VUONG: Silence is not an option, allies must speak up

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When my wife told me I was going to be a father, I was surprised at just how immediate and impactful this blessing was on my life. As my wife and I prepare for the birth of our daughter, the news that a Jewish girls elementary school was targeted by shooters who had fired five rounds at the school made me gravely concerned and worried about such a hate-filled act.

I put myself in the shoes of the parents. What if it was my daughter’s school? What if it was anyone’s child’s school being targeted? If you haven’t been speaking up for our Jewish neighbours, it’s time to start. Every one of us can’t afford to be silent any longer. Incidents of hate have been escalating and have become more widespread.

On Tuesday, I stood with a brave young woman, Samantha Kline, who made herself a target by daring to speak out about the rampant hate and anti-Semitism that she had faced on campus at OCAD University. She has received death threats, even her mother was the target of threats of sexual violence. Imagine it was your child receiving death threats, would you be silent? What if it was your spouse who was threatened with sexual violence? Would you be silent?

Laura Barkel, a student at Toronto Metropolitan University was harassed, stalked and assaulted. Jaime Ber of Queen’s University has faced threats and public shaming. Jewish students at Western University had rocks thrown through their windows.

If we don’t draw a line in the sand against escalating hate and violence, a Jewish school shot at will be non-Jewish schools in the future. A Jewish student being threatened on a campus will one day become any student.

For OCAD University’s alleged inaction to protect, Samantha is suing the university for $1 million. I hope she wins because I believe everyone deserves to be safe on campus.

To chart a path back to a city and country that respects the rule of law and where school shootings are not a reality, we must be clear about how we got here. It’s not that Canada doesn’t have the laws and enforcement mechanisms to stop hate and violence in our city. It is more the case that people in authority to do something about it lack the will to do so.

Our leaders are failing to lead at a time when it’s needed most. Those who do shoot at a school see this as weakness of so-called leaders and they get emboldened.

When they got away with targeting and harassing a local Toronto café because the owner was Jewish, the next week they escalated to vandalizing another café with a Jewish connection. When they got away with vandalism, they later firebombed a deli because its initials were “IDF”, which reflects the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces. When they realized they could graffiti and vandalize with impunity, they defaced a statue honouring Canadian acting legend Al Waxman.

When each incident was left unaddressed, the hate escalated and became more dangerous with mobs starting to target Jewish neighbourhoods and assaulting people who are Jewish.

A death threat was uttered in front of a police officer to put someone “six feet deep” but there was no consequence. Many may also remember how the agitation and harassment spread to target parents and children who just wanted a photo with Santa Claus.

Just like in the past, if we do not act now, the shooting of a Jewish elementary school and the threats and assaults on Jewish students can spread later to the rest of us.

Our leaders have been cowered into turning a blind eye by a hateful mob. This is why decent people must speak up to demand that authorities do their duty and uphold our laws.

Those who have been silent cannot afford to do so any longer. If you’re afraid of making yourself a target, you need to realize that they will be coming for us in the future. This is why silence is not an option.

— Kevin Vuong is the Independent Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort York. The son of refugees, he is the youngest MP of Asian heritage elected to the 44th Parliament. He also serves as a naval reserve officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.

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