OP-ED: House of Commons petition targets Jewish charity co-founded by Heather Reisman

"A petition calling for investigations into and possible charges against Canadians who served in Israel’s military is an 'antisemitic witch hunt,' says a Jewish advocacy group."

Source: Adobe Stock

Author: Hymie Rubenstein

A petition calling for investigations into and possible charges against Canadians who served in Israel’s military is an “antisemitic witch hunt,” says a Jewish advocacy group.

The January 7 petition, sponsored by Alberta NDP Member of Parliament Heather McPherson and directed at the Minister of Justice, alleges that there is “credible evidence of serious violations of international law by the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] in the Middle East” that suggests the involvement of Canadian citizens or residents.

Not a single example supporting this serious claim was offered by McPherson, an NDP leadership candidate.

The petition calls upon the Canadian government to “direct the Canada Border Services Agency to screen Canadian citizens/residents returning from Israel for foreign military service,” to issue “warnings that Canadians serving/volunteering with the IDF may face criminal liability under Canadian law” and to create a website “to collect information from Gaza/West Bank war crime victims/witnesses.”

The petition “unduly singles out Jewish and Zionist Canadians, by making unfounded accusations against them” and “problematically insinuates that service in the IDF necessitates a degree of culpability,” B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO Simon Wolle told the National Post.

Wolle pointed out that the RCMP had already launched an investigation into the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. In a June 2025 news release, the RCMP said it had not identified anyone who committed “core international crimes,” and therefore had not initiated a criminal investigation into any Canadian.

“Canadian IDF veterans are no different than any other foreign veterans who have made Canada their home,” said Wolle.

“Malicious attempts to prosecute them contribute to an environment where Jewish and Zionist Canadians are increasingly persecuted for their beliefs. This petition should be denounced by MPs for what it is, a baseless attempt to incite against and ostracize Canadians who support the existence of a Jewish nation.”

The CEO of Jewish advocacy group Tafsik, Amir Epstein, said that the petition is a “transparent attempt to appease radical ideologues by targeting law-abiding Canadian citizens.”

“It is telling that the MP expresses no concern over the presence of ISIS or
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated individuals in Canada, yet seeks to criminalize young Canadians who stepped up to rescue hostages and combat terrorism,” he said.

He said the Tafsik Organization views it as “shameful harassment of the Jewish community.” He added that Tafsik would offer its legal service pro bono to “any lone soldier targeted by these baseless and discriminatory efforts.”

“We trust that the moral integrity of the Canadian people will ultimately reject this divisive rhetoric,” he said.

In November, McPherson released a statement saying she was concerned about IDF soldiers visiting Canadian universities and condemned them for “platforming” the soldiers. The statement came the same week that five people were arrested at an anti-Israel protest at an off-campus event hosted by Jewish students from Toronto Metropolitan University.

McPherson said she would be raising her “concerns with the Canadian government that IDF soldiers are freely touring Canadian universities while the genocide continues.”

Her House of Commons petition particularly targeted a Jewish charity co-founded by Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books.

“Credible evidence of serious violations of international law by Israel Defence Forces in the Middle East suggest Canadian citizens’ and residents’ involvement,” said Petition E-6783.

The petition asked Parliament to investigate the HESEG Foundation, a scholarship charity co-founded by Reisman and her husband, Gerald W. Schwartz, the founder and chairman of Onex Corporation.

Both Reisman and Schwartz are longtime philanthropists.

The HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers is a Canadian registered charity that provides full post-secondary scholarships and support for “Lone Soldiers” (non-Israeli citizens serving in the Israel Defense Forces) or students with no support system in Israel, focusing on helping them achieve education after military service.

Reisman is also a prominent Canadian businesswoman. She is not only the founder and chief executive of the Canadian retail chain Indigo Books and Music, but also the co-founder and past Chair of Kobo, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.

Her husband has been honoured by St. Francis Xavier University, which named its business school after him for his donations to the university. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Mount Sinai Hospital announced in December 2013 that a transformational $15 million gift from Schwartz and Reisman would be used to “reshape emergency medicine” at the facility.

In March 2019, the University of Toronto announced that Schwartz and Reisman were giving the university $100 million to build a large innovation centre through the Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation. According to Reisman, the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre will be used to improve technology, particularly artificial intelligence, and how the public can relate to it.

Her support for Israel has seen Reisman’s Indigo stores frequently targeted by antisemitic protests and boycotts since 2006. Indigo lawyers in a 2024 Federal Court submission said Reisman was the subject of “deliberate and malicious” slander.

McPherson’s petition is only the latest example of such slander.

McPherson has refused to say why she sponsored the petition. It was not submitted by a constituent but by New Democrat activist Mirella Russell, a Vancouver resident.

In 2025 Facebook posts, Russell expressed her antipathy to Israel when she wrote, “This genocide is a stain on humanity’s conscience.” She also asserted, “Can this government just call it what it is, a genocide? More action needs to be taken: sanctions, cutting diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.”

McPherson is the only MP in the New Democrat leadership race. She was one of 19 New Democrat MPs to sign a 2025 election pledge accusing Israel of genocide. Fourteen of the 19 failed to be re-elected, placing the party at death’s door.

McPherson’s slander of Israel and its supporters went further in a post-election podcast where she implicitly compared Israeli military action in Gaza to the worst genocide in human history, the Nazi-led World War 2 Holocaust, resulting in the murder of some six million Jews.

The remarks came in an interview last May 30 with Rachel Gilmore, a Montreal podcaster. “There was a statement put out by the Party saying, ‘Oh, you can’t compare anything to the Holocaust,’” said Gilmore. “And I just think that’s ridiculous.”

McPherson has never commented on the Holocaust comment.

Hymie Rubenstein, editor of REAL Indigenous Report, is a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Manitoba and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.