Season 1 | Episode 3
In this Episode:
Brian Mirsky sits down with Dr. Rhonda Lenton, former president of York University and co-author, with Dr. Robert Brym, of the Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026, to unpack what the data actually shows.
Lenton walks through the study's design, surveying both Jewish and non-Jewish Canadians, and its central finding: positive sentiment toward Jews and Israel has declined since 2024, driven mainly by people shifting out of the middle rather than a rise in outright hostility.
She discusses the correlation between attitudes toward Jews and attitudes toward Israel, variation across demographic groups, and two factors respondents cited most often for the shift: criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the role of social media in shaping perception.
The conversation covers her critique of current EDI frameworks for marginalizing antisemitism, her frustration with the federal government's antisemitism advisory council for not consulting the researchers actively working in this space, and her case for reviving something like the old Canadian Jewish Congress to unify fragmented community efforts.
Some of the top-line findings:
Canadians with positive sentiment towards Jews has fallen from 90% to 82.
69% of Jewish parents worry about their children's safety at school because of antisemitism.
8% of Jews were physically threatened or attacked for being Jewish.
6 in 10 Canadian Jews worry about sending their children to university because of rising antisemitism.
Read the Report:
Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026: Pressures on Canadian Jews and their Responses:
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This Will Make You Uncomfortable is produced by Story Studio Network. www.storystudionetwork.com/
