The Canadian government may seek legal action against organizations calling for the boycott of Israel or Israeli goods, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Tuesday. According to the report, the government plans to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups urging boycotts of the Jewish state. The move, already labeled by those opposing it as "remarkably aggressive tactics," could target "a range of civil society organizations, from the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Quakers to campus protest groups and labor unions," the CBC said. Canada's intention to exercise a "zero tolerance" approach against groups affiliated with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel was made clear by a spokesperson for Ottawa's Public Safety Ministry, who said the government plans to enforce its comprehensive sets of hate crime laws in this matter. Such measures, if taken, would be in line with a memorandum of understanding signed in January between then-Foreign Minister John Baird and Israeli officials, pledging Canada's commitment to combat the BDS movement. According to the CBC, the memo described the movement as "the new face of anti-Semitism." Public Security Minister Steven Blaney, however, has denied his ministry plans to make such use of the legislative measures, but stated that articles in the law were meant to fight incitement, and that he trusted the Canadian legal system to properly enforce them. Reports of the government's planned moves have sparked concern among the BDS movement and other anti-Israel groups in Canada. According to the CBC, these groups claim that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, which is a staunch supporter of Israel, has "changed the Criminal Code definition of hate speech last year, adding the criterion of 'national origin' to race and religion. This change could ... effectively lump people who speak against Israel in with those who speak against Jews." Canadian civil right groups maintain that boycotts -- "a long recognized form of political expression" -- fall under the constitutionally protected right of free speech.
