| LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
Official
Record of Debate
(Hansard)
HATE
CRIMES
April
13, 2004
Mr
Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): I'm asking all members
to join me in condemning in the strongest possible terms
an act of vandalism that occurred over Easter weekend.
This act was terrible because it can only be interpreted
as being anti-Semitic and racist.
As
reported in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, the National
Post and the Globe and Mail, vandals attacked and knocked
over 12 large headstones in the historic Beth Jacob
cemetery located in the city of Kitchener. This act
strikes a sickening chord for the Jewish community in
our riding of Waterloo-Wellington and for the Jewish
people everywhere who are listening to story after story
of hateful vandalism, desecration, and recently even
a fire-bombing -- in Canada, a country known worldwide
for the strength of our democracy, diversity and tolerance
for people of all nations and creeds. Our freedoms and
liberties depend on these principles. To keep them alive,
we must never weaken our resolve to speak out against,
eradicate and punish fully all hate crimes, those we
know to be committed against people based on who they
are or how they pray.
What
made these acts particularly despicable is that they
occurred during both Passover and Easter weekend, a
time to celebrate hope and redemption for both Christians
and Jews. Before coming to the House today, I spoke
with Gordon Strauss, president of the Beth Jacob synagogue.
I told him how badly I felt about this and wished him
and his community the best through this horror that
we are enduring together. Let this statement and all
actions we take contribute not to undue publicity for
these cowardly acts but to condemning such acts by refusing
to sit back while people are denigrated by crimes of
hate and inhumanity.
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