Canadian Jewish leaders ‘dumbfounded’: ‘Does not reflect the gravity of a hateful act’
Anne London-Weinstein, an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge, ruled on Jan. 7 that Iain Aspenlieder, a former lawyer for the city of Ottawa who pleaded guilty to vandalizing a Holocaust memorial, is free to go after serving five months in prison. Prosecutors had sought a two-year sentence for Aspenlieder’s crime, which was committed in June 2025.
At the time, Aspenlieder wrote “feed me” in red paint on the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, Ontario.
“It’s supposed to be a beacon of education and tolerance, and to honor the memories of all the victims,” Adam Silver, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, told JNS of the memorial at the time.
