From: Auric Hellman <adhellman1@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?B=E2=80=99nai_Brith_Canada_Urges_Mandatory_Antisemitism_T?=
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2025 14:58:19 -0400
Organization: www.aaup.org
June 30, 2025
OTTAWA â Following allegations that a government employee vandalized
Canadaâs National Holocaust Monument earlier this month, Bânai Brith
Canada is urging lawmakers to mandate antisemitism training for civil
servants at all levels.
Over the weekend, Ottawa police arrested 46-year-old Ian Aspliender, who
is alleged to have used red paint on or about June 9 to desecrate the
monument and scrawl the words âFEED ME.â
Aspliender was working as a solicitor for the City of Ottawa during the
incident, although he was reportedly on a leave of absence at the time.
He has since been fired, according to the City, which confirmed the
decision Sunday.
âWhile we are extremely concerned about the incident and the weekendâs
news, Bânai Brith Canada applauds the Ottawa Police Service and the City
of Ottawa for their swift action,â said Richard Robertson, Research and
Advocacy Director for Bânai Brith Canada. âThis sort of targeted,
hate-motivated vandalism is not only an attack on Canadian Jews, but
also on our collective conception of this countryâs multicultural,
multifaith democracy.
âThat a public servant may have been motivated to carry out such an
egregious act is an indictment of the entire system. Our leaders must
respond with more than mere condemnations â this is a clarion call for
mandatory antisemitism training and more effective approaches to
combating the scourge of hate plaguing this country.â
This is not the first time Bânai Brith Canada has stressed the
importance of antisemitism training for all civil servants. Our
organization has, in a series of submissions to federal and provincial
governments, advocated for mandatory antisemitism training.
https://www.bnaibrith.ca/bnai-brith-canada-urges-mandatory-antisemitism-training-for-civil-servants-after-ottawa-vandalism-arrest/
Where do these people find the audacity to make such demands? Jewish
people have had an easy experience here in Canada. I do not see where
the words "FEED ME" are offensive to anyone, let alone Jews. Stop seeing
hate where there is none. The fact that it happened on a Holocaust
monument is incidental. Many public monuments have been vandalized; it's
just happenstance that this one was a sensitive target. What happens is
authentic incidents of anti-Semitism get dismissed.
--
ADH
adhellman1@gmail.com
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