When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed seasoned diplomat Deborah Lyons to a two-year term in 2023 as Canada’s envoy to combat antisemitism and preserve Holocaust memory, he accentuated the positive.
“Ms. Lyons will be a critical voice in fighting antisemitism and preserving the memory of the Holocaust so that younger generations know the truth about what happened and how antisemitism continues today,” said Trudeau.
Lyons, whose official title was Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, struck a more realistic note.
“Antisemitism is a daily reality for too many people from Jewish communities in Canada and around the world,” she said, choosing not to mince words.
Lyons, who served as ambassador to Israel from 2016 to 2020 and as deputy ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2013, replaced Irwin Cotler, the former Liberal justice minister who was the first occupant of that post. He held it from 2020 to 2023.
Lyons was named to the position nine days after Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip breached Israel’s border fence in multiple locations and proceeded to kill roughly 1,200 civilians and soldiers and abduct 251 Israelis and foreigners in a wide swath of communities in the Western Negev.
This led to a tremendous outpouring of pro-Palestinian sentiment and a wave of anti-Israel fervor and antisemitism, which all too often merged in a toxic brew of age-old hatred in public places and university campuses.
Last year, Jews were the most targeted minority group in Canada, with a total of 920 hate crimes having been directed at them, according to Statistics Canada.
Lyons, now 75, said she accepted the job to work for a better Canada. When she took on that role, her office was underfunded. Last year, the federal budget added $7.3 million over six years to its annual $1.2 million budget, the same amount received by the Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia.
On July 17, three months before she was due to step down, she announced her retirement with “a heavy heart.”
While she did not explain why she was prematurely leaving, she said her office fought antisemitism with “a vigor and a passion not seen in many countries,” working with institutions such as police forces and universities to improve understanding of anti-Jewish hate.
The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs praised her performance, saying she “brought clarity, conviction and compassion” to roles ranging from championing Holocaust education to addressing the rise in antisemitism across Canada and abroad.
Lyons’ role in combating antisemitism was consistent with Canada’s “recognition that human rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible,” a federal government press release states.
Her mandate included collaborating with international partners to strengthen and promote Holocaust education, remembrance, and research world-wide, and advocating for a broader international adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
In a post on X, she wrote that her tenure had brought her “many challenges, some profound disappointments, but also, ultimately, real achievements.”
Lyons, who is not Jewish, said her office helped reestablish Canada’s commitment to inclusivity on the global stage and “counter the negative imagery of Canada’s struggle with antisemitism” in the wake of October 7.
“We, as Canadians, need to double down our efforts, most particularly in the areas of seamless cooperation among the three levels of government, to combat hate,” she added.
In a frank admission, she acknowledged that she was exhausted after spending nearly two years “waking up every day to a fight.”
“In recent years, it has been troubling to witness our lack of patience, our intolerance, and our inability to bridge the gap that separates us,” she said. “I know we are better than this, and although I am leaving my role as Special Envoy, I will continue the mission we all share, that of a united, compassionate, and inclusive Canada.”
Lyons, however, was critical of Canadian business executives, religious leaders and politicians who failed to support the Jewish community. “It was troubling in the last few years to see our lack of patience, lack of tolerance, and inability to reach out across the gulf to one another. I know we are better than this.”
“I would say that during this period, these last two years, I’ve been really quite amazed and often become quite despondent and despairing about the fact that it was hard to get people to speak up, to speak with clarity, to speak with conviction about what we were seeing happening here on Canadian soil.”
A few days before she announced her resignation, Lyons released a report on antisemitism in Ontario public schools. It was written by the sociologist Robert Brym.
In a comment on X, Lyons said, “When administrators and teachers ignore — or worse, perpetuate — antisemitism, they send the message that Jewish kids are not safe or valued. It is our hope that school boards across the country read this report and take necessary action before classes resume in September.”
Brym’s key findings are alarming.
More than 40 percent of antisemitic incidents involved Nazi salutes, assertions that Hitler should have finished the job, and the like. Fewer than 60 percent of antisemitic incidents referred to Israel or the Israel-Hamas war.
Nearly one in six antisemitic incidents were initiated or approved by a teacher or involved a school-sanctioned activity.
Just over two-thirds of antisemitic incidents occurred in English public schools. Fourteen percent occurred in French, Catholic, and non-Jewish private schools.
Nearly three-quarters of antisemitic incidents took place in the Toronto District School Board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and the York Region District School Board.
Forty-nine percent of antisemitic incidents reported to school authorities were not investigated. In nearly 9 percent of cases, school authorities denied the incident was antisemitic, or recommended that the victim be removed from the school permanently or attend school virtually.
Due to such incidents, 16 percent of parents moved their children to another school or considered doing so. Some moved to a different neighborhood to enrol their children in other schools, especially private Jewish schools.
Lyons is confident that the government will fill her vacancy, and hopes that her successor will be Jewish.
The Canadian Heritage told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Lyons’s replacement will be appointed “in due course.”