# Event Details - **Event Name**: A Canary’s Song: Antisemitism in Our “Free and Democratic Society” - **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 15 Sep, 2026 at 08:30 am – Tue, 15 Sep, 2026 at 05:00 pm (-04:00) - **Event Description**: In-person OR Live Stream: 20 leading voices on antisemitism today—and what its resurgence reveals about the health of our democracy.About this EventPurchase your ticket for the in-person full day conference or sign-up for the live stream event. Click on READ MORE below to access link Student pricing is available with valid student ID, required at entry.See below for conference agenda.----In this one-day conference of distinguished scholars and experts inhistory, politics, law, human rights, law enforcement, and, of course,specifically in the nature and history of antisemitism and antizionism, we will strive forunderstanding rather than for activism, and for moral clarity rather thanmoralizing.History has shown that a society’s attitude towards the Jewish people—regardless of whether Jews actually live there—discloses something important about the nature, character and vitality of that society’s public morality and civic culture, and about its socio-economic well-being and political stability.Contempt for a society’s Jewish population foretells a wider moral decay and threatens the foundations of liberal democracy itself. In the current moment—in the aftermath of Bondi Beach, Washington, DC. and Amsterdam, and against a backdrop of increasing numbers of recent attacks on Jewish institutions, Jewish homes and Jewish individuals in Canada—Canadian civil society is facing a dark reckoning. One must begin not with combatting this scourge but with understanding it in all of its manifestations.Chair: Peter L. BiroSpecial Features: Fireside Chat between Ambassador (ret.) Deborah E. Lipstadt, Ph.D. Distinguished University Professor Emory University and Ambassador (ret.) Deborah Lyons – Closing Address from The Honourable Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ.----Welcome: Melanie Woodin (President, University of Toronto), and Rabbi Steven Wernick (Senior Rabbi, Beth Tzedec Congregation)----Setting the Stage: The virtuous Jew-hatred that undercuts liberal democratic civic culturePeter L. Biro (Founder, Section 1, Senior Fellow, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and The Aristotle Foundation For Public Policy)----Panel: The Contemporary face of Jew-Hatred: Antizionism as Transmutation of Antisemitism AND/OR as distinct Hatred.Dr. Naya Lekht (Co-founder of Stop Antizionism, an educational organization dedicated to identifying, defining, and confronting antizionism as the "third era of Jew-hatred." She is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and a regular contributor to JNS and the Jerusalem Post.)Adam Louis-Klein (Anthropologist, Founder, Movement Against Antizionism – MAAZ, Fellow at Z3 Institute and at London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism)Casey Babb (Senior Fellow, MacDonald Laurier Institute, Fellow, Institute for National Security Studies, Adjunct Prof, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs)Moderated by Wodek Szemberg----Panel: Civil liberties, Hate, Incitement & LawfareMark Sandler (One of Canada’s foremost criminal defence lawyers, and cofounder and Chair, Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism)Alan Kessel (Former Assistant Deputy Minister Legal Affairs and Legal Adviser, Government of Canada—Global Affairs Canada; Senior Fellow, Macdonald Laurier Institute)Michael Geist (O.Ont., Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law.)Moderated by Patrick Brethour----Lunchtime talk: Antisemitism – the term that will lead to destruction of the West with Raheel Raza----Keynote Event: What the current Jew-hatred tells us about the state of our democracy. Fireside Chat between Deborah Lipstadt and Deborah Lyons.Ambassador (ret.) Deborah E. Lipstadt, Ph.D. Distinguished University Professor Emory UniversityAmbassador (ret.) Deborah Lyons (former Canadian Special Envoy for Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, and Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN for Afghanistan)----Panel: Antisemitism in our institutions in Healthcare, in Government, in the University, in Law EnforcementPekka Sinervo (U of T Particle Physicist, former Dean of Arts and Science, President, Council of Reform Judaism, Chair, World Union for Progressive Judaism, Head of Association of Jewish Faculty and Staff, U of T)Ayelet Kuper (Professor, Faculty of Medicine, U of T, Associate Director, the Wilson Centre, Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Rhodes Scholar, Senior Fellow, Massey College)Cary Kogan (Professor, Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa, President, Network of Engaged Canadian Academics(NECA)Hank Idsinga (Inspector (ret.) Toronto Police Services, Head of Homicide, and author – reflecting on antisemitism in law enforcementModerated by Rabbi Yael Splansky----The Last Word: The Hon. Irwin Cotler (Founder and Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Former Justice Minister and Attorney General, Canada, Human Rights)For media accreditation, contact info@section1.ca. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/toronto/a-canarys-song-antisemitism-in-our-free-and-democratic-society/100001996181603913 - **Event Categories**: business, conferences, health-wellness, art, literary-art, nonprofit, science-fair - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 - **Event Highlights**: - Duration: 8 hours 30 minutes - Location: The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto - Languages: English ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 55, max: 95, currency: CAD ## Event venue details - **city**: Toronto - **state**: ON - **country**: Canada - **location**: The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto - **lat**: 43.6540972 - **long**: -79.3850073 - **full address**: The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto, 89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, Canada ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: A Canary’s Song: Antisemitism in Our “Free and Democratic Society” - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/830b5a23c76fd44f168492e59f14524e8ef5ee59f37c1ac6afe31787d43e5771-rimg-w1200-h600-dce8e8d8-gmir.jpg?v=1786466766 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society being held? - **A:** A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society takes place on Tue, 15 Sep, 2026 at 08:30 am to Tue, 15 Sep, 2026 at 05:00 pm at The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto, 89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, Canada. - **Q**: Who is organizing A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society ? - **A:** A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society is organized by Section 1. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society is ideal for professionals, entrepreneurs, startup founders, and networking enthusiasts eager to grow their connections. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Toronto, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If A Canary s Song: Antisemitism in Our Free and Democratic Society sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "A Canary’s Song: Antisemitism in Our “Free and Democratic Society”", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/830b5a23c76fd44f168492e59f14524e8ef5ee59f37c1ac6afe31787d43e5771-rimg-w1200-h600-dce8e8d8-gmir.jpg?v=1786466766", "startDate": "2026-09-15T08:30:00-04:00", "endDate": "2026-09-15T17:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://allevents.in/toronto/a-canarys-song-antisemitism-in-our-free-and-democratic-society/100001996181603913", "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventScheduled", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "89 Chestnut Street", "postalCode": "M5G 1R1", "addressLocality": "Toronto", "addressRegion": "ON", "addressCountry": "CA" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "43.6540972", "longitude": "-79.3850073" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "In-person OR Live Stream: 20 leading voices on antisemitism today—and what its resurgence reveals about the health of our democracy.", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "CAD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-11", "availabilityEnds": "2026-09-15T17:00:00-04:00", "validFrom": "2026-08-11", "lowPrice": "55.00", "highPrice": "95.00", "price": "55.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/toronto/a-canarys-song-antisemitism-in-our-free-and-democratic-society/100001996181603913" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/SoldOut", "priceCurrency": "CAD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-11", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-08-11", "url": "https://allevents.in/toronto/a-canarys-song-antisemitism-in-our-free-and-democratic-society/100001996181603913", "price": "95.00", "name": "General Admission" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/SoldOut", "priceCurrency": "CAD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-11", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-08-11", "url": "https://allevents.in/toronto/a-canarys-song-antisemitism-in-our-free-and-democratic-society/100001996181603913", "price": "55.00", "name": "Student Admission" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Section 1", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/section-1/28087816", "description": "Section 1 is a Canadian registered charity dedicated to defending liberal democracy through civic education. 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