Just one day before Manitobans bore witness to the swearing in of their first Indigenous premier, one Niverville resident was in Ottawa to attend a national anti-racism conference of global significance.
Roger Armbruster, pastor and director of Canada Awakening Ministries, joined nearly a thousand others for the two-day conference held at the Shaw Centre, just blocks from Parliament.
The theme of the event: confronting antisemitism.
The interfaith gathering, held from October 16–17, drew members not only from the Canadian Jewish community but those from Christian and Muslim backgrounds as well. The goal was not simply to address hate towards one sect of people, Armbruster says, but towards all sects.
The timing of the conference, planned months ago by the Jewish Federations of Canada, could not have been more fitting. Just ten days earlier, war broke out at Israel’s southern border after Hamas launched a series of brutal attacks. Thousands have been killed, injured, or taken hostage.
Since that time, demonstrators in support of both sides have taken to the streets around the world. In Canada, like many countries, tensions are running high.
In Ottawa, the conference featured keynote addresses from the leaders of each of Canada’s four major political parties, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, and Yves-François Blanchet. All were united in their main message: there’s no place for hate on Canadian soil.
“While all politicians were treated with great respect and honour, by far the loudest and longest ovations went to Pierre Poilievre as he talked about the connection of the Jewish people to a land and a language that goes back some 3,000 years,” says Armbruster.
Attendees also heard from Arif Virani, Canada’s Minister of Justice. Virani is Muslim by faith.
Several speakers joined by video, including the president of the World Jewish Congress, the founder of Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, and the president of Israel.
“The focus was against hate, not against people holding different political and/or religious beliefs, as the diversity of beliefs was great,” says Armbruster. “[We were] held together by the common belief that all human beings are created in the image of God our creator and are therefore worthy of dignity, value, and respect based upon our common humanity that transcends nationalistic, political, and denominational lines.”
In reference to increasing conflict in the Middle East, Armbruster says that it’s important to recognize that Hamas is not only anti-Jewish but also anti-Palestine, as large numbers of Palestinians do not support their cause.
“It’s true that we should not be celebrating Israel’s response or pretend that many innocent Palestinian civilians aren’t being killed in the retaliation in an attempt to get back the hostages,” Armbruster says. “Yet it became crystal clear that Israel’s retaliation is intended as a defensive measure to root out Hamas, not a brazen all-out assault on civilians such as [Hamas inflicted] on October 7. The conference did make clear that there is no moral equivalence between the two.”
Throughout the conference, 116 meetings were led by a collection of 30 different Canadian and international experts, each of them in attendance to talk about fighting contemporary antisemitism.
“While Canada can still be regarded as one of the best countries to live, we still have a long way to go,” Armbruster says.
This point was driven home when security guards warned attendees not to leave the building through the main exit due to a gathering of protestors who were blocking the way.
“One could see police cars with red lights flashing, and a mob outdoors, even though the event itself had been a very peaceful assembly with representatives from the leadership of all four main federal political parties involved in peaceful discourse.”
Fortunately, the exit Armbruster chose led directly to his nearby hotel, which he reached without incident.
Two of his Manitoban colleagues, however, were not as lucky.
“They came out at exits where there was still an angry mob hurling insults and spewing hatred at people that they did not even know, and there was little police presence at the point where they exited,” says Armbruster. “It is really sad to think that this kind of venom and pure hate would find expression in Canada, just ten days after the events of October 7.”
Armbruster feels privileged to have been one of five ministers from Manitoba selected to attend by their sponsor, Jewish businessman Larry Vickar of the Vickar Automotive Group in Winnipeg.
And while it was thrilling to witness all of Canada’s top leaders come together under the same cause, Armbruster says that it won’t be political figures who turn the tide of antisemitism in Canada.
“While we need good government and good laws, the law itself seems to be powerless to change and to transform hearts and attitudes, or to get to the root cause of hatred in the human heart.”
