Vivian Bercovici
Jewish Chronicle, May 1, 2025
“Mark Carney’s leadership means Canadian Jews are unlikely to be able to count on the police to enforce criminal, civil, or constitutional law in ways that protect their rights, freedoms, or safety.”
Since the results of the Canadian federal election were confirmed early Tuesday morning, my phone and message apps haven’t stopped buzzing. Many Canadian Jews are so concerned about their future that they are planning to leave – for good.
Canadians are much more like Europeans than their U.S. neighbours. We are, by and large, more conservative in lifestyle. We tend to go to university close to home and often return to raise our families near the childhood nest. We just don’t move around a lot.
Among the many conversations I’ve had since Monday was one with an old friend from high school in Toronto, who married a woman from Montreal and did the reverse migration (it’s much more common for Montrealers to move to Toronto for language and opportunity). He loved it there for decades. His children – now in their late 20s and early 30s – all speak French, which was not the norm for my generation. Compared to Toronto or Vancouver, Montreal is far more affordable and liveable. But yesterday, my friend said they were done. They’re pulling up stakes and moving everything – including a highly profitable business – to the U.S. Two of his three children are marrying Americans, and he’s urged them to secure citizenship asap. He’s not alone.
In my home community of Toronto – where around 225,000 Jews live – concern about the future is off the charts. On a recent visit ahead of the elections, nearly everyone I spoke to voiced grave concern about what would happen should Prime Minister Mark Carney prevail. Now that he has, some are inquiring about aliyah. Others are exploring options in the U.S. Few expect to remain in Canada long-term.
Hysteria? Or prescience?
Canada’s newly elected prime minister only recently replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader and now holds a fresh mandate. A climate zealot, Carney will be familiar to many in the UK as the former Governor of the Bank of England (2013–19). During his tenure, he treated the role not as a neutral technocrat – as tradition would suggest – but as a political activist. …SOURCE