Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) has been at the forefront of Canada's Jewish advocacy for 91 years, and 2010 has seen as many challenges and triumphs for our community as ever.  While we await the profound changes that will transform our community's vital public affairs work, we remain deeply proud of our 2010 accomplishments. 

We are delighted to share with you our Annual CJC Top Ten Year in Review.  From all of us, Happy New Year. May we all go from strength to strength!

In 2010, CJC advanced the fight against antisemitism, both in Canada and abroad, through leading roles in a variety of international conferences, strategy sessions and programs.  Most importantly, CJC's National and Regional submissions to the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA), buttressed by testimony from CJC National President Mark J. Freiman and Quebec Jewish Congress President Adam Atlas, sensitized Members of Parliament to the menace of antisemitism.  In November, Congress made a remarkable contribution to the successful Ottawa Conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, along with the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy.  National President Mark J. Freiman and CEO Bernie M. Farber both chaired panels at the Experts Forum, while Mark and National Executive Director Benjamin Shinewald reported on findings to the assembly of international parliamentarians and experts.  To read our National submission to the CPCCA, click here.  To watch a video interview on the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism, click here.

Last year, CJC secured a $500,000 grant from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to commission a monument to the S.S. St. Louis, the ship whose Jewish passengers sought refuge in Canada but who were turned back to their fates in Hitler's Europe.  In August, CJC selected internationally-renowned architect Daniel Liebskind to produce the monument, which will be permanently displayed at Halifax's Pier 21: Canada's Immigration Museum.  The monument is under production and will be unveiled in early 2011, along with a companion educational program. To watch a video interview of the sole remaining Israeli survivor of the S.S. St. Louis, click here.

The S.S. St. Louis

Daniel Liebskind's rendering of the Permanent Monument to the S.S. St. Louis

In response to the restructuring of Canadian Jewish advocacy initiated by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, the National Board of Canadian Jewish Congress struck a sub-committee of individuals with expertise in governance, Jewish communal organization and public affairs to make recommendations concerning a new national public affairs agency.  We believe that our vision for the future offers an optimum approach for Canadian Jewish Congress and our national Jewish community to renew and reinvigorate our approach to public affairs.  To read our report, click here.

Throughout 2010, CJC continued to lead on interfaith outreach.  From representing our community at the G8/G20 World Religions Summit in Winnipeg to hosting Christian and Muslim leaders at our Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Congress continued to foster interfaith understanding and tolerance.  To see a photo gallery of interfaith meetings, click here.  To watch a video on the importance of interfaith dialogue, click here.

CJC CEO Bernie M. Farber and National President Mark J. Freiman show the Torah to visiting Ahmadiyya Muslim leaders. 

In May, CJC led a delegation of Jewish, Christian and Muslim volunteers for a remarkable day of Darfur advocacy on Parliament Hill.  Our Darfur Action Committee members, who ranged from students to Holocaust Survivors, met with over a dozen Members of Parliament, Senators, political staffers and senior public servants, pressing them on specific actions they could take to address the ongoing genocide in Darfur.  To read the CJC Parliamentary Darfur Brief, click here.  To read a formal Statement in the House of Commons about CJC's Darfur advocacy, click here.  We are always looking for volunteers for our Darfur Action Committee. To join please email [email protected].

Anna Heilman, a Survivor of both the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz and a member of the CJC Darfur Action Committee, lobbies MPs on Darfur

In 2010, Congress worked closely with UJA Federation of Toronto and was successful in securing $335,000 in emergency funding for needy Holocaust Survivors, bringing desperately needed comfort to those who deserve it most.  To watch a video of a Holocaust "War Orphan" brought to Canada by CJC, click here. 

Canadian Jewish Congress's deep roots as a human rights organization continue to guide our policies and activities, and 2010 abounded with distressing opportunities for us to confront intolerance.  From condemning an infamous cross burning in Nova Scotia to commending hate crimes charges against a "gay basher" in British Columbia and from questioning the academic standards of an antisemitic Master's thesis at the University of Toronto to calling out George Galloway's lies, Congress led the Jewish community in advancing the cause of tolerance and human rights.  To watch a video interview on the Jenny Peto Master's thesis, click here.  

After years of lobbying and educating, Canadian Jewish Congress celebrated a sad milestone this year when Salman Hossain, a York University student who runs a racist and violent blog, became the first person ever charged with "incitement to commit genocide." At the invitation of the Ontario Provincial Police, Congress represented the Jewish community at a press conference announcing the charge.  To watch a video interview on Salman Hossain, click here.

Following the tragic earthquake in Haiti on January 12, Congress quickly reached out to the Haitian community with a helping hand.  Working in cooperation with Jewish Federations across Canada, CJC got out the word to our community to donate through their local federations to the Haitian emergency relief campaign.  Coincidentally, just before the earthquake, Quebec Jewish Congress and the Montreal Holocaust Museum produced an extraordinary exhibition entitled Jews and Haitians: A Forgotten Story, which details the many Haitians who tried to save Jews during the Holocaust.  The exhibit will be on loan to Montreal's Haitian community during Black History Month in February 2011. To see a photo gallery of the exhibition's opening cocktail, held in the presence of the Consul General of Haiti in Montreal, click here.

CJC snapped into action when it emerged that Charlotte Whitton, who had campaigned to keep Jewish children from entering Canada during the Holocaust, was being considered for a national honour.  In public and in private, CJC successfully argued that Ms. Whitton's notorious past should preclude her.  To read our Ottawa Citizen op-ed, jointly written with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, click here.

After the Vancouver-based magazine Adbusters overtly compared the Holocaust to present-day Gaza, Congress partnered with Honest Reporting Canada and issued a Call to Action that saw members of our community make merchants aware of the antisemitism on their magazine racks.  To read our National Post op-ed on Adbusters, click here. 

Canadian Jewish Congress wishes you a happy and healthy 2011!

May we all continue to go from strength to strength!

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