Hon. Alice Wong, P.C.

On February 24, 2015, Alice Wong spoke in the House of Commons on a take-note debate on the rise of anti-Semitism.  The following is a transcript:

Hon. Alice Wong (Minister of State (Seniors), CPC):
Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Mount Royal for his remarks. I know that he has worked very closely with the Minister for Multiculturalism over the years on the issue of combatting anti-Semitism.

Could the hon. member describe his own experience in working on this important issue with the government and with the Minister for Multiculturalism in particular? Could he highlight some of the accomplishments that resulted from this co-operation?

Hon. Irwin Cotler:
Mr. Chair, we had, I believe, members from all parties and all sides working together to establish the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism. The Minister for Multiculturalism played an important role, which reference was made earlier. From that we both went to London for the London Conference Against Anti-Semitism in 2009. The minister was there. He played a central role in the 2010 Ottawa Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism.

In both London and Ottawa, we adopted important declarations and protocols, and the minister referred to them this evening.

I will conclude by saying that I take this to be a shared objective and a shared engagement by members of all parties. The time has come to sound the alarm about this globalizing hatred, which is the canary in the mine shaft of global evil.

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