Canada’s special official for fighting antisemitism announced on Thursday that she is retiring her post, three months before the end of her term.
Deborah Lyons served as Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism since October 2023, and was set to serve until this October.
In a social media post announcing her departure, she did not explain why she is leaving before then.
Lyons did say that she is leaving “with a heavy heart” and with some deep disappointments while also pointing to achievements, including work with institutions like universities to improve understanding of anti-Jewish hate.
She said her office fought antisemitism “with a vigour and passion not seen in many other countries,” and yet she leaves with concern over Canadians who feel they must pick a side when it comes to defending humanity.
“Support to one community should never mean, or be interpreted as, minimizing another community. Our value of inclusivity has at its core our ability to hold the concerns of multiple communities in our hearts and minds,” Lyons wrote.
“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.”
Lyons took up the role just days after the start of the Israel-Hamas war that prompted large protests across Canada, which triggered a spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims and especially Jews. She says her office managed to “counter the negative imagery of Canada’s struggle with antisemitism that followed October 2023.”
She says there must be “seamless co-operation amongst the three levels of government to combat hate” and joint efforts from business, education and faith sectors.
Rosemary Barton speaks with Deborah Lyons, Canada’s new special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, about the rise in antisemitic incidents across Canada and why leaders and schools need to do more to combat hate. “This is an issue right across the country,” said Lyons.
On Monday, Lyons took the unconventional step of releasing a report about issues that fall squarely into provincial jurisdiction, urging Ontario school boards to take seriously incidents of anti-Jewish bigotry targeting students, after she commissioned a survey of Jewish parents with children in the province’s schools.
Lyons was the second person to hold the post of antisemitism envoy, following former attorney general Irwin Cotler, who filled the role between 2020 and 2023. She is not Jewish, but served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel between 2016 and 2020.
In a statement, Canadian Heritage said Lyons’s replacement will be appointed “in due course.”
“The special envoy is retiring to spend more time with her family after reaching the milestone of turning 75 and a distinguished career in the public service,” the statement said.
Her departure prompted messages of support from Jewish advocates.
“She’s brought clarity, conviction and compassion to a critical mandate,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs wrote in a statement.
