In early April, The Globe and Mail published three articles calling for “civility.” First, “An open letter to Canada’s political leaders – for the sake of the country’s future” was signed by 51 people, including a number of disgraced ex-politicians. Immediately, a reporter recapped the letter in a Globe article, and then the Globe’s editorial board again reiterated the arguments in “The defence of civility rests on all of us.” The original letter has been widely discussed: for example, CBC The Current host Matt Galloway referenced it while interviewing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the show.
The letter and follow-ups respond to protests against Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, which the Canadian government continues to support diplomatically and through weapons imports and exports. But the letter in the Globe doesn’t engage with the genocide directly and instead only mentions “the current conflict.” Their core argument is that the dissent we’re seeing is harmful to society. They repeat the saying, “Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence.” Conspicuously, they don’t think denouncing genocide would “improve the silence.”
What they choose to say instead reads like ChatGPT was asked to generate a patronizing lecture about Canadian “civility.” The letter includes a list of redundant and unserious recommendations that deal with a range of issues, from school curricula and research to public awareness. They evoke personal responsibility, saying that leaders need to “Help Canadians understand that words and actions… can still contribute to fear and insecurity that weaken us as a society,” as if Canadians are primary school students. Most crucially, they call for more policing of protests.
This letter came just three days after hundreds of Toronto police, using a minor traffic violation as their initial justification, assaulted people at a family-friendly, pro-Palestinian protest, tackled and pinned a bystander and protesters to the ground, rode horses through the crowd, and hospitalized several people.
So what do the letter-writers mean by “civility?” They imply that if one chooses to remain complicit in or profit from Israel’s disgusting violence, please let them do so undisrupted, peacefully, and with the protection of the police.
Calls to be civil and civilized, rather than uncivil or uncivilized, have been used for generations to demonize people with legitimate grievances and to declare their emotions and forms of expression as illegitimate. This tactic has in the past upheld racism and classism against Indigenous peoples, Black people, poor people and others. Now, appeals for civility are being used as a tactic to try to suppress and dismiss speech that is critical of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. It is an attempt to silence.
And the silence kills. This is why there are mass movements against Israel, the Canadian government, and complicit corporations like Scotiabank, which holds the largest international stake in Elbit Systems, the main manufacturer of Israeli weapons.
Taking a look at the letter’s signatories, it is no surprise why they would take such interest in propping up calls to civility.
Ed Burtynsky, for instance, is co-founder and current co-chair of the Scotiabank Photography Prize. The prize and other arts organizations funded by Scotiabank are currently under pressure from the “No Arms in the Arts” coalition – a group of artists and cultural workers who are calling for Scotiabank’s divestment from Elbit.
Ironically, at least four prominent signatories of this letter who support the suppression of public dissent have violated various codes of ethics in their careers.
Former Toronto mayor John Tory, whose administration worked with police to use excessive violence to evict unhoused people out of encampments in parks, resigned promptly after having an affair with one of his subordinates. Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau resigned after breaking multiple ethics rules related to taking paid trips from the WE Charity. Former MP Art Eggleton hired his ex-girlfriend for a government research project and was forced to step down. And former Quebec premier Jean Charest lost his premiership after sending police for over 100 days to crack down on student strikers, then became an oil pipeline lobbyist for Energy East and didn’t disclose that fact to regulators when he met with them about the project, thus throwing the review process into chaos.
Former MP and member of John Tory’s re-election team Barry Campbell is currently a high-powered lobbyist and was a driving force behind this letter. A new precedent in lobbying law was set after the courts heard how, while acting as a lobbyist, Campbell raised tens of thousands of dollars for a sitting politician in 1999.
These are just a few of the people lecturing us about civility and personal responsibility.
Supporters of Israel are also signatories. Bernie Farber has called criticism of Canadian ties to the Israeli military antisemitic, like when people called out Heather Reisman for her support of the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers. John Fraser, former Liberal MPP, denounced current MPP Sarah Jama for supporting Palestine. Ted Cape, a former media exec, made his own YouTube vlog spreading the now-widely disproven “beheaded babies” lie. Bruce Leboff is a board member with the Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal. And Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl regularly posts and shares pro-Israel content on social media.
The signatory group is also connected to two significant organizations: the Canadian International Council (four signatories) and PEN Canada (seven).
The Canadian International Council (CIC) was founded in 1928 by members of Canada’s elite, including businessmen, military officials, and newspaper publishers, as an institute to promote Canadian and British Commonwealth interests abroad.
CIC directors who signed the letter include Peter Donolo (former advisor to Liberal leaders), John English (former MP and military scholar), Chris Kilford (ex-military) and Mary Janigan (ex-journalist, formerly on Globe & Mail editorial board). Other signatories have also attended CIC events.
Several other signatories are associated with PEN Canada, an organization that claims to “defend freedom of expression and writers in peril.”
At least seven PEN Canada staff, board or advisory council members signed the letter: Theresa Johnston (PEN Canada office manager), Philip Slayton (former president), Grace Westcott (former executive director), Valerie Connor (author), Mark Kingwell (philosophy professor), Anna Porter (author, publisher) and Karen Walton (screenwriter).
Since Oct. 7, PEN Canada did not directly mention Israel’s assault on Gaza in its newsletters until February. Out of 11 events it put on, only one, in March, focused on Israel-Palestine (specifically how “to bring North American Palestinian and Jewish communities together”). And PEN Canada has not launched a campaign in support of the many Palestinian writers, including Heba Abu Nada, Inas al-Saqa, Omar Abu Shaweesh, and Nour al-Din Hajjaj, who have been killed in the last six months.
Refaat Alareer, one of those murdered writers, wrote the well-known poem “If I Must Die.” It concludes with the lines, “let it bring hope / let it be a tale.” He says, and we repeat: Let the story of this horrific violence be told. Let it resound against the silence.
The Globe letter’s call for civility attempts to bury Israel’s abhorrent violence against Palestinians beneath the values of empathy and mutual respect. Of course, empathy and mutual respect seem good. We should try to understand each other!
But there is no understanding without truth. And the truth cannot be muffled by nice platitudes, no matter how many out-of-touch elites sign on in a desperate bid for cover. The Palestinian cry for freedom is louder, clearer, and more urgent than ever. And here, in so-called Canada, there is no future if we do not take up its call.
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Signed, in alphabetical order by last name:
Jennifer Akyildiz
Greg Albo, professor, writer, editor, activist
Shaima Al-Khalili
Niomi Anna Cherney, Independent Jewish Voices
Jeremy Appel, author and journalist
Fitsum Areguy, writer
Julius Arscott, Executive Board Member, OPSEU-SEFPO
Julia Barnett
Amanda Bateman, Toronto St. Paul’s for Palestine
Amber Biglin, nurse, United Nurses of Alberta
Sabaa Bismil, Spadina-Fort York For Palestine
Elizabeth Block, potter, Independent Jewish Voices
John Cameron, Publisher, Briarpatch Magazine
smadar carmon, retired, Independent Jewish Voices
Irina Ceric, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Laurie Chalifour, project manager
Jody Chan, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto, Daybreak Poets Collective
Hannia Cheng, Artist, Cultural Worker
Oliver Compton, bookseller
Andrea Crawford, Podcast Guest Relations
Jess Czarnecki, writer
Larissa Diakiw, writer, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto
Camil@ Díaz-Varela, musician & theatre artist, Parkdale-High Park for Palestine, Sumudna Choir
Ben de Boer, Art Installation Technician, The Power Plant (OPSEU/SEFPO)
Ehsan
Katrina Elbassiouny
Tarik El-Tyeb, Franchise Owner, Sportball Halton
Akram Elwazani, OPSEU-SEFPO
Noha Fikry, University of Toronto
Anna Fitzpatrick, Novelist
Kim Fry, Climate Specialist, Educator
Zvi Gaster
Alisa Gayle, Jews Say No To Genocide
Amanda Glasbeek, Associate Professor, York University, Independent Jewish Voices
Jill Glessing, TMU faculty, writer, CUPE 3904, World Beyond War, Davenport for Ceasefire, SCAN
Luin Goldring, Professor of Sociology, Independent Jewish Voices
sue goldstein, artist and activist, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-Canada
David Gray-Donald, Publisher, The Grind
Howard Green, Retired Assistant Deputy Minister (Government of Canada), Independent Jewish Voices
Atia Haq, Registered Psychotherapist, University-Rosedale 4 Palestine
Sunday Harrison, Executive Director, Green Thumbs Growing Kids
Nicholas Hauck
Stefan Hegerat, independent musician
Pauline Hwang, Nogojiwanong 2 Palestine
Maryam Iler
N. Isaac
Jewish Faculty Network Steering Committee
Sophie Jin, Briarpatch Magazine
Brett Kelly
Pooja Malhotra, Scarborough Southwest For Palestine
T.Y. Kui
Jennifer Kwok, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Pennsylvania
Amy Lam, artist and writer, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto
megan linton, student
Loulou, Queer Muslim Network, Eglinton-Lawrence & Don Valley 4 Palestine
Y. Lucas, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Brooke Lydbrooke, retired teacher
Bella Lyne, Toronto St. Paul’s for Palestine
Jessica Lyons, Registered Nurse, Jews Say NO to Genocide
Colleen M, Scarborough Southwest For Palestine
Phoenix Marko
Azad Mashari
Tara McMahon, Social Worker, OCSWW, City of Toronto
Jonathan McPhedran Waitzer, community organizer, Resource Movement
Andrea Meeson, editor, writer, administrator, University-Rosedale 4 Palestine
Vahedah Mehrabani, Registered Nurse
Ariella Meinhard, Registered Social Worker
Sam Nabi, community organizer
Nahla, Psychiatry, Western University
Rebecca Nelson
Zoë Newman, Jews Say No To Genocide
Ayla Nguyen
Charles Nguyen, self employed
Cassie Norton, musician, Music for Climate Justice
Dana O’Pray
MPP, Filmmaker
Palestinian Youth Movement – Kitchener-Waterloo
Mélodie Paquet
Sara Peters, writer
Dr. Hossein Renani, engineer
Matthew Richard
Madeleine Ritts, social worker
Jillian Rogin, Associate Professor, University of Windsor
Daniel Rosenbaum, Physician, University of Toronto
Sam Rowan, Writing Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Toronto Metropolitan University, University Rosedale for Palestine, CUPE 3904
Candice Rozario
Bilal Sabra
Sid Sharp, author-illustrator, Jews Say No To Genocide
Dr. Leslie Solomonian, ND, MPH, Professor and Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Doctors for Environmental and Social Trust
Robin Simpson, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto
Louise Smith, Independent Jewish Voices, Jews Say No To Genocide
Sumudna, Choir (Toronto)
Noa Sun, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto
Dylan Tate-Howarth, Jews Say No To Genocide
Dinah Thorpe
Peter Vandergeest, retired professor
Ami Xherro
Anna-Kaisa Walker, freelance writer
Sanna Wani, Daybreak Poets Collective
Megan Wardrop, educator
Teneile Warren, Playwright, Greenlight Arts
Marlene Webber, artist
Natalie Wee, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto, Friends of Chinatown Toronto (FOCT)
Anna Willats
Vincent Wong, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Fan Wu, artist and student, Writers Against the War on Gaza – Toronto
Tarek Z
Ahmad Zafar
Dr. Eiman Zeini
All signatures are on behalf of the individuals listed only and not on behalf of their organizational affiliations unless otherwise stated.
You can add your name to the letter using this form.
This article appeared in the 2024 May/June issue.
