Shimon Koffler Fogel
Shimon Fogel serves as the CEO for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. He is a graduate of the Clark School of Government and International Relations in Massachusetts and pursued graduate and doctoral studies at McGill University. He also holds rabbinic ordination.
Bio last updated June 17th, 2021.
Articles by Shimon Koffler Fogel
One Hate Crime Is Too Many
By Shimon Koffler Fogel
October 25, 2017
Convivium has previously published testimony to the House of Commons Heritage Committee on M-103, a motion to address religious intolerance and racism. Today, we present remarks to the committee from Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who cautions Canada’s reputation as a welcoming land hangs in the balance between rooting out genuine hatred and leaving free space to criticize religious ideologies.
In report after report, Statistics Canada and police services across the country continue to confirm that Jews are the religious minority most targeted by hate-motivated crime in both absolute numbers and on a per capita basis This committee should recommend that the government establish uniform, national guidelines and standards for the collection and handling of hate crime and hate incident data The Peel Police Service noted 23 incidents targeting Jews in 2016 – a 155% increase over the 9 incidents that occurred in 2015, the highest increase in victimization of any identifiable group In the city of Toronto, the Jewish community comprises 3.8% of the population, but was targeted in approximately 30% of hate crimes in 2016 (43 incidents)