News – Page 29

Rustad revives Tories

BC Conservative leader John Rustad believes “we need to have a heavy focus on getting our economy back up and running in this province.” (photo from conservativebc.ca)

John Rustad’s party has been on a bit of a losing streak. It’s been 96 years since the BC Conservatives last won a provincial election. But Rustad – and plenty of keen political observers – see a once-in-a-century opportunity when voters choose a new government Oct. 19.

Opinion polls show Rustad’s Conservatives, who took less than 2% of the vote in the last provincial election, close to, tied with, or in some cases surpassing the incumbent New Democrats.

In a dramatic deal to unite right-of-centre forces and forestall a reelected NDP government, the BC United party folded its tent last month. Kevin Falcon, who rebranded the official opposition BC Liberals to the BC United party last year, made a deal with Rustad to end the United campaign and endorse the Conservatives. Falcon’s party had plummeted so far in the polls that complete obliteration seemed likely. The move blindsided members of Falcon’s caucus, some of whom are now running as independents, a few of whom are running as Conservatives and several more of whom have retired from politics.

Speaking to the Jewish Independent, Rustad said Jewish British Columbians should see him as a friend.

“The community will find an ally in me,” said Rustad, citing rising antisemitism as unacceptable.

“What’s happening within communities and people not feeling safe, and what’s happening in our universities and in our school system and, quite frankly, in government – that is something that I will work very hard to bring to an end,” he said.

Rustad supports the current government’s commitment to mandatory Holocaust education.

“That was actually something I [said] we would be implementing before even the government talked about doing it,” said Rustad, who reflected on the impact a visit to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre had on him during a tour of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. “There are too many people in British Columbia that don’t understand our full history and need to understand it – not just British Columbia’s or Canada’s history, but world history.”

Rustad was moved by the words of a Jewish woman in her 60s who recently told the Conservative leader she is considering leaving the province because of the antisemitism here. Her parents were Holocaust survivors, Rustad recalled the woman saying, and the climate in BC right now feels “a lot like 1932 from what her parents had described,” he said.

“I was shocked at that, to think that that’s how people could feel about what’s going on here in British Columbia,” he said. “So, to me, that really hit home in terms of changes that we need to be able to do in British Columbia.”

Standing against antisemitism and against hate in any form, said Rustad, is core to who he is.

“People should be able to be safe, people who come here, they should be able to raise their children and not feel as though they’re being persecuted or not feel that sort of fear,” he said.

Issues Rustad is hearing from voters include employment and affordability, which he said are leading too many people to consider abandoning the province.

“With one in three people in BC thinking about leaving this province, and particularly one in two youth thinking about leaving this province, having them being able to build a future in BC is critical and that means we have to be able to address affordability, which includes housing,” he said. “You can address those things but if people don’t have a job, they’re not going to stay. So, we need to have a heavy focus on getting our economy back up and running in this province, and start to address this massive deficit that we have.”

Keeping people in the province also requires that people feel safe, he added.

“It means we have to address addictions and crime, to make people feel safe in British Columbia – and that crime is not just physical crime but also hate crimes,” Rustad said.

Appropriate access to health care is another topic Rustad will raise throughout the campaign.

The folding of the BC United party and the agreement to incorporate some United MLAs and candidates into the Conservative slate has been a sometimes-public struggle. The Conservatives had already identified candidates in the vast majority of the province’s 93 ridings. BC United also had most of their candidates in place. The Falcon-Rustad deal meant many candidates, mostly BC United, had to bow out.

“It’s been interesting, obviously, having options,” Rustad said of his party’s juggling act with a surplus of nominees. “But, at the same time, I believe strongly in loyalty to my candidates, to people who have worked hard to help us build this party and so I’ve tried my best to honour that as part of this process, but also to make sure that we honoured the discussion that we had between the United party and the Conservative party.”

He estimated that somewhat fewer than a dozen BC United candidates have now been nominated by the Conservatives and said his party is still in talks with United officials about other issues. BC United still exists as a party, even though it has stopped campaigning. It could be revived in future and must run at least two candidates in the election after this one to maintain its registration.

The BC Conservatives have not elected a member to the BC Legislature since a 1978 by-election.

Rustad and the seven other members of his caucus were all elected as BC Liberals. Rustad was fired from the Liberal caucus two years ago by Falcon and became Conservative leader last year. He represents the sprawling central BC riding of Nechako Lakes and was first elected in 2005. He served as minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation and as minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations under former premier Christy Clark.

Greens seek breakthrough

BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau wants to “make sure we have a province that is centred around well-being, that is centred around everybody’s basic needs being met and is centred around creating communities where everybody can thrive.” (photo from facebook.com/SoniaBCGreens)

Sonia Furstenau is hearing from Jewish voters that they feel abandoned. The BC Green Party leader wants to rebuild trust between the Jewish community and the province’s elected officials, she said.

“Trust comes from relationships, it comes from understanding and it comes from people really being reliable,” Furstenau told the Jewish Independent. “I think we have shown that we are committed to approaching the work we do from a place of building relationships.”

The Green leader, who hopes to exponentially expand her two-member caucus in the legislature in the Oct. 19 election, reflected on what she has heard from Jewish British Columbians recently.

“I’ve had many conversations in the past month with members of the Jewish community who have expressed to me … that people feel abandoned, that people are concerned about growing incidences of antisemitism,” she said. “It’s a recognition of the need to continue conversations and stay connected.

“But, at a provincial policy level, it’s education, education, education,” Furstenau said. “I know that the premier has made a commitment to [mandatory] Holocaust education and I think that is important and necessary. I want to expand that. We need every student in BC to graduate with a very firm and reliable fact-based understanding of 20th-century history. We need people to be able to withstand the disinformation that is now becoming so dominant in discourse, political and otherwise.”

To address the challenges, Furstenau said students need to be equipped against disinformation so that they can navigate the contemporary world with a solid grounding in history and what it means to be an engaged citizen in a democracy. That means understanding the Holocaust in the context of the 20th century, she said, but also in the context of the antisemitism that has existed for centuries.

“The key piece is that we are building an informed and inclusive community here in BC that does not tolerate hatred or discrimination or racism of any kind,” she said.

As much as she wants voters to consider policies or issues, Furstenau is urging British Columbians to think first and foremost about representation.

“When we go into the ballot box, we’re not voting for a party or a premier,” she said. “We’re voting for the person who is going to be our voice in the legislature.”

She is asking people to take seriously “the question of who is going to be the best representative for me in my community,” she said.

“We have a first-past-the-post system,” she said. “We elect, in this case, 93 representatives to the legislature and, in the best-case scenario, we have a diversity of voices and viewpoints and ideas and we have a legislature where people can find the capacity to work together and across party lines.”

In addition to a number of independent candidates, likely including a few incumbents made politically homeless by the suspension of the BC United party’s campaign, Furstenau hopes voters will consider Green candidates and elect enough members who do not belong to either of the two largest parties to result in a minority government.

“What I think would be an ideal outcome in this election is [a scenario where] no single party has all of the power,” she said, “that we have a legislature with a diversity of voices and representation and we are seeding the conditions where we’re working collaboratively, finding common ground and focusing on solutions for people.”

Furstenau is knocking on doors and the issue she hears about most from voters are affordable housing, cost-of-living, access to reliable health care and climate change.

“When people talk about housing, of course they talk about the fact that we have a growing homelessness crisis in this province,” she said. “The vast majority of people that I talk to about this want to see solutions so that we don’t have people who are living without homes in our communities. That’s a really key piece and some of the politicization and rhetoric that we are already hearing in this election misses the mark, as far as I’m concerned. We can solve this. We can make sure that nobody in our community is living without housing, and we should. For us, the key thing is that British Columbia could be the best place on earth to live. It’s a beautiful place, it’s full of extraordinary people, it’s got an enormous amount of richness and diversity and what we want … is to ensure that everybody here has the best chance to have a good life in British Columbia.”

The coalescence of right and centre-right candidates is not a positive development for democracy, in Furstenau’s view.

“I don’t think that having fewer choices on the ballot is a good thing,” she said. “I think, in a democracy, more choice is better. I think this was an unfortunate loss for the people of BC and I think that suggesting that we should have concentration of political parties and fewer political parties is the wrong direction. We just have to look south of the border to see where that leads us. I was disappointed by the decision that Kevin Falcon and a small number of people apparently made to fold an entire political party. That’s not the kind of leadership that we need right now and it’s not an approach to democracy that we need right now.”

Barring unforeseen developments, there are three main parties to choose from, and Furstenau hopes for a Green electoral breakthrough.

“We are determined to elect the biggest Green caucus in history,” she said. “We have six or seven key ridings where we see that possibility.” In addition to her own riding of Cowichan Valley, she cites other Vancouver Island ridings as possible pickups, including Saanich, Courtenay-Comox, Esquimault and Victoria-Beacon Hill, as well as West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, which the party narrowly lost last election, and opportunities in the Kootenays.

“We’ve built our platform around the idea of well-being, that when we have a society that is rooted in the well-being of its citizens, of its communities and its natural world, we get to a place where we don’t have the kind of conditions to create more hatred and more discrimination,” Furstenau said. “We know that political parties will scapegoat groups of people, including Jewish people. We know that, when people don’t feel safe and secure, we get into political discourse that is dangerous and so our response to that is let’s make sure we have a province that is centred around well-being, that is centred around everybody’s basic needs being met and is centred around creating communities where everybody can thrive and we have to be focused on that and that’s what we are doing.”

Vote – and volunteer

CJPAC, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, wants you to vote in the Oct. 19 British Columbia provincial election. But they want you to do more, too.

“Yes, you should vote,” said Kara Mintzberg, CJPAC’s director for BC. “But you should also remember that volunteering will give you potentially even more impact than your one vote in the ballot box.”

CJPAC is a national, independent, multipartisan organization with a mandate to engage Jewish and pro-Israel Canadians in the democratic process and to foster active political participation.

“CJPAC is here to make it easy,” Mintzberg said. That includes giving people who have never volunteered on a campaign before the lay of the land and identifying activities where they can use their interests or skills to help the candidate of their choice.

“There’s really something for everyone,” she said, whether one prefers getting out and meeting people or working in an office.

Matt Woods Baum, director of marketing and communications for CJPAC, said that, whether it is hammering lawn signs in the ground, phone banking, organizing events or canvassing door-to-door, it is important for Jewish voters to get involved in the process.

“Now more than ever, it’s critical that people take action to get involved,” he said.

CJPAC has a designated volunteer sign-up page for the BC election at cjpac.formstack.com/forms/bc24. Mintzberg also urges people to opt in to CJPAC emails, as there is a range of online briefings, webinars and other opportunities around this and future elections.

CJPAC will be present with an information table at an election town hall, Sept. 22, 6:45 p.m., at Beth Tikvah Synagogue. Richmond election candidates will discuss issues of relevance to Jewish voters in a forum moderated by Shane Foxman. Pre-registration is required at bethtikvah-ca.shulcloud.com/event/townhall. For more information and to submit questions for the candidates, email [email protected].

A solemn anniversary

The Vancouver and Victoria Jewish communities will each hold a memorial ceremony Oct. 7 to honour and remember the victims of the attacks on Israel a year ago.

Led by the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver (RAV) and in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and many others, an evening event in Vancouver will be an opportunity for people of all ages to come together.

A special gathering for young adults will take place from 6 to 7 p.m., providing a space for reflection and connection. The main ceremony will begin at 7 p.m., and will include what is being described as a poignant tribute led by our community’s rabbis. The location of the event will be emailed upon registration. Register at jewishvancouver.com/october-7th-memorial.

Following the ceremony, Jewish Family Services will offer “living rooms,” in both Hebrew and English, where attendees can share their thoughts and find comfort. An Israeli sing-along will also take place, with the intention of helping participants find strength in unity and to support one another.

Relatives of Oct. 7 victims will present representative stories of the heroes and victims and organizers are planning interactive elements so participants can actively memorialize. There is an intention to ensure that all the victims’ names, as well as fallen soldiers’ names, can be articulated in the course of the program.

Politics – local or international – are to be kept out of the program. Elected officials may attend but the focus is on memorializing and honouring the dead.

While Oct. 7 created an unprecedented new world, in many ways, there is a precedent for the sort of memorial event planned, according to Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, who is head of RAV.

The Yizkor service will be the template for this commemoration, said Infeld.

“We know that the Yizkor service is something that the synagogue-going Jew can relate to, but we know that not all the members of our community go to synagogue on a regular basis,” he said. “We want to make sure that it works for everyone. Yizkor is the framework, but there will be creative pieces in it as well that will work for everyone in the community.”

As the anniversary approaches, Infeld said the community should be “thinking first and foremost of the memory of those who were murdered in this horrific, horrible terror attack.”

There are 97 hostages still being held in captivity in Gaza of the more than 240 Israelis and others kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. (Four other hostages have been held since 2014/15.)

People need to be reminded of the absolute necessity to support the people of Israel at this moment, and to support fellow Jews here in Canada and around the world against the rise of antisemitism, said Infeld. “We would like to see everyone really rally together and gather together to support each other and to show our support for Israel and the Jewish people, and to comfort each other as well.”

A memorial in Victoria will take place at the same time on Oct. 7, at the Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion. Pre-registration is mandatory at jewishvictoria.ca.

On Sept. 28, as part of Beth Israel’s Selichot service, Rabbi Infeld will lead a conversation with Thomas Hand, whose daughter, Emily, was a hostage in Gaza. Emily, who turned 9 in captivity, was kidnapped along with her friend and the friend’s mother. The two girls were released in November. Hand will talk about the “spiritual, emotional and moral roller coaster” of his daughter’s captivity and eventual freedom.

Building on a legacy of hope

Dr. Oheneba Boachie, left, and Dr. Rick Hodes, centre, with patients. The JDC spine program in Ethiopia is seeing patients full-time and has evaluated more than 5,000 patients with spine deformities. (photo from Gary Segal)

The two previous Bring Back Hope events “were vital to getting us to where we are now,” Dr. Rick Hodes, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) medical director for Ethiopia, told the Independent. “They raised interest in our work and the financial gifts we received allowed us to expand, to operate on hundreds more patients, and to become the most important spine centre in the entire country of 120 million.”

Bring Back Hope III will take place Oct. 22 at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver. The event, which was conceived by local businessman and philanthropist Gary Segal, will honour Hodes and raise funds to secure Hodes’ legacy by establishing a dedicated spine centre in Ethiopia and training doctors and medical staff.

Segal met Hodes on a Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver/ JDC trip to Ethiopia in 2007. From Hodes, Segal learned about Tesfaye Anagaw, then a teenager, who had an extreme deformity in his spine that could not be operated on in Africa. Segal managed to get Anagaw the life-saving surgery he needed at Vancouver General Hospital in 2009. The experience inspired Segal to help others in similar circumstances by supporting Hodes’ work. Segal launched the Bring Back Hope Initiative (BBH) in 2012.

It wasn’t intended to be annual event, Segal told the Independent. “As a new cause with its somewhat unique origin, it took some time and thoughtful analysis to deploy the funds in a strategic manner – not just to fund the immediate and ongoing need for life-saving spine deformity surgeries, but also to increase training and capacity within Ethiopia. In addition to BBH working with JDC, the newly established BBH partnership with the UBC Branch for Global Surgical Care was unfolding methodically.

“As a result, the appropriate timing for BBH II just naturally turned out to be a five-year anniversary of the initial launch. With the similarly inspiring and even larger amount of funds raised at BBH II, I would say that, around three years later, the rumblings of a BBH III 10-year anniversary event began running through my head, only to be derailed by a couple of unforeseen ‘best laid plans of mice and men going awry’ events: COVID, followed by an outbreak of civil unrest and war in Ethiopia. So, here we are.”

One of the prominent aspects of Hodes’ work, which has been highlighted at previous BBH events, is the interfaith cooperation.

“It is not exactly a revelation to say that extremism, especially of political and religious beliefs, has historically led to much discord in the world,” said Segal. “In stark contrast, underpinning these BBH events, you have this remarkable story – rare humanitarian Jewish physician Dr. Rick Hodes, partnering with devout Baptist Ghanian-born spine surgeon Dr. [Oheneba] Boachie, working with the Catholic nuns of Mother Teresa mission in Addis Ababa, saving Muslim and Christian children. What an uplifting and powerful example of what interfaith cooperation can achieve.”

photo - From left to right: Dr. Oheneba Boachie, Gary Segal and Dr. Rick Hodes in the clinic office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — From left to right: Dr. Oheneba Boachie, Gary Segal and Dr. Rick Hodes in the clinic office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. *(photo from Gary Segal)*

An important development since the first BBH event is that the Ethiopian Ministry of Health has recognized the importance of the spine program.

Boachie and Hodes have been working together for almost 20 years, having met in 2005.

“In spring of 2006, we sent five patients and one staff person to Accra, Ghana. At the same time, Dr. Boachie and his team arrived from New York, and they operated on our patients and many others,” said Hodes. “The Ethiopian government was not making spine a priority, but now that we are seeing patients full-time and have evaluated well over 5,000 patients with spine deformities, they realize that this is a major cause of disability. They now are in favour of a national spine centre and are working with us to get this done. Their endorsement has shown us, and our donors, that we have ‘buy-in’ from the Ethiopian government.”

While the majority of surgeries took place in Ethiopia this year, Hodes said, “We also send patients to FOCOS Hospital in Ghana and Ganga Hospital in India for traction and for surgery.

“We are sending Ethiopian surgeons to India for training, as well. Over the years, the majority of our difficult surgeries have been performed in Ghana, often preceded by months of ambulatory traction. Having our own centre will allow us to provide better care and to be in control of the process and the facility.”

Currently, they operate in a government hospital as well as in a private Christian hospital, said Hodes, “but we believe that a full-time, 100%-spine centre would provide better care to Ethiopians suffering from spine issues.

“I am the main doctor in the clinic, but, in the end, this must be a program run by Ethiopians for Ethiopians,” he stressed. “A national spine centre will allow this to happen. This means having a dedicated facility, as well as fully trained Ethiopian physicians, nurses, physical therapists and others to be able to evaluate, treat, operate on and rehabilitate our patients. It is a great opportunity to provide great care to our patients, and I would love to find an Ethiopian doctor to direct it.”

Hodes was in Vancouver more than once this summer, talking about his hopes for the spine program.

“I was here,” he said, “meeting people, speaking about my work and trying to interest people in our activities in Ethiopia, which involve identifying patients, evaluating and treating them, choosing people for surgery, coordinating care and arranging surgeries – and following them afterwards for years,” as care needs don’t end after the surgery is complete.

“The Dr. Rick Hodes/JDC spine program – over the last 20 years, part of JDC’s tikkun olam non-sectarian work – has not only saved and transformed countless lives, but has also served as an inspiring example and message to both the Jewish and non-Jewish world,” said Segal, who has been on the JDC board since 2012.

Hodes has been recognized for his work in various ways. Most recently, he was given the 2024 Walter P. Blount Award by the Scoliosis Research Society, whose membership “includes over 1,000 of the world’s leading spine surgeons, researchers, physician assistants and orthotists who are involved in research and treatment of spinal deformities.” The award honours “an individual who has provided outstanding service for those with spinal deformities, through their generous actions out of a sense of service to larger social and professional goals.”

Segal and others have called Hodes “tireless” in his humanitarian work.

“I am surrounded by suffering, and it is my challenge to deal with this daily, to provide compassionate care and to raise funds for all of this,” Hodes told the Independent. “I realize that I can only help a small percent of the people who seek my care, and have to deal with that. I am motivated by my goal of helping people for whom there is no other alternative. It’s not easy. I lose sleep over this. It is never-ending.”

Hodes will return to Vancouver for BBB III. Also attending, said Segal, will be “Tesfaye, with his wife and son (whom I can’t wait to meet for the first time); two other patients whose lives were transformed through the Dr. Rick Hodes/JDC spine program; some JDC professionals from the USA, Israel and Ethiopia; and a senior Ministry of Health individual. There is also a special entertainment surprise with its own unique story and link to the evening.”

For tickets to BBH III, visit bringbackhope.com.

Israeli envoy hopeful

Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, was in British Columbia to promote partnerships. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, was in Vancouver last week, meeting with businesspeople, university administrators and the Jewish community. It was his second visit to Vancouver since his appointment as ambassador a year ago.

Moed hopes to establish and expand collaborations between Israeli and Canadian academic institutions in the fields of medicine, agriculture, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and applied research in many disciplines, as well as introduce business leaders from both countries to one another to encourage possible partnerships. He plans to bring some of the leading figures in various Israeli sectors on a cross-Canada road show, possibly early in 2025.

In a discussion with the Jewish Independent and three other media outlets, the ambassador focused on antisemitism in Canada and especially the climate on campuses.

“Most disturbing me at this time is the rise of antisemitism in Canada,” he said. “It’s something that is beyond what has happened in the past.… I am concerned because I see that Jewish communities feel less protected. Jewish students at universities feel intimidated. They don’t want to go to campus or they want to hide their identity and I think this is wrong.”

He has met with university administrators – he took heart in the resounding rejection of an anti-Israel motion by the University of British Columbia senate earlier this year – and discussed with them the need to balance academic freedom with security for Jewish, Israeli and all students.

Moed urges Canadian students to make a more thorough investigation of the roots of the current conflict and not mistake the current war as a battle between Israelis and Palestinians.

“At this point in time, we’re fighting against something else, against Hamas, against hatred,” he said. “I would challenge students to look at … both sides and try to understand.”

When speaking with students, Moed said, he emphasizes stories of coexistence in Israel.

On Oct. 7, he noted, many of the ambulances that day were driven by Arab first responders, because it was a Jewish holiday.

“Those Arab drivers that were caught by the Hamas terrorists were executed because [the terrorists] felt – just like they killed Israeli Jewish [people] – these are Israelis,” he said. “The solidarity in Israel is something that passes much of media’s attention.”

The ambassador also urges students and anyone who is engaging in discussion of the conflict to understand what the combatants represent.

“Hamas doesn’t want any deviance from their core concept of how religions should be practised,” he said. “So, there is no room for LGBTQ and there is no Queers for Palestine among Palestinians. It doesn’t exist because they don’t let them. It’s forbidden to be gay there.”

Overseas activists would do well to speak to people in the region, Moed said.

“I wish that people here would communicate with peers in the Middle East, Jews and non-Jews, hear from them, to educate themselves. That’s very, very important at this time.”

The ambassador acknowledged that relations between Israel and Canada have always been strong, but that the current conflict is causing diplomatic friction.

“The relations have always been very good and strong because they are based on a very solid foundation of shared values between Canada and Israel and that has been the case since Canada officially recognized Israel 75 years ago,” he said. “What we have today … is a growing distance between how both our countries see the conflict in the Middle East. Israel is fighting for its survival. Canada has become more and more critical of, and concerned about, the situation when it comes to the Palestinians.

“We have very good channels of communication and those are very solid and strong,” he said. “Right now, a year from the massacres [of Oct. 7] and when there are still 101 hostages being held in Gaza for which we will continue to fight until they will all come back home, dead or alive, the relations are strained by the fact that both our countries don’t always see eye-to-eye on how Israel is defending itself against a concerted effort by Iran, directly through its proxies, to annihilate the state of Israel.”

Moed, who was born in Amsterdam, has had diplomatic postings in the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, Singapore and the People’s Republic of China, and he has held senior positions in the foreign ministry in Israel.

These are unprecedented times, he said, but he is confident that the situation will improve for Israelis and Jews.

“It will take time, but I’m very hopeful,” he said. “Humanity always prevails. It takes more time, but it does prevail. So, I’m hopeful. Yes, I’m an optimist.”

The need for transparency

Justice Jules Deschênes, who was appointed by the Canadian government in February 1985 to oversee the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada. (screenshot from B’nai Brith Canada)

For nearly four decades, Jewish human rights organizations have been trying to figure out how Nazi war criminals were able to gain citizenship and refuge in Canada following the Second World War. Why were high-ranking members of the Nazi Allgemeine Schutzstaffel (Nazi SS) and Waffen SS troops who fought on Germany’s behalf considered eligible for Canadian citizenship? And who were they? What were their names?

The answers to many of these questions can be found in an obscure list of reports held in government archives. Since 1985, when the Deschênes Commission was appointed to investigate allegations that Nazi war criminals were living in Canada, B’nai Brith Canada and other Jewish organizations have been urging the federal government to release all the commission’s findings. Those records include an historical account of Canada’s post-Second World War immigration policies, written by historian Alti Rodal (the Rodal Report).

“We have always felt that providing the general public with a greater understanding of Canada’s ‘Nazi past’ is a significant venture to providing closure to that time period,” explained Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith’s director of research and advocacy. “This is important because, at a time of rising antisemitism, where there are less and less survivors of the Holocaust around, it is essential that we furnish educators and advocates with as many tools as possible to enable as fulsome a teaching of the [history of the] Holocaust,” including, noted Robertson, those decisions that may have indirectly made it easier for Nazi perpetrators to escape prosecution.

The Hunka affair

Last September, a critical portion of the documentation was made public by the federal government after it was revealed that a former member of the Waffen SS Galicia Division, Yaroslav Hunka, had received a standing ovation in Parliament. Human rights advocates wasted no time in calling for the rest of the Deschênes Commission’s documents to be released, arguing that the unredacted reports could help further Holocaust education in Canada and avoid such mistakes. More than 15 groups, representing Jewish, Muslim, Iranian and Korean ethnic communities and interests, supported B’nai Brith’s petition and, on Feb. 1, the Trudeau government released the bulk of Rodal’s account.

That move has given human rights organizations access to a wealth of information about the politics, the thinking and the apprehensions that often steered the government’s decision not to prosecute or extradite war criminals. Compiled as an historical account of Canada’s post-Second World War policies, the 618-page redacted Rodal Report provides details that aren’t revealed in Deschênes’ deliberations.

Set against the backdrop of today’s rising antisemitism, the report illustrates that Canada’s current struggle to balance the needs of those targeted by antisemitism and discrimination with other democratic principles, like free speech and privacy, is nothing new.

screenshot - Alti Rodal, author of the Rodal Report — Alti Rodal, author of the Rodal Report. *(screenshot from Ukraine Jewish Encounter)*

According to Rodal, Canada’s postwar immigration policies were heavily influenced by a belief that extraditing naturalized Canadian citizens for war crimes would be, in the words of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, “ill-advised.”

“Trudeau’s concern,” Rodal wrote, “was that the revocation [of citizenship of an alleged war criminal] could alarm large numbers of naturalized citizens who would be made to feel that their status in Canada could be insecure as a consequence of the politics and history of the country they left behind.”

And Pierre Trudeau was not alone in his reticence to bring Nazi war criminals to court.

“All those goals which Canadian society has set for itself can certainly not be achieved by short-circuiting the legal process in the hunt for Nazi war criminals,” the commission wrote, while examining whether a military court might be an appropriate venue for litigating charges of war crimes.

By the time the commission concluded its research, it had effectively struck down every available legal mechanism for pursuing action against most former Nazis living in Canada. The Deschênes Commission determined that war criminals could not be prosecuted under Canada’s Criminal Code, but neither could they be tried by military tribunal. Nor could they be successfully prosecuted under the Geneva Conventions for acts of genocide or crimes against humanity. And Canada’s extradition laws would be ineffectual in many instances, including when it came to approving requests from Israel. Israel didn’t exist at the time of the Holocaust, the commission reasoned, and thus didn’t meet Canada’s requirements for requesting extradition of Second World War criminals.

New laws, similar challenges

Canada’s only remedy would be to amend its laws going forward. In 2000, nearly 14 years after the release of the Deschênes Commission’s report, the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act was given Royal Assent. Antisemitism, hate speech and hate crimes are now federal offences as well, covered under Section 319 of the Criminal Code. However, some legal experts say the process of bringing charges of antisemitism or hate crimes to court remains too onerous.

In June, the Matas Law Society and B’nai Brith hosted an educational webinar on the legal strategies available to Canadian lawyers when pursuing charges of antisemitism. Gary Grill and Leora Shemesh, two Toronto-based lawyers who have recently represented victims of alleged antisemitism in Ontario, offered different views as to why it is so hard to bring a hate crime to court.

“We have the tools,” acknowledged Shemesh, “we’re just not effectively using them.” She said she has represented several alleged victims of antisemitism and, in each one of the cases, the charges were later dropped.

Grill, on the other hand, suggested that the issue had to do with initiative. “It’s about political will” when it comes, for example, to ensuring that prosecutors understand that “death to Zionists” is veiled hate speech and should be prosecuted as antisemitism. “The education is easy,” he said. “We can educate prosecutors. We can educate police. It’s not a problem. [But] this is about will. It’s not about law.”

“There are problems with certain [parts] of Section 319 and [its] enumerated defences,” Shemesh said. “Prosecutions under the Criminal Code for the promotion of hatred … require the approval of the attorney general to proceed, which, I say, has partially explained why such prosecutions have been rare in Canadian jurisprudence.”

In Robertson’s opinion, there can be value in legislative oversight. The attorney general’s sign-off “is a safeguard to ensure that our hate crimes legislation … is only utilized when warranted. I believe it is designed to prevent overuse,” he said. “Listen, there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with having checks and balances to ensure that the proper charges are being laid and the severity of these charges warrant such. The issue is the reluctance of the attorney general to sign off on these charges and the procedural, I would say, slow-downs in effecting the sign-off. These are the issues. If we can perfect the procedures around the sign-off, then this is a completely fine check and balance.”

photo - Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada — Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada. *(photo from B’nai Brith Canada)*

As for addressing the rise in antisemitism that Canada is experiencing today, Robertson believes the answer lies in ensuring Holocaust education is available and continues. That requires ensuring public access to the documents that most accurately tell the story – including those of Canada and other allied nations.

“With the recent issues that we’ve seen regarding immigration into Canada, I think [the Deschênes and Rodal reports serve as a] narrative that is more relevant than ever. I think it is important for us to understand our mistakes of the past so that we don’t repeat them in the future,” Robertson said. “And, as well, when it comes specifically to Holocaust education, I think it is important for Canadians to appreciate the level of complicity, if there was any complicity, in our government helping Nazis escape prosecution following the culmination of the Holocaust in World War II…. It helps to paint the totality of the picture of just how widespread the Holocaust was.”

Robertson said Canadians often think of the Holocaust as a “European issue,” that it only adversely impacted Jews in Europe. “So, understanding Canada’s role and [the Holocaust’s] aftermath helps to globalize the narrative, and perhaps that will help Canadians to better appreciate the truly global impact of the Holocaust [and the trauma] that is still ongoing.”

To date, most of the Deschênes documents have been made public, with the exception of Part II of the original report, containing the identity of members of the Nazi party who were granted immigration to Canada. The ancillary documents, such as the Rodal Report, also contain information that has not been made public. B’nai Brith Canada continues to lobby for their release.

Jan Lee is an award-winning editorial writer whose articles and op-eds have been published in B’nai B’rith Magazine, Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism and Baltimore Jewish Times, as well as a number of business, environmental and travel publications. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com.

Moss takes the helm of JSA

Jeff Moss (photo from JSA)

This summer, Jeff Moss became the first executive director of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver. Moss has long served the local community, following the example of his parents, who were deeply involved in building the Jewish community in Richmond.

The father of three adult children, Moss was co-chair of Richmond Jewish Day School, where, he said, the board took an active role, which helped him build a solid understanding of how an involved board could work alongside professional management. Moss spent three decades in the private sector before leaving to work at United Way British Columbia and then making his way to JSA.

“I reached out to United Way for an opportunity to become a campaign manager,” Moss told the Independent. “I went into work helping them with fundraising and campaign management, telling their story. And I had the opportunity to connect with a lot of great people and got some experience working in nonprofits. I had really wanted to get engaged with the nonprofit world. My desire was to go out and make an impact in the community.

“Then, Oct. 7 happened,” he said, “and I felt very strongly that I wanted to make an impact on the Jewish world if I could. So, I began to look for opportunities to serve in Jewish nonprofits and, eventually, the opportunity with JSA came along.”

Moss says that the executive director role has allowed him to tie his experiences of leading an organization and fundraising together. Further, it is an opportunity to bring his commitment to the community and bring a positive effect for those in need. He is thankful for the framework the late Serge Haber, JSA founder and often its guiding light, set in place.

“It is a great opportunity for me personally, and I hope I am able to meet the needs of JSA as we look to build upon the incredible successes that Serge and his team had built in terms of being able to create this organization,” Moss said, adding that he is intent on bolstering the pillars of the organization: peer support, education, outreach and advocacy.

“After 20 years of success so far, the way I see it, my role is to make sure that, as an organization, we are set up for the next 20 years,” he said.

Moss, who started the new position on July 2, praised the “incredible” board members at JSA and is planning to connect more with the organization’s stakeholders – that is, the community partners, donors and staff – to make sure they get the support they need. He looks forward to the future of JSA and its ability to have a beneficial influence in the Jewish community and the community at large.

“I am trying to ensure that we are going to be set for building out the structures that are needed to grow and be a sustainable organization,” he explained. “I want to continue the amazing work we are doing and enhance it – and to make sure that we are able to meet the needs of our growing seniors community.

“We are eager to connect with more volunteers in our Jewish community for our friendly visitor and peer support programs, and to connect with more Jewish senior clients to be matched in our seniors programs. We would like to extend beyond our current geographic reach, as our advocacy and outreach work is province-wide.”

The positive role JSA has goes well beyond the 140 clients and 100 volunteers who offer peer support – it impacts people’s family and friends, as well, Moss said. “The support we provide reduces the needs of others within the community, it makes it easier for kids and relatives to know there is additional home support for their loved ones.”

JSA also publishes Senior Line. With more than 4,000 copies per print run, JSA is hoping to expand the magazine’s presence into more seniors residences, through Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health, and province-wide. JSA recently updated its website, which includes archives of the magazine going back several years.

Moss said JSA is “grateful to the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation for supporting JSA’s organizational restructuring, and to all our valued donors who have been keen to help us along the way. We look forward to continuing to work and partner with them and other community organizations to meet the goals and objectives that we all set out.”

According to JSA’s mission statement, a senior is a person aged 55+. Those who volunteer for peer services are all 55+ but anyone who wishes to participate in the Friendly Visitor Program needs only to be 18 or older.

JSA will hold its annual general meeting on Nov. 3. The proceedings will include the recognition of former BC seniors advocate Isobel MacKenzie and retiring MLA Selina Robinson for their work on behalf of seniors.

This year’s JSA Fall Symposium will take place Nov. 17 and will feature Dan Levitt, current BC seniors advocate.

For more information, visit jsalliance.org.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Hillel BC’s new leader

Ohad Gavrieli (photo from Hillel BC)

Ohad Gavrieli is applying his multi-disciplinary background and extensive organizational experience as the new executive director of Hillel BC. This summer, the organization bid farewell to Rob Philipp and welcomed Gavrieli as its head.

“Hillel BC is based on the Vancouver campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC), but our outreach and programs span multiple campuses across the province,” Gavrieli told the Independent. “We are lucky to be able to work with so many Jewish students throughout BC. Our work is incredibly meaningful and touches on so many aspects of student life.”

Born in Switzerland, where his father was completing his PhD studies, Gavrieli’s family returned to Israel when he was 9 months old. He spent his early childhood on a kibbutz in northern Israel before moving to Kiryat Tivon, a small town near Haifa, at the age of 10.

During his youth, Gavrieli was a passionate musician, playing the tuba and eventually performing with the Israel Defence Forces Orchestra for part of his service. He later pursued a bachelor of arts in sociology and Middle Eastern studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), which is where he first became involved with Hillel.

“My role as a project coordinator involved engaging both the student and local communities in Be’er Sheva,” said Gavrieli. “The goal was to enhance the area’s vibrancy through initiatives like musical collaborations.”

Gavrieli’s work at BGU proved instrumental to his future, as it was there he first forged connections with Hillel International and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

“That’s ultimately what led me to Vancouver,” he said.

In 2010, shortly after Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games, Gavrieli moved to the city to serve as the Israeli emissary for the Vancouver Hillel Foundation. It was during this tenure that he met his future wife.

“My first memory of the city is the Stanley Cup riots – a surprising contrast to the peaceful reputation of Canada and its laid-back culture,” said Gavrieli. “It reminded me of the intensity and vibrancy back in Israel.”

When his role as emissary came to an end, Gavrieli was accepted into the master of business administration program at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and he worked as a project manager in the tech industry after graduating. He left tech to accept a new role with Hillel, ultimately progressing from operations and finance director to assistant director and, now, executive director.

Gavrieli’s days at Hillel BC are varied and challenging. He is primarily focused on student safety, combating antisemitism and engaging with community supporters and partners. Hillel BC supports students at UBC, SFU, University of Victoria, Langara College, Emily Carr University of Art + Design and BC Institute of Technology. Plans are underway to further expand its operations to the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna.

Gavrieli works closely with university administrators across all six campuses to foster a safer and more welcoming campus environment.

“I am fortunate to work with an incredibly talented and dedicated team, though we are small,” he said. “We are committed to creating a warm and welcoming space for our students, while also offering programming that aligns with our pluralistic and inclusive mandate. The challenges our Jewish community faces are significant, and these challenges are often first experienced on campus. Our focus is on supporting our students, helping them feel proud of their Jewish identity and strengthening their community connections.”

Hillel BC strives to promote Jewish life on campuses and beyond, offering an environment for students to explore their Jewish identity in a pluralistic and inclusive community. The organization also fosters dialogue on Judaism and Israel, collaborates on social action projects and celebrates Jewish holidays. It partners with various university groups, faculty and other student clubs to present relevant topics and develop programs in conjunction with other Jewish community organizations.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Combining fun and learning

Campers and staff of this summer’s Camp Gan Israel Kelowna. (photo from Chabad Okanagan)

Camp Gan Israel (CGI) Kelowna campers experienced a summer packed with joy, adventure and Jewish education.

The first week of camp was filled with activities that combined fun with learning about Jewish holidays and traditions. The children baked challah for Shabbat, shaped honey jugs and played at the splash park with the shofar sound for Rosh Hashanah. They created stained glass art for Passover, made edible sukkot (huts) and enjoyed playing “Just 4 Fun” for the holiday of Sukkot. Campers also made candied apples for the High Holidays and dressed up for Purim with a photobooth and kosher hunt, all while receiving education about these special days.

In the second week, campers continued to explore and learn with a variety of activities. They went to Energyplex, enjoyed rock climbing, fruit picking, bowling, science experiments, beading, and visiting the aviation museum. Each activity was paired with lessons about Jewish heroes like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Esther and Moses, allowing the children to connect their experiences to the teachings of Judaism’s greats.

Campers were provided freshly made, nutritious lunches every day, helping them stay energized and ready for all the adventures. The staff did a fantastic job ensuring every child had a safe, memorable, fun and enriching experience, while making new friends along the way.

With more than 20 campers and five staff, this has been the largest Camp Gan Israel Kelowna season yet! One parent shared in a video interview that his daughter told him it was the best camp she had ever attended. Another grandparent expressed regret for not having sent her granddaughter the year prior, as well, only hearing about the camp’s wonderful reputation afterward.

To keep the Camp Gan Israel spirit alive throughout the year, there will be JewQ sessions on Mondays, where the children will continue their Jewish learning journey with dinner, study and fun. For more information on this and other camp and Chabad Okanagan activities and events, visit jewishokanagan.com.

– Courtesy Chabad Okanagan