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The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF) is asking lawyers to sign a petition in hopes of persuading the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) to hear a motion in mid-September that could ultimately prevent graduates of Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) law school from ever practicing law in the province.
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In a formal motion to the LSO, a copy of which was sent to me by a source requesting anonymity, 10 lawyers cited a recent report by Mary Lou Benotto in which the former Ontario Appeal Court Justice describes TMU — once known as Ryerson University — as a cesspit of antisemitism at which Jewish students have been spat on, pelted with sour milk, intimidated, harassed and threatened, and are living in fear. Benotto found that the university has failed to tackle the scourge of antisemitism that swept through its halls after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.
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The lawyers want the LSO to include their request on the agenda of its Annual General Meeting on Sept. 16. Specifically, the lawyers aim to have TMU’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law accreditations withdrawn by the Law Society. The LSO, however, has told the lawyers that their motion arrived past its deadline of 40 days before the AGM.
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Enter the CAEF, which is endorsing the lawyers’ motion and is attempting to apply pressure on the LSO by asking it in a petition to waive the deadline because of the urgency in the matter surrounding the vile antisemitism at TMU.
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The lawyers’ motion states: “The report of the Honourable Mary Lou Benotto, released Aug. 14, 2026, describes how Jewish students, faculty and staff at TMU experience hostility ‘that crossed into intimidation, dehumanization and antisemitism,’ abetted by the failure of TMU to ‘consistently and decisively’ enforce its rules intended to prevent such misconduct. According to the Benotto Report, many Jewish TMU community members report feeling unsafe attending classes, that they have to hide their Jewish identities, and that they tell their Jewish friends not to let their kids go to TMU. Simply put, the Benotto Report establishes a prima facie case that TMU has, through it actions (or lack thereof), created a discriminatory environment which discourages Jews from attending TMU, and, by extension, Lincoln Alexander School of Law.”
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The motion adds that the LSO has been clear that accreditation of a law school at a university that adopts policies that discourage attendance by students, “is contrary to the public interest, inconsistent with the Law Society’s function to ensure a competent bar and deeply offensive to the public.”
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There is a rumbling that the LSO would like to see a followup report on TMU’s antisemitism by a task force that has been commissioned by TMU president and vice-chancellor Mohamed Lachemi. The task force is being chaired by Bob Rae, a former Ontario premier, interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.
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In a recent column in the Financial Post, labour lawyer Howard Levitt criticized TMU for failing to accept Benotto’s independent report and investigation outright and appointing the Rae-led task force to review her findings instead.
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“What (an employer) should never do,” Levitt wrote, “is effectively investigate the investigation.” Calling TMU’s response to the Benotto report “troubling,” Levitt also said: “An independent investigation has a purpose. An organization brings in an outsider to determine what happened, where it failed and what should be done. The value lies in the investigator’s independence.”