East, the Holocaust remains an impediment: a moral, historical and political warning against collective blame, demonization and the normalization of antisemitism. Declaring the Holocaust irrelevant to the present helps remove that obstacle.But this does not usually stop at forgetting. More often, it involves displacement: pushing the Holocaust out of the centre of historical memory and replacing it with an alternate version of the past, one in which Jews are no longer primarily remembered as victims of hatred but recast as beneficiaries of excessive sympathy, privilege, or even as perpetrators whose suffering has been overemphasized. In that reframing, Holocaust memory is not merely neglected; it is contested, minimized, inverted, or turned against Jews themselves.This helps explain why antisemitic attitudes and the desire to “move on” from the Holocaust are connected. The Holocaust stands as a rebuke to the mindset that antisemitism depends on: treating Jews as collectively responsible, imagining Jewish influence as insidious and presenting hostility toward Jews as a form of moral or political resistance. To diminish the Holocaust’s relevance is therefore to weaken one of the strongest historical barriers against the revival of antisemitism.In this sense, the desire to consign the Holocaust to the past is not simply amnesia. It is often an attempt to reorder memory in the service of a present-day political agenda — one that requires Jewish vulnerability to be forgotten, relativized, or replaced by a narrative in which antisemitism can be justified.On Canadian Multiculturalism Day, June 27, the survey results are especially insightful because they reveal how fragile the boundary can be between celebrating diversity and tolerating narratives that undermine it. Multiculturalism is not only about recognizing difference; it also depends on a shared refusal to hold communities collectively responsible for conflicts abroad, and on the willingness to protect minority communities from being judged through political grievances directed elsewhere.That principle is being tested. Rising polarization, international conflicts, misinformation and competing claims about identity and belonging have made multiculturalism more vulnerable to selective application. The survey suggests that those most prepared to excuse hostility toward Jews in Canada are also more likely to want the Holocaust pushed aside as a moral reference.Outside Israel, Canada has one of the highest proportions of Holocaust survivors in the world — part of a community that has made a profound mark on this country. When that history is treated as expendable, Jewish belonging becomes easier to question as well. For that reason, Canadian Multiculturalism Day should be an occasion not only to celebrate diversity, but also to recognize the challenges multiculturalism faces when prejudice is rationalized, historical memory is minimized, or minority communities are made vulnerable by conflicts beyond Canada’s borders.That is why it is important to guard against those who would appropriate Canadian Multiculturalism Day in support of political agendas. A day meant to celebrate pluralism and strengthen mutual respect should not be turned into an occasion for advancing political narratives that decontextualize history or invite Canadians to view one community through the grievances of another. Multiculturalism is not served by selective memory, nor by historical accounts that intensify suspicion and fuel resentment. Ideally its objective should be to reduce intercultural tension, not to exacerbate it.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.