At the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation (CSZHF) event on Sept. 7, which marked the foundation\u2019s 50th anniversary: left to right, Col. Ilan Or, Israeli defence attach\u00e9 to Canada; Rafi Yablonsky, CSZHF national director; Dr. Marla Gordon, CSZHF Western region board member; Dr. Arthur Dodek, CSZHF Western region board member; former prime minister Stephen Harper; Dr. Robert Krell, 2025 Western Region recipient of the Kurt and Edith Rothschild Humanitarian Award; Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of Schara Tzedeck Synagogue; Ilan Pilo, CSZHF Western Canada director; and Sam Sapera, CSZHF board chair. <\/i>(photo by Alina Ilyasova)<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>Former prime minister Stephen Harper was on friendly ground when he addressed a packed sanctuary at Congregation Schara Tzedeck earlier this month. The former Conservative leader, who led the country from 2006 to 2015, is known as a stalwart ally of Israel and the audience of mostly Jewish Vancouverites welcomed him heartily.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 7 event was the first fundraising gala for the newly formed Western region of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation. The event and the surrounding campaign succeeded in funding nine incubators for the hospital\u2019s pediatric department.<\/p>\n
The event featured Harper in conversation with former BC premier Gordon Campbell, who told the audience that, of the prime ministers he served with concurrently when he was premier from 2001 to 2011, Harper was his favourite.<\/p>\n
Harper said people ask him why he supports Israel so strongly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas it got to do with religion or your view of the Jewish community?\u201d he asked rhetorically. \u201cI mean, there are a million reasons, but, as prime minister of Canada, the reasons were really simple. Here is this one country in the Middle East that shares our values and that is a friend of this country \u2013 and the people who are the enemies of that country are enemies of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper told the audience that there are a lot of loud voices condemning Israel and threatening Jewish Canadians, but, he said, they are not unanimous. \u201cThere are still a lot of people in this country that understand the value of our Jewish community, that are friends of the state of Israel, and that thank you for everything you do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Harper lauded Israel for its actions to set back Iran\u2019s nuclear program, arguing that the brief Israel-Iran conflict has positively realigned the region. People had warned that Israel\u2019s attack on Iran\u2019s nuclear capability was a dangerous escalation that could \u201clead to World War Three,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe know that not only was [the nuclear program] set back considerably, but the United States and Israel sent a real message that, if we see it again, we\u2019re going to do the same thing again.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The results of the Israeli actions were overwhelmingly positive, Harper said. There was a very limited Iranian response \u2013 and, notably, no other nations coming to Iran\u2019s aid, he said.<\/p>\n There were broader repercussions around Israel\u2019s action against Iran and in the larger regional conflict, he added. Hezbollah was decapitated and the Lebanese government is now trying to push Hezbollah out. Hezbollah\u2019s allies in Syria lost power. Hamas is massively degraded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Campbell expressed dismay at Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s statement that Canada would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations if the Palestinians meet a number of conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy problem with that \u2026 the Palestinian Authority has never done one of the things that the prime minister said,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to give the new government a chance,\u201d Harper replied, calling the Carney government a \u201ckind of improvement\u201d on the previous administration. \u201cThe only interpretation you can put on it is in fact rewarding the events of Oct. 7th.\u201d<\/p>\n Harper said he cannot recall any precedent for Canada, or any other country, recognizing a state that does not exist.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, on top of that,\u201d he said, \u201cWho exactly are you? \u2026 There is no leadership among the Palestinian populations, including the [Palestinian Authority], that actually unequivocally recognizes the right of a Jewish state to exist. It\u2019s great to say, \u2018I favour theoretically a two-state solution,\u2019 but the problem is this other state would be a state that does not support a two-state solution. You\u2019d actually be moving further away from that objective.\u201d<\/p>\n While Israel\u2019s military actions have improved the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, Harper acknowledged there has been a concurrent spike in antisemitism in Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cI really feel a lot of sympathy for ordinary Jewish people who face this in their private [and] professional lives and feel intimidated,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess that the only advice I can give you is to be resolute.\u2026 You can\u2019t let those occasions slip. You can\u2019t let them go by.\u201d<\/p>\n Harper said he has been accused of dismissing criticism of Israel as antisemitic, an assertion he rejects. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeing opposed to policy of the government of Israel is not antisemitic,\u201d he said. \u201cBut being opposed to Israel because it is the only Jewish state in the world is the definition of antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n Harper spoke, as he has previously to Jewish audiences, of his father, Joseph, who came of age during the Second World War, when the world was existentially threatened by fascism.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the consequences of that is he grew up just as a very determined opponent of antisemitism in a period \u2013 we\u2019re talking the \u201940s, \u201950s \u2013 where some of these things were expressed openly. He was very vocal in opposing that. And, frankly, he is just turning over in his grave watching some of what is happening today.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite almost a decade out of office, the former Conservative prime minister did not shy away from politics, crediting the Liberal party with running an excellent campaign earlier this year and identifying shortcomings in the Conservative party\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n Harper cited Donald Trump\u2019s intervention in the campaign as a factor and anxieties around the Canada-US relationship for upending conventional wisdom, including polls that had predicted a Conservative landslide before former prime minister Justin Trudeau resigned.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think the [Conservative] party has to take a hard look at what went right and what went wrong,\u201d said Harper. \u201cThe Liberals displayed incredible tactical flexibility, and we did not show the same level of flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the Conservatives, he said: \u201cWe ran a very principled campaign, but we need to show a lot more adaptability when circumstances change.\u201d<\/p>\n Harper and Campbell also addressed economic issues. The former prime minister said the challenges presented by the current American administration are a chance to diversify Canada\u2019s trade relationships.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have an opportunity to be a genuine globally connected economy, instead of just kind of an economic appendage to the United States, which in some ways we have become, I [see] opportunity,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Both Harper and Campbell, in their time, were advocates for the economic benefits of resource extraction. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cResources are not the only thing we have, but it\u2019s a big, big comparative advantage,\u201d Harper said. \u201cWe\u2019re the country that has an unlimited range of natural resources in a rule-of-law environment, far removed from conflict zones. Do you know how rare that is in the world when it comes to vital resources? And that\u2019s what we have. And we\u2019re not getting them out of the ground, and we\u2019re not getting them around the world.\u2026 We\u2019ve got to get our energy to Asia. We\u2019ve got to get our energy to Europe.\u2026 It will bring billions of dollars into Canada, create thousands and thousands of jobs in Canada. We are up against the clock, and the clock doesn\u2019t care much about us.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sept. 7 program began with a video showcasing Shaare Zedek Hospital\u2019s achievements in maternal and neonatal care, as well as the range of advanced medical procedures for which the hospital is known. The religious and ethnic diversity of the hospital\u2019s staff and patients is a particular source of pride for the facility\u2019s leadership and their Canadian supporters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Harper spoke highly of the hospital, which treats more than a million patients a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Shaare Zedek Hospital is, to me, emblematic of just so much of what has made Israel a remarkable country,\u201d he said. \u201c[It has] become a world-leading institution that services people beyond politics, race, religion, ethnicity \u2026 just a tremendous institution.\u201d<\/p>\n The event was presented by the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Congregation Schara Tzedeck, the Jewish Independent <\/i>and the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia. Organizers expressed special thanks to CJPAC, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, for their community support.<\/p>\n Ilan Pilo, Western Canada executive for Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation, announced the success of the event, which resulted in funding for nine \u201cGiraffe\u201d incubators \u2013 each one costing $50,000 \u2013 for the hospital where 22,000 Israeli babies are born annually.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n