The Ontario legislature defeated a bill that would prohibit public bodies in Ontario from doing business with entities that support the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and prohibit colleges and universities from participating in it.

The debate came as Premier Kathleen Wynne is on a business mission to the Middle East. Wynne met with both Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

Bill 202, the Standing up Against Anti-Semitism in Ontario Act, was co-sponsored by PC MPP Tim Hudak and Liberal MPP Mike Colle. It was tabled Tuesday and came to a vote on second reading Thursday afternoon.

Ahead of the vote, the PCs planned to vote as a caucus for the bill, the NDP against the bill and the Liberals would have a free vote on the issue. The bill was defeated 39 to 18, with nearly all government MPPs, NDP MPPs voting against and the PCs for.

The bill’s preamble calls the BDS movement “one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel globally,” and says it is increasing on university campuses in Ontario.

It also says the BDS movement violates the principle of academic freedom and promotes a climate of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel speech leading to intimidation and violence on campuses, and says its agenda is inherently antithetical to and deeply damaging to peace in the Middle East.

Hudak introduced the bill with a speech that called the international BDS movement anti-Semitism that is creeping across the globe and into Canada.

“We should put the weight of government on the side of tolerance,” said Hudak.

For his part, Colle compared the BDS movement to the Holocaust.

“Why is it the BDS movement only picks on one country, Israel?” he said “Their core belief is a hate for Israel and a hate for anything Jewish.”

“We have no choice but to oppose this insidious, disgusting thing that attacks the Jewish people for who they are,” said Colle.

NDP MPP Peggy Sattler spoke on behalf of the party on the bill, saying NDP MPPs and all MPPs are “united to stand up against anti-Semitism.”

“Anti-Semitism is evil," she said. "Discrimination or hatred against people on the basis of race or religion is evil."

NDP members are against the bill on free speech grounds, she said.

The bill “constitutes an attack on freedom of speech and association on campuses across Ontario” and “will make Ontario post-secondary institutions responsible for policing the political activities of their students,” said Sattler.

Michael Coteau, the minister responsible for anti-racism, spoke on behalf of the premier. He said the government does not support the BDS movement, nor does government believe shunning those who support the movement, as the bill seeks to do, will lead to a safer Israel.

He read from remarks Wynne had made about BDS in Tel Aviv. She said she opposes the BDS movement, but did not comment specifically on the bill.

“Freedom of speech is something that all Canadians value and we must vigorously defend. But, it's unacceptable for students, or parents, or children to feel unsafe or discriminated against,” Wynne said.

On Thursday morning, proponents of the BDS movement in Ontario circulated a press release disputing the bill’s characterization of the movement.

The bill describes the BDS movement as one with a purpose to boycott, divest from and apply sanctions against Israel and Israeli academics and students, as well as against businesses and cultural institutions owned by or affiliated with "Jewish Canadians."

"Claiming that BDS targets Jewish Canadians is simply ridiculous. This bill is filled with outright lies. BDS has nothing to do with Judaism,” said says Tyler Levitan, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices Canada, in the press release.

“Palestinians have chosen this method of resistance due to the Israeli state's historic and ongoing dispossession of their lands, which it conducts with impunity. Jews around the world, including in Canada, continue to be active in disproportionately large numbers in the BDS movement."

"The BDS National Committee in the Occupied Palestinian Territories has always been clear that its campaigns target Israeli academic and cultural institutions — it is not a boycott of Israeli individuals," said Hossam Sleiman, a member of the Palestinian Solidarity Group at the University of Windsor, in the press release.

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Twitter: @jessiecatherine

Ontario legislature defeats anti-BDS bill as Wynne visits Middle East

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