Bill 66, Holocaust Memorial Day Act, 1998

Versions

B066_E

Bill 66 1998

An Act to proclaim Holocaust Memorial Day - Yom ha-Shoah in Ontario

Preamble

The Holocaust refers to a specific event in history, namely, the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933-1945.

Six million Jewish Holocaust victims were murdered. Others were also victims of Nazism and its collaborators, including those with physical and mental disabilities, those targeted for racial and religious reasons and those targeted because of their sexual orientation.

Canada, along with other Allied nations, took part in the armed struggle to defeat Nazism and its collaborators.

This event affected the lives of all Ontarians, especially those who fought during World War II and helped liberate the inmates of labour and concentration camps.

Most of the Jewish Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Canada settled in the province of Ontario.

It is appropriate to establish a Holocaust Memorial Day - Yom ha-Shoah in Ontario to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust of 1933-1945.

Such a day would provide an opportunity to reflect on and educate about the enduring lessons of the Holocaust. This day shall also provide an opportunity to consider other instances of systematic destruction of peoples, human rights issues and the multicultural reality of modern society.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Holocaust Memorial Day - Yom ha-Shoah

1. Yom ha-Shoah or the Day of the Holocaust, as determined in each year by the Jewish lunar calendar, is proclaimed as Holocaust Memorial Day - Yom ha-Shoah.

Commencement

2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3. The short title of this Act is the Holocaust Memorial Day Act, 1998.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.