OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says he's alarmed at the "disturbing" rise of anti-Semitism globally, singling out Venezuela and Iran as the worst offenders, likening Iran and its president to Germany under Adolph Hitler.
"I don't think since the Nazi regime ... the world has seen a government, which, in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, threatens to annihilate literally millions of Jews and that is what we see now," Kenney told MPs on the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism.
Kenney went on to say he found it "disturbing" reports he has read indicate acts of violence against Jews in "western European liberal democracies," as well as across the Third World, were on the rise.
"We see it in parts of the developing world, we see it with the growing trends in Venezuela, where the collective Jew and individual Jews are being targeted as scapegoats," Kenney said.
Khaled Mouammar, national president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said Kenney is using the term anti-Semite too loosely and is running the risk of watering down its meaning.
"When you accuse everybody of being anti-Semitic you're confusing people as to what is a true anti-Semite, and true anti-Semites can hide behind this and say: 'We are being accused by this government, but everybody else is also being accused,' " said Mouammar.
The normally non-partisan unofficial committee meeting also set the stage for opposition MPs to attack Kenney for the Conservative party's use of so called "10-percenters."
The term refers to flyers MPs are permitted to send to voters in other ridings, at taxpayers' expense, so long as the flyers are limited in number to a maximum of 10% of households in the MPs own riding. The cost of sending out such flyers stands at about $10 million annually.
Kenny came under fire for a series of 10-percenters sent into a number of Liberal held ridings with large Jewish populations. Opposition MPs claimed the flyers suggested the Liberals were anti-Semitic. Kenny denied the charge, insisting the mailings were an attempt to draw a comparison between how the Liberals have responded to various attacks on Israel compared to Tory policy toward the country.
"I don't accept the characterization that some people have made, that this accused MPs of anti-Semitism," said Kenney. "I do regret if anyone felt that this was an attack on their personal integrity or their commitment to battling anti-Semitism."
