More than 80 Canadian business leaders have signed a joint letter asking federal, provincial and municipal governments to ramp up safety efforts for citizens in response to the rise of antisemitism and other forms of hate over the past several weeks.
The support from individual business leaders speaking out about hate crimes follows a series of attacks and protests that have occurred in major cities across Canada, including protesters targeting a Jewish-owned café in Toronto, and vandalism at an Ottawa-based mosque. While many large corporations have been donating millions in humanitarian aid for victims of the conflict overseas, the letter is addressing violence on Canadian soil.
Business leaders are asking all governments to increase the level of security within communities that are at risk for hate crimes, and for Ottawa to re-evaluate the federal-government-funded Security Infrastructure Program to consider the use of security guards.
“We urge the Ottawa Police Service to continue investigating this as a potentially hate-motivated crime,” Mr. Brown said in a press release. “We have yet to see an organized and concerted effort from our elected officials to formulate a real plan to push back against this utterly appalling rise in anti-Muslim hate.”