The following contains excerpts from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s address to the international press, April 20, 2009.
“In January 2008 our government was the first to announce that Canada would not participate in the Durban II Conference. At the same time we also indicated that the government of Canada would not fund the participation of Canadian NGOs in the Durban process. We are pleased that many countries have since followed Canada’s lead in withdrawing from Durban II including Israel, Australia, Italy, the United States while others like Sweden have announced that their participation will not include a ministerial presence.
“Our government is leading the world and not following it in championing international understanding of pluralism and we take a strong position against racism and anti-Semitism in all their forms. And we are very concerned that around the world anti-Semitism is growing in volume and acceptance justified as many of you know by opposition to Israel itself.
“Canada will not lend its name and reputation to an international conference that promotes these kinds of things.
“Having participated in the preparatory meetings for Durban II we observed clear unmistakable signs that this conference will again scapegoat the Jewish people. For example, many of the conferences preparatory meetings were deliberately scheduled to take place on important Jewish high holidays to prevent or to minimize the participation of Jewish delegates. The NGOs who participated in the original Durban conference 2001, including those who were responsible for overt displays of racism and anti-Semitism were re-invited to the preparatory committee while Jewish NGOs such as the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy faced obstacles to receiving observer status.
“Countries with a history of promoting hatred were given key organizational roles in the preparatory committee. In fact, as you know, Iranian president Ahmadinejad is the only head of state scheduled to address the conference and will do so on Monday, timed no doubt to coincide with the eve of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. Our government will participate in any international conference that combats racism. We will not however lend Canada’s good name and reputation to those such as Durban that promote it.
“As I said earlier, I have been concerned. We see it in Canada on university campuses. I am concerned about how anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli discourse is getting a growing volume and respectability in some quarters. So I think anything that is done that shows that there is strong opposition to that is a very positive development.”