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Toronto (January 7, 2026) — Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is disappointed by the minimal sentence handed down today to a man who vandalized the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa last year.    

Iain Aspenlieder, a former lawyer for the City of Ottawa, was sentenced to five months' time served and two years of probation after being convicted of mischief for spray-painting the words “feed me” on the monument last June. As part of his sentence, he was ordered not to approach Jewish or Israeli institutions and prohibited from possessing firearms.

“He is proud of what he has done and was aware that his conduct would cause fear, upset and hurt within the Jewish community,” the judge said during this morning’s sentencing.  

While it is important that Aspenlieder was convicted and sentenced for this abhorrent act, FSWC is deeply disappointed that the penalty amounted only to time already served, with no additional jail time imposed. FSWC is also troubled by the judge’s characterization of the vandalism as not being motivated by hatred, despite clear evidence of its impact on the Jewish community.

In a community impact statement presented to the court in December, FSWC described the National Holocaust Monument as a “sacred space of remembrance and reflection,” and argued that Aspenlieder’s actions effectively held Canadian Jews, including Holocaust survivors, collectively responsible for the Israel–Hamas conflict, making the act one of explicit antisemitism.  

“This act of vandalism was an attempt to weaponize a sacred memorial, transforming it from a place of remembrance into a platform for hate,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, FSWC’s Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy. “It is cruel and perverse to blame Jews who were themselves targeted for annihilation in the Holocaust – and to desecrate the very memorial that exists to remember that genocide – by making them symbolic punching bags for grievances about an unrelated conflict.”  

“As we approach Holocaust Remembrance Day in just a few weeks, today’s sentence is deeply concerning,” Kirzner-Roberts added. “At a time when antisemitic incidents are rising across Canada, this minimal sentence sends the wrong message – that even the desecration of a national Holocaust memorial can be met without meaningful consequences. True accountability is essential if we are serious about confronting antisemitism and protecting spaces of remembrance.”

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