A new report by human rights lawyer David Matas, published by the Macdonald Laurier Institute, lays out Canada’s long pattern of betrayal. From turning away Jewish refugees to funding groups tied to Hamas, the story is consistent: Canada chooses silence when it should choose principle.
None is Too Many
In 1939 the MS St. Louis carried more than nine hundred Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Canada refused them entry. More than two hundred and fifty were murdered after being forced back to Europe. The policy at the time was summed up by the phrase “none is too many.”
In 2018 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in Parliament and apologized. He said Canada was sorry for the callousness of its response and sorry for not apologizing sooner. Yet apologies mean little without action.
Welcoming War Criminals
After the Holocaust Canada admitted around two thousand Nazi war criminals. The government never signed the London Agreement on the Nuremberg Charter and still hides the full files that would reveal the scope of this betrayal. The ovation given in 2023 to Waffen SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during Zelensky’s visit was not an isolated blunder. It was the inevitable result of decades of concealment. If none was too many for Jewish victims then one was too many for their persecutors.
October 7 and the Hesitation
When Hamas carried out the October 7 massacre, murdering, burning and raping in the worst one day killing of Jews since the Holocaust, the world reacted with horror. Canada hesitated. Trudeau waited until October 8 to condemn the attacks and to name Hamas. The delay spoke volumes. Later he called on Israel to stop “this killing of women, of children, of babies,” placing the aggressor and the victim on the same plane. Neutrality was no neutrality at all.
Funding the Enemy
Despite clear evidence that Hamas members were on the payroll of UNRWA and that its schools glorified the October 7 massacre, Prime Minister Mark Carney restored Canadian funding in 2024. International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen justified the decision while demanding no real reform. Canadian tax dollars flowed back to an organization entangled with terror. One dollar is too many.
A Vote Against Israel
On March 18, 2024, Parliament voted 204 to 117 to suspend all future arms export permits to Israel. Liberals joined with the NDP, the Bloc, and the Greens. Among those voting yes were Trudeau, Carney, Melanie Joly, Ahmed Hussen, Steven Guilbeault, Anthony Housefather, Rachel Bendayan, Ya’ara Saks, and Marc Miller. The record is clear. They chose to weaken Israel while it fought for survival.
The Promise of Recognition
Carney went further, pledging that Canada will recognize a Palestinian state once the Palestinian Authority promises reforms and elections. Recognition under these conditions means rewarding rejection and violence. Half of that state is Hamas, the very group that carried out October 7. One recognition is too many.
The Final Word
David Matas says it without hesitation. One Nazi criminal admitted is too many. One antisemitic resolution unchallenged is too many. One dollar to a Hamas front is too many. Silence itself is too many.
From “none is too many” for Jewish refugees on the St. Louis to opening the door to Nazi war criminals, from hesitation after October 7 to the funding of UNRWA and the parliamentary betrayal of Israel, Canada has failed the Jews of yesterday and is betraying the Jews of today. The cost of silence is measured in Jewish lives.
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