Stacey LeavittWright

CEO of @JewishEdmonton. she/her Passionate about creating community. Tweets are my own and don’t reflect my work.

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

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[Richard Marceau @richardmarceau]

I guess that for @AnitaAnandMP and the government of Canada, only the people of Lebanon have “endured immense hardship”.

The disregard for what Israelis are going through is staggering.

This double standard is revolting.
https://t.co/7XB8WQ7E80

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

Nails it. The average Canadian would be shocked at the lengths our communities go to provide for our security.

[Sean Speer @Sean_Speer]

Is Canada safe for Jews? That’s the wrong question

New and exclusive polling for The Hub finds that more than 80 percent of Canadians believe that Canada remains a safe country for Jews.

The finding is striking because it suggests that the rise of the new antisemitism has yet to fully register with much of the public. Canadians may see disturbing incidents in the news, but many still assume that Jewish communities are able to live, worship, gather, and participate in civic life without extraordinary concern for their safety.

Yet the lived reality is often quite different. Across the country, synagogues, schools, community centres, and other Jewish organizations are spending significant sums on private security, surveillance systems, barriers, guards, and other protective measures. These are costs that many institutions scarcely contemplated a decade ago. Today they have become a routine feature of operating budgets.

This should concern all Canadians. The most basic responsibility of the state is to provide public order and security. Before governments regulate markets, redistribute income, or pursue any number of social objectives, they must first ensure that citizens can safely exercise their fundamental freedoms. When religious communities feel compelled to internalize the cost of their own security, it’s a sign that the state is falling short of this core obligation.

The consequences extend beyond the immediate burden imposed on Jewish institutions.

Many synagogues, schools, charities, and community organizations enjoy charitable status because governments recognize that their activities contribute to Canada’s civic life. They educate children, care for seniors, support families, provide social services, foster community, and strengthen the social fabric. The public subsidy implicit in charitable status reflects a judgment that these activities generate benefits that extend well beyond their own members. But every dollar that must be redirected toward security is a dollar that cannot be spent on those missions.

A synagogue that hires additional guards may have fewer resources for educational programming. A community centre that upgrades security infrastructure may have less money available for outreach, charitable work, or support services. A Jewish school facing rising security costs may have fewer resources to devote to teaching and student support.

These are real opportunity costs. They represent a loss not only for Jewish communities but for Canadian society as a whole.

One way to think about the issue is that government failure in one domain is undermining government policy in another. The state grants charitable status to these organizations because it wants them investing in civic life. Yet its inability to provide basic security forces them to divert resources away from precisely those activities. The result is a poorer and weaker civil society.

This is why concerns about antisemitism shouldn’t be viewed as issues affecting only Jews. A country in which one religious minority must increasingly provide for its own safety is a country experiencing a broader failure of public order. And when institutions that strengthen our communities are forced to redirect resources from their missions to their protection, the costs are ultimately borne by all of us.

The question isn’t simply whether Canada remains safe for Jews. It is whether Canadians recognize the growing costs of making Jewish communities responsible for their own security.

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

@AndieWinnipeg Congratulations !

[Eyal Ofer אייל עופר @Eyalo365]

🚨 Cleared for publication:

At the first week of March, after Hizbullah got instructions from IRGC to restart attacking Israel - it made preparations to invade Israel northern villages along the border. IDF identified hundreds of Radwan force (Hizbulla elite commando unit) sneaking south of the Litani River in plain cloths, to pre planned weapns caches in private homes in south Lebanon. Many were eliminated from the air, but ground troops had to rush into Lebanon to engage them on the ground.

It turns out Northern Israel residents were in great jepordy - and this is why the goverment withheld this info until the signing of ceasefire.

[CIJA @CIJAinfo]

CIJA Responds to Prime Minister’s Address on Antisemitism:

The Jewish community is angry, frustrated and deeply concerned for its future in Canada. For nearly three years, Jewish Canadians have watched antisemitism surge across our country while too many institutions, leaders, and authorities failed to respond with the urgency the situation demands. The hate and hostility targeting Canada’s Jewish community is an urgent national crisis.

In a public address to the nation, the Prime Minister acknowledged that antisemitism is a threat to all Canadians. He recognized that the crisis of antisemitism in Canada today is specific, severe, and demands a targeted response. He laid out specific measures the government has introduced, sharing his concern that Canada’s civic compact is failing the Jewish community.

The Prime Minister’s address marks an important moment in an urgently needed, national conversation. What matters most are the actions that will follow.

Urgent focus is now needed to ensure consistent enforcement of the law, as well as serious measures to disrupt radicalization and terrorist activity in Canada. To address the campaign of harassment targeting the Jewish community, authorities must also end the weaponization of public institutions like the Canada Revenue Agency. And in confronting the sources of radicalization, it is essential to recognize antizionist extremism as a driver of hostility toward Canadian Jews since the Hamas-led October 7 terrorist attacks—a point that the Prime Minister did not explicitly make and that Canadians needed to hear.

While the Prime Minister correctly stated that a whole of government approach is required to fight antisemitism, the formation and composition of the new Ministerial Advisory Council raise serious concerns. The challenge facing our country has been studied extensively. Immediate action, rather than further deliberation, is what’s needed now. This new body must not delay or obstruct the urgent measures needed to protect Canadians from the extremists threatening our national security, community safety, and the Canadian way of life.

We urge our Prime Minister and leaders across Canada to act now, in light of these growing threats. Our community will continue to advocate for measures to protect Canadians, confront extremism, and restore confidence that Canada remains a country where Jewish life can thrive safely and openly.

[Mark Goldberg @Mark_Goldberg]

In speech, @MarkJCarney cites "drove Jewish students from common spaces on our university campuses" as an example of antisemitism.

Help me understand why he appointed the lawyer who filed a Charter challenge against @UAlberta for removing its encampment https://t.co/C1P4EnCmbL

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

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[Rupa Subramanya @rupasubramanya]

@MarcMillerVM I don't know man. This is a bizarre cast of characters. Most of them hate Jews and Israel. https://t.co/4e58XRFKga

[Lisa Libin @DoubleLs]

The council members to combat antisemitism ladies and gentlemen…

https://t.co/m8puS6Q0vZ

[Love My 7 Wood @LoveMy7Wood]

Hezbollah’s Drones Have Become a Top Threat to Israel. Yet Mark Carney and Anita Anand lecture Israel on Lebanon, https://t.co/jOrlcumpB9

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

@Mark_Goldberg @LinkedIn @YEG_Commission Mark thank you for noting this. To clarify - my presence at the meeting was not in question but my “being in” Edmonton per se was with the comment “shame on you”. I had presented to the commission at the March meeting and was in the gallery as a guest this meeting.

[CIJA @CIJAinfo]

Let us be clear: this is not a debate about the Middle East. Hanging effigies of Jews in the streets of Montreal evokes some of the darkest antisemitic imagery in history and is completely unacceptable.

This is not “peaceful activism.” It is the promotion of hatred and the incitement of violence that fuels the radicalization of our social climate.

What will it take for authorities to treat these acts as the serious threat they are?

[Israel Now @neveragainlive1]

Did Anita Anand summon anyone from the Palestinian Authority when Canadians were slaughtered by Gazans on October 7th 2023?

[Holly Doan @hollyanndoan]

Federal agencies have warned a mass attack targeting Canadian Jews may occur in coming months, @SenateCA human rights committee is told.
“Our biggest fear.”
— Richard Marceau @CIJAinfo
https://t.co/e2E7O2tVOL #cdnpoli

[REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND @RepOfSomaliland]

Today, history was made in Jerusalem. 🇮🇱

Dr. Mohamed Hagi, the first Ambassador of the Republic of Somaliland to Israel, officially arrived and presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

Appreciate the warm welcome from to our community at the anniversary celebration of Somaliland independence

[Suzanne D @Notables_ca]

Representing @JewishEdmonton at the 35th Anniversary Celebration of @somalilandmfa independence.

[Captain Allen @CptAllenHistory]

Bill Maher just delivered the most clear-eyed, no-bullshit monologue on Israel & antisemitism you’ll hear from any mainstream voice in 2026.

“Israel was founded on the idea that antisemitism made a Jewish state necessary ... Can you honestly listen to this rhetoric and not see why that turned out to be true?”

One of many brutal examples: he called out Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi, who wrote that Jews have “a vulgarity of character that is bone-deep and structural to the skeletal vertebrae of its culture.”

Maher’s reply: “These are the kinds of statements Goebbels would have read and said, ‘No notes.’”

Then he turned to his own party and delivered the kill shot:

“Democrats, where are you? … Until you fix this issue, stop asking me why I’m harder on you.”

Bill Maher is perhaps the one person left in late-night television who still chooses truth over applause.

The rest are just cowards with good lighting.

Thank you Bill🙏

[CIJA @CIJAinfo]

The Lebanese people have the right to live in peace and security as do their neighbours in Israel. The conflict is rooted in Hezbollah’s relentless terror attacks, which have made large swaths of Israel’s north uninhabitable.

For the past 20 years the Lebanese government and UN forces have failed to address this threat. Israel has a fundamental obligation to defend its citizens from attack.

Any path to peace needs to credibly deal with the cause of this conflict— Hezbollah’s threat to Israelis and Lebanese civilians alike.
https://t.co/Y0mFlZ4JPf

[Jewish Edmonton @JewishEdmonton]

Screening tonight.

Soul of a Nation shows Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park, part of the 30th annual Edmonton Jewish Film Festival.

A timely film exploring identity and shared destiny. https://t.co/dwByk1mL6g

[Jewish Edmonton @JewishEdmonton]

Tonight, the 30th annual Edmonton Jewish Film Festival begins.

Opening Night features Bella—screening tonight at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park.

Join us as EJFF kicks off a milestone year.
https://t.co/aZrVVb5G1V

[Stacey LeavittWright @YegStacey]

@LtGovAB @Faranhayyc Thank you for this recognition of Jewish Albertans to our province