Toronto (January 19, 2018) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) was troubled to learn that at Prime Minister Trudeau’s Thursday town hallmeeting in Quebec City, a heckler displayed a defaced Canadian flag withthe words “Evil Empire” and a swastika drawn on top of the maple leaf. 

"To deface the Canadian flag with a swastika is an affront to the more than 40,000 Canadian soldiers who sacrificed their lives, and over 100,000 Canadians injured, fighting the Nazis,” said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of FSWC. “Whatever the objections held by the individual, to equate Canadian policies with the evils of the genocidal Nazi regime is an insult to the millions which it victimized."

The manwas promptly escorted from the room by security. The same man reportedlydisrupted and was removed from an earlier town hall meeting inLondon, Ontario.

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To request an interview, contact:

Avital Borisovsky 
Communications Associate   
416.864.9735 x 29
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish human rights foundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impacts over 100,000 people each year and 500,000+peripherally. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy and educationalprograms including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimedTour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles which has won two Academy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance (with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca.

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