OTTAWA–GATINEAU, April 27, 2022

This evening marks the beginning of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is a time to mourn and remember the victims of the Holocaust, when more than 6 million Jews, at least 500,000 Roma and Sinti, and other targeted vulnerable minorities including the Jewish disabled, were brutally murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.

As we take the time to remember the many lives lost and acknowledge the courage of those who survived, we must also recognise that there are forces that continue to seek to divide us. Jewish communities in Canada and around the world are facing a frightening rise in acts of antisemitism. This is unacceptable, and as a society, we must condemn this violence and continue to stand firmly against it. 

To honour the tragic memories of the survivors, and to combat antisemitism, hatred, and racism at home and abroad, the Government of Canada reappointed the Honourable Irwin Cotler as Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. Through Budget 2022, the Government of Canada will provide $5.6 million over five years to support the work of the Special Envoy.

The Government of Canada will also provide $20 million to support the construction of the new Holocaust Museum in Montréal, and $2.5 million for the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund and Museum Assistance Program. Proposed amendments to the Criminal Code will also prohibit denying or downplaying the Holocaust in Canada. 

As Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, I encourage all Canadians to learn more about the Holocaust, read and listen to stories of survivors and reflect on the root causes of this atrocity, so that it never happens again. We owe this to the victims and survivors.