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Ninety Years and
Still Going Strong
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 Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
It's
been a busy and exciting couple of months for Canadian Jewish Congress. We
celebrated our 90th anniversary at Queen's Park in Toronto on September 15th.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty hosted a reception in our honour and all three
provincial party leaders addressed Congress board members, volunteers and
staff. Mike Colle, M.P.P. for Eglinton-Lawrence, also acknowledged
Canadian Jewish Congress's role in shaping Ontario
and Canada,
with a Member's Statement in the Provincial Legislature.
Photo: (L to R) Judy Kremer, CJC Board of Directors; Adam Atlas, President QJC; Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Marc Gold, President Federation CJA
The Ontario
celebration followed a 500-person dinner hosted by Quebec Jewish Congress and
Federation CJA on August 27, 2009, at which Quebec Premier Jean Charest was the
guest of honour. In his speech, Premier Charest spoke about Quebec Jewish
Congress and the critical contributions made by the Quebec
Jewish community in the evolution and development of Quebec.
To
read Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's remarks, click here.
To read the Leader of the Opposition, Tim Hudak's remarks, click here.
To read the leader of the New Democratic Party, Andrea Horwath's remarks, click here.
To read CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress, Bernie M. Farber's remarks, click here.
To read Mike Colle's Member's Statement, click here.
To read coverage of Quebec Premier Jean Charest's speech, click here.
Please see our photo gallery below for more pictures
from both events.
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Quebec Jewish Congress Hosts Federal Minister's
Announcement of Security Funding for Jewish Community
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Photo: L-R: Marc Gold, Federation CJA President; Hon. Jason Kenney; Adam Atlas, President QJC
It was a whirlwind 48 hours
for the Quebec Jewish Congress (QJC) staff in Montreal.The day after the Jean
Charest dinner (story above), Federal
Minister of
Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney announced funding
support of over $220,000 for security infrastructure enhancements for ten
Montreal area community organizations as part of the Security
Infrastructure Pilot Program (SIP).
"Building stronger, safer communities is a priority
for this government," said Minister Kenney. "Unfortunately, there are many
communities that are targeted by hate. The funding announced today will help
organizations in the Montreal
region to improve their ability to protect themselves."
QJC President Adam Atlas, who spoke along with Federation CJA President
Marc Gold, thanked the Minister for this important announcement on behalf of
the Jewish community. "It's gratifying in both my role as President and as a
child of a Holocaust survivor that our government, in continuing to support the
SIP Program, is making a strong stand against hatred. In this country, those
who are at risk will be protected and those who chose hate over freedom will
never again be allowed to prevail. Canada and all her citizens will
continue to serve as a beacon of democracy, human rights and freedom," said
Atlas.
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Canadian Jewish Congress Secures Federal Funding
to Memorialize "None is Too Many" Tragedy
 photo: Passengers aboard the S.S. St. Louis |
The None Is Too Many Memorializing and
Commemorating the S.S. St. Louis project is well underway, due to a
generous funding commitment made by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration
and Multiculturalism to the Canadian Jewish Congress and the organized Jewish
community. The project aims to find
meaningful ways of remembering the anti-Jewish exclusionary immigration policy
of the 1930s and 1940s, exemplified by Canada's failure to accept the over
900 Jewish refugees aboard the S.S. St. Louis in June 1939. This left Canada
the unfortunate status as the last country refusing them entry, forcing them to
face their tragic fate on their return to Nazi-occupied Europe.
While recalling
this incident, the project aims to emphasize and promote the positive lessons
of tolerance, anti-racism and understanding shared today for all Canadians. The project has three elements. First, CJC is arranging for a permanent statue/memorial
commemorating the S.S. St. Louis in the Pier 21 Museum in Halifax,
where virtually all immigrants arriving from European ships entered Canada.
Second, CJC is
creating an educational program for Canadian students in grades 6-8. Included in the program is a teachers' guide,
a short DVD and an information booklet for students about the S. S. St. Louis
and Canada's
1930s-1940s discriminatory policy toward Jews, with comparisons to treatment of
other minorities, including Aboriginal people.
Finally, CJC will
be promoting a national essay-writing contest for grades 6-8. Students will write about "what the story of
the S.S. St. Louis means to me, as a young Canadian".
The project's
team is working closely with the Ministry to ensure success. It is expected to
be completed within the next 18 months.
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General
Wingate Branch Remembers Fallen Canadian Jewish Comrades
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Pomp, circumstance and bright sunshine were the order of the day at the
Annual Memorial March and Service, held August 30, 2009 in Toronto.
Members of the Royal Canadian Legion, General Wingate Branch 256
remembered fallen Canadian Jewish Army, Navy and Air Force men and women who
died during WW II and other conflicts and who are buried overseas or missing in
action. The Legion also recalled partisans
who fought the Nazis and those who fought in Israel's War of Independence and
paid tribute at the Stone of Remembrance for those who died in the Korean War.
Addressing a crowd of government, military and diplomatic
representatives, were families and friends who came to remember, lay wreaths
and pay their respects at Toronto's Mt. Sinai
Cemetery. Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber was
a keynote speaker (second from left). Joining him near a
Canadian-designed Cenotaph funded and maintained by the Branch were (l-r)
Murray Jacobs, recently-elected President, General Wingate Branch 256; Lt.
Commander, Dr. Peter Collins, Navy Reserve; Lt. Colonel A. Zalvin, 25th
Service Brigade Battalion and Captain (Rabbi) Lazer Danzinger, the first Canadian
Jewish chaplain in the Naval Reserves since WW II. (Photo: Tony
Mihok)
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CJC Stands with
LGBTQ Community in Canada and in Israel
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Bernie M. Farber, CJC CEO, addresses Toronto Vigil
On August 1, 2009, an unidentified gunman entered the
Café Noir, a Tel Aviv centre that serves the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgendered-Queer
(LGBTQ) community and opened fire on the crowd. More than a dozen people were injured in the
attack, and two individuals, Nir Katz and Liz Trubeshi, were murdered.
The attack was roundly condemned by the government of
Israel, most forcefully perhaps by Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar when he stated, "this was an act based on hatred...This
is where we have to say out loud, in a clear voice, that Israel will continue
to be a free country, where each citizen is free to choose his or her way of
life according to his or her own will"
In response to
this hateful act, LGBTQ communities around the world came together to hold
vigils to remember the dead and pray for the recovery of the injured. In Toronto, this sad duty
fell to Kulanu, an organization which provides an opportunity for Jewish members
of the LGBTQ community to come together.
CJC Chief Executive Officer Bernie M. Farber spoke
at the vigil, expressing sadness at the tragedy while speaking of the bond of
shared experience that holds the LGBTQ and Jewish communities together. Quoting
the closing words of CJC Counsel Lyle Kanee in the landmark case of Vriend v. Alberta, Farber said, "The doors of citizenship have now been
open for Jews, but we can't walk through those doors unless we're hand in hand
with our gay and lesbian friends."
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| CJC Photo Gallery
QUEENS PARK RECEPTION
L-R Marilyn Shapiro; Wendy Lampert, CJC Director of Community Relations; Len Rudner, CJC Ontario Regional Director; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty; Igor Ellyn, CJC Board of Directors; David Katz, Chair CJC Charities Committee
Bernie M. Farber, CEO; Mark Freiman, CJC President; Premier Dalton McGuinty and Hon. Monty Kwinter
(L-R) Tim Hudak, Leader of the Opposition, Ontario; Amir Gissin, Consul General, Israel; Andrea Horwath, Ontario Leader of NDP; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty; Bernie M. Farber, CJC CEO
CHAREST RECEPTION
Quebec Premier Jean Charest
Premier Jean Charest greeting guests
Adam Atlas, President QJC; Marc Gold President Federation CJA; Premier Jean Charest; Barbara Bank, CJC Vice President
Premier Charest kibbitizing with Adam Atlas and a group of guests
Premier Jean Charest and Bernie M. Farber
LGBTQ VIGIL
Rabbi Ed Elkin of First Narayever Congregation reciting a memorial prayer
for
the two victims of the Tel Aviv shooting
Justine Apple, Kulanu Toronto and Naomi Kramer, New Israel Fund of
Canada
Bernie M. Farber addresses Toronto vigil
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