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e-7123 (Civil and human rights)
E-petition
Initiated by Ian Darragh from Toronto, Ontario
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled
Whereas:
- Jewish refugees were unjustly interned in Canada during World War II;
- Subjected to harsh conditions that violated the Geneva Convention, and sentenced to solitary confinement arbitrarily;
- Due to antisemitic immigration policies, many were incarcerated for three additional years;
- More than a third of interned Jewish refugees were Holocaust survivors of Nazi prisons where many had been tortured. Many were re-traumatized by barbed wire, guard towers with machine guns and fixed bayonets, resulting in psychological trauma; and
- Jewish refugees made major contributions in law, science, business, the arts and medicine. As well as two Nobel Prizes, Jewish refugees were awarded nine Orders of Canada.
We, the undersigned, Children, descendants and friends of internees, and supporters of justice and human rights, call upon the Government of Canada to
1. Implore the Prime Minister of Canada to apologize in the House of Commons on behalf of the Government of Canada for the unjust internment of Jewish refugees; and
2. Fund programs to increase awareness of Canada’s treatment of interned Jewish refugees during World War II and to counter the antisemitism which engendered those policies and which is currently on the rise again. This education initiative should include: funding for historical plaques to commemorate the nine internment prisons, outreach programs in high schools, funding for university courses on civilian internment and the roots of antisemitism, funding for non-profits that provide services to refugees, funding to maintain the gravesites of two Jewish refugees who died in custody, a documentary video, funding for school field trips to the sites of internment prisons, and an exhibit of photos, artwork and crafts made by the internees.
- Open for signature
- January 29, 2026, at 11:44 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- February 28, 2026, at 11:44 a.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Anthony Housefather
(Mount Royal)
March 10, 2026 (Petition No. 451-00594)
