Politics around Sukkot

Editorial

The timing of the federal election Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Sunday was the worst kept secret in the country. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion had already alerted the country, after meeting with Harper earlier in the week, that Harper was hell-bent to call an election. But any hint of suspense was quashed after the prime minister called Canadian Jewish Congress to soften the news that he was setting the election date on Sukkot. All the more so after CJC issued a news release – 36 hours before the election call, mind you – acknowledging Harper's call and confirming the Oct. 14 voting date. Surprise!

The release did not say whether the prime minister apologized nor, probably, should he have. As CJC co-president Rabbi Reuven Bulka stated in the release, reasonable accommodation for Jewish voters is achieved through the numerous opportunities to vote in advance polls and throughout the writ period at any returning office. Still, it was an odd act of indiscretion to publicize the conversation and the election date before the governor general had assented. Unless, of course, the Conservatives asked CJC to spread the word that, while the election would be held on Sukkot, it would not be necessary to leave the sukkah to dash to the voting booth.

"We were very pleased the prime minister chose to contact us directly to talk about this issue, which demonstrated a sincere understanding of our community," Bulka said. "It was clear from the conversation that the prime minister remains very sensitive to these matters, and he explained in detail why he chose this date.... We know Prime Minister Harper is a man of faith, and understand the challenges he must have faced in determining a date for the election."

This all seems fair. So does a second news release that came within minutes of the first. In this one, CJC commended the federal announcements of about $650,000 to Jewish community institutions across Canada through the security infrastructure program, a program to provide funding "for security enhancement to communities at greater risk of being victims of hate crimes."

This is an issue that has been near to the Jewish community's heart for some time. The added burden of anticipating potential threats against communal infrastructure has added untold costs to every major project in this community for decades and it is a point of appreciation that the current government made this a priority.

"It is an unfortunate fact that some communities in Canada need to worry more about their safety than others, but it is comforting to know our government understands and appreciates those concerns," said Bulka.

It is comforting. But any time an announcement is made on the eve of an election call – OK, not the eve literally, but the last business day before an election call – it is difficult not to smell politics. Given that this issue, of all issues, should be above politics, it is all the more dubious.

To top it off, the sequential release of statements from CJC neutralizing any controversy over the Sukkot election date and enthusiastically acknowledging a long-overdue funding program – hours before the election call – as justified as each news release might be, does little to burnish the non-partisan status of CJC.

With good reason, many voters in the Jewish community have responded positively to the first Canadian government in many years that seems to intuitively understand our community. But as reasonable as this reaction is, voting decisions are made on a wide swath of issues and, on a range of them, our community's interests may be served by other parties.

Like the last two federal elections, this one is anyone's to win or lose. On issues of multiculturalism, climate change, social programs and a host of other matters, there may well be more in the Liberal platform to appeal to many Jewish voters than we find in Conservative policy. Still, it is simply not possible to ignore or deny the immense appreciation felt by so many in the Jewish community that we have had a prime minister and a government that unequivocally, without hesitation or reservation, stands with the only democracy in the Middle East and, in so doing, reassures Jewish Canadians that they have a reliable friend in office.

We will wait for the Liberal party to outline its official platform and see if a Dion government would promise any change from the equivocal, hesitant and reserved lip-service given by Liberal governments of the past to Israel's right to live free from attack and constant vilification. Then we'll vote in the advance polls and wait in the sukkah for the results.

^TOP