Kevin: Ally in Canadian Parliament and Beyond

Meet Kevin.

A steadfast supporter of Canada’s Jewish community. An unwavering ally, oftentimes standing alone against the rising tides of hate and extremism.

“I am a Toronto MP. There are 25 of us. I feel abandoned and alone standing up for the Jewish community. I can’t begin to imagine how it feels to be an actual member of the Jewish community.”

Kevin is the first member of his family to be born and raised in Canada. His parents were refugees. They were part of the Chinese diaspora in Vietnam that were persecuted during the Vietnam War. “My parents spent two years in a refugee camp in Thailand before there were welcomed to Canada at a time when other countries were closing their borders to people in need.”

As a child, Kevin’s parents made sure that he knew how lucky he was to be born in a safe, democratic country like Canada, because they lost a country that was aspiring for democracy to communism.

“Growing up, one of the big things for me was knowing how important it was to be able to give back to the country that gave my family everything. That’s why I volunteered to join the military and I’m proud to have served as a naval reserve officer for over 10 years.”

October 7th parallels Kevin’s family history. During the Vietnam War, the Northern Communists, the Viet Cong, and the Southern Vietnamese had agreed to a truce for Lunar New Year, also known as Tet, which is the most important holiday for the Southeast Asian community. The North violated the truce and attacked the South. They murdered, killed, raped women and children. “There are members of the Vietnamese community who describe the Tet Offensive as the Vietnamese Holocaust. Tens of thousands of people were murdered. My parents were lucky. My mom and her family lived in one of the border towns that was attacked, but fortunately, they were away visiting family. My father was from Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Min City. My parents met in a refugee camp.”

Another parallel that compelled Kevin to align with the Jewish community was a piece of his own lived history. When he was in his 20s, he was falsely accused of sexual assault at the height of the Me Too Movement. “It was withdrawn by the court, and in hindsight I wish the Crown had taken it to court, because at least then I could have been found innocent. This was in 2019. Four days before the federal election in 2021 the story magically resurfaced. So, to have lived the weaponization of a false allegation or misinformation be used against me, and then seeing October 7th onwards having misinformation being scaled and used against an entire community and country. There was no way I could remain silent. That’s why since October 7th, we (Kevin and his wife, Elizabeth) have been very outspoken.”

Standing as an ally with the Jewish community and Israel has not been without its costs. “We are now living what, I think, has become too common of a reality for members of the Jewish community. We have been attacked, harassed, and targeted. My office has received bomb threats. People have verbally assaulted Elizabeth and I in public, and it could have turned physical if other people hadn’t intervened. People have stalked us around our neighbourhood, and have hung posters claiming that we are ‘genocide supporters’ and all of that sort of stuff.”

“I am in regular contact with the Sergeant of Arms’ Office (whose role is to keep members of parliament safe), the RCMP, and the Toronto Police. I have been advised not to take public transit. I have a panic button, and I’ve taken to always having a knife on me, just in case. Now my wife needs to get a panic button, too. Why? She’s not in politics, she’s not a member of parliament, she just happens to be the spouse of one.”

Kevin and Elizabeth acknowledge that they are living the same reality that too many Jewish Canadians are living. He focuses a lot of his time helping people to understand that if a person hates someone for being Jewish, they will hate him for being Asian, and they will hate someone else for another discriminatory reason. “When we fight antisemitism, it’s not about just fighting for the Jewish community. It’s about fighting for all Canadians.”

“I’ve been very intentional in my education around antisemitism. I’ve walked the halls of Yad Vashem. I’ve walked in Auschwitz, and I couldn’t finish the tour. I remember leaving both of those places wondering how in the world the Holocaust could have happened. Unfortunately, after October 7th, I now understand and I am doing everything that I can to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Kevin has been standing resolutely with the Jewish community since Day One. “The morning of October 8th, when I woke up after all that had happened, the first thing I did was check in with my Jewish friends. I let them know that I had their back and that I supported them. I quickly came to realize that there was a broader community that needed support, and so, right out of the gate, I publicly declared my support in standing with Israel. I think the Jewish community very much feels alone and abandoned, and I wanted people to know that I stood with them and I continue to stand with them.”

It has been a shock for him to see that of the 76 elected representatives that represent Toronto – 25 Members of Parliament, 25 Members of Provincial Parliament, and 25 city councillors, plus the mayor – only a handful have stood with Israel vocally and consistently. “I think it’s disgraceful.”

“I am proud to be a Canadian. I am ashamed of the Canadian government. I draw a distinction, a clear delineation, between us as a country and the government. Governments change. The values that our country aspires for and that were built on – peace, truth, honour, and democracy – remain the same.”

“What I am ashamed of is the current federal government in betraying what I believe to be our values and what many sacrificed for, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice - fighting multiple wars, two World Wars, and other conflicts around the world to defend. I’m on the record calling them out on this. Israel is a democratic ally, and however you may feel about their government, they were democratically elected. How can you not stand with them and support Israel in its defense against a designated terror group that is listed on Canada’s terror list?”

As a military man himself, Kevin is able to look at the conflict from a military lens instead of digesting propaganda. He can simultaneously hold two truths at the same time – that while every innocent life lost is tragic, Israel is engaged in a war it didn’t want or start. “As someone who’s actually completed training in the international law of armed conflict and is familiar with the steps that any military has to take in order to minimize casualties and follow the Geneva conventions, what the IDF has to do and does is way beyond anything that any other military in the world is expected to do. The IDF should be commended for its incredibly low civilian to combatant ratio. The casualties are because they are fighting a force that uses human shields, a terrorist entity that removes the protections that institutions like hospitals and schools have because they operate in them. And so when there are innocent lives being lost, I am clear about who is responsible. There is no ambiguity here. It is Hamas.”

Kevin has also been a leading advocate in Parliament for defunding UNRWA. “It is clear that UNRWA has been infiltrated by Hamas and other terrorist groups. The fact is that one in six UNRWA staff members are also affiliated with terror groups.  One in nine of their facilities have been used for terrorist activities. That Canada continues to turn a blind eye to these facts and hand over hundreds of millions is disgraceful. The government is betraying its legal duty to safeguard Canadian taxpayer dollars and to ensure that our money is not funding terrorism.”

As for the campus encampments that consumed university campuses across Canada, Kevin found them disgraceful.  “I can speak as a University of Toronto graduate, someone who convocated at Convocation Hall, my family and friends and their families strolled onto the very field that was being occupied illegally by Hamas supporters.” There were reports, of course, that the occupiers were largely non-students, who were having money funnelled in to aid them by Hamas entities. Another element about the encampments that wasn’t largely discussed was the two-level policing that has been enforced. “There was a student from University of Toronto who is a Catholic but stood in support of Israel and the Jewish community. He tried to set up an encampment with his own tents and with other allies. The police, it turned out, did have the power to remove the tents, but they only removed the pro-Israel ones, and left the pro-Hamas ones alone.”

“Laws aren’t being enforced across the board. I think a lot of us are questioning why that is happening. It is a combination of cowardice, complicity, or perhaps, law enforcement doesn’t know what to do. I think recognizing that there are those who are paralyzed in not fully understanding is important, as is providing clarity for them, and for those who hide behind the ambiguity – as we have seen in some police services across the country and across all levels of government.”

The world has turned upside down since October 7th, 2023. In a time with no shortage of horrific incidents, but one that stands out for Kevin as being the most egregious was when the NDP put forward a motion that effectively rewarded Hamas for October 7th by recognizing statehood. The Liberals then supported them and gave them a standing ovation to the sponsor of that motion. “I found that this betrayed everything that we should stand for as Parliamentarians. When I saw people who I thought were my friends, who I thought shared my values of caring for the community, city, and country, who I thought valued democracy, people who posted about the importance of diversity and inclusion, and the values that I thought we all aspired to be as individuals to perpetuate Hamas terrorist propaganda, and to repeat the slogans of globalizing the Intifada or ‘from the river to the sea.’ These are highly-educated people who should know better, who are supposed to be the most learned in critical thinking are actually engaging in and falling victim to groupthink.”

“For me, that is alarming. I worry about the future of the country, not just for my wife and I, but for our daughter. That’s why this fight is so personal. It’s not just for my friends in the Jewish community. It’s for me, too. It’s for our family and our country. Canada used to be a beacon of freedom and hope for the world and we have betrayed that.”

Kevin’s hope for the future is quite simple. He wants a country where everyone belongs, where there is no hate on campus, where no one will be persecuted in the streets or in the classroom, where our right to religious freedom is truly a protected right, where those who dare to attack someone based on their ethnicity or background, or shoot at a school will be condemned without reservation because wrong is wrong.

“I can tell you that I’m going to continue to fight. It doesn’t matter who the government is. It doesn’t matter if I’m still a parliamentarian or not because this fight is personal. And no one in this country – if you truly care about democracy, freedom of rights, human rights – can afford to sit back. You can’t afford to stay silent. If we don’t stop the hate now, all of us will be next because what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.”

Thank you, Kevin, for your unwavering allyship and support.