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The CJN\u2019s political insiders are Dan Mader, David Birnbaum and Noah Tepperman. (Supplied photos)<\/p>\nHear our political insiders weigh in on whether anything has actually changed for Jewish Canadians as Mark Carney enters his majority era with a mini-budget, a pending national antisemitism audit, and a Senate report calling antisemitism a \u201cclear and present danger\u201d.<\/p>\n
As federal Liberals celebrate their newfound majority government\u2014aided by floor crossings and three recent by-election victories\u2014Canadian Jews are no so elated.<\/p>\n
On April 27, B\u2019nai Brith Canada releases its annual audit of antisemitic incidents; community members expect the numbers will break new records, as they have in many recent years. Earlier this month, Jewish leaders asked for $100 million in federal support following a series of attacks on synagogues and institutions. This past weekend underscored the need, as a suspect attempted to enter a synagogue in Thornhill during services, and wound up assaulting a congregant on the sidewalk outside after being barred from the building.<\/p>\n
While police have made some arrests and some courts have handed down long sentences in hate crime cases, frequent protests\u2014some moving through Jewish neighbourhoods\u2014continue unimpeded.<\/p>\n
One year into Mark Carney\u2019s tenure, the question remains: are Jewish Canadians any safer than they were before? On today\u2019s episode, The CJN\u2019s political panel weighs in. We\u2019re joined by Dan Mader, a Toronto-based Conservative strategist with Loyalist Public Affairs; David Birnbaum, a former Liberal MNA in Quebec\u2019s national assembly for the Montreal area; and Noah Tepperman, a former NDP riding president in Windsor.<\/p>\n
The CJN\u2019s political insiders are Dan Mader, David Birnbaum and Noah Tepperman. (Supplied photos)<\/p>\n
Related links<\/p>\n
Our insiders debate whether Carney is delivering on his promises to protect Jewish Canadians.<\/p>\n
Transcript:<\/p>\n
Dan Mader: Either we need money or action or ideally both, and I think you know Toronto is a great example of that. We see hate marches going through Jewish neighborhoods with a police escort protecting the hate marchers, and the only people that got arrested are anyone who confronts them.<\/p>\n
David Birnbaum: The Jewish community has lived under intolerable conditions of insecurity over the past years without requisite action on that score.<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: I happen to think that it\u2019s not an either\/or. What we want is both. We want better legislation and we want better enforcement.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: This week marks one year since the election of Mark Carney as Canada\u2019s Prime Minister. On April 28th, 2025, he won a minority government. And over the past year he\u2019s consolidated that mandate, recently turning the minority into a working majority while promising to fight against Donald Trump\u2019s trade tariffs and, to confront rising antisemitism at home. The anniversary now lands in a week that puts those promises under a microscope.<\/p>\n
B\u2019nai Brith\u2019s annual antisemitism audit drops Monday. Last year it recorded 6,219 incidents, the highest ever recorded in Canada. But physical and online attacks against Jewish institutions and people have continued unabated since October 7th, 2023, and weekly protests take place targeting a Jewish Toronto neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The latest flashpoint: this past weekend and an attempted forced entry by a suspect into a Sephardic synagogue in Thornhill, who, when he was turned away, assaulted a family entering the shul before he fled.<\/p>\n
Canadian Jewish leaders have called for a massive infusion of safety money to the tune of $100 million, which they hope will be in Tuesday\u2019s spring economic statement \u2014 Carney\u2019s first since he was elected. All this, and last week\u2019s report by the Senate\u2019s Human Rights Committee calling antisemitism a \u201cclear and present danger\u201d, should put Jewish issues on the government agenda at a critical week for the community.<\/p>\n
So, one year into the renewed mandate, with new data and new decisions looming, how will Carney respond? And what has his government actually delivered for Jewish Canadians so far?<\/p>\n
Our CJN Political Panel insiders are back with their hot takes. I\u2019m Ellin Bessner, and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for this episode of North Star, made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n
Music<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s Combatting Hate Act, Bill C-9, passed through the House of Commons last month and is now before the Senate for examination. Ottawa dissolved the business status of the Samidoun Organization, which is a pro-terrorist fundraising group, and, after the three Toronto synagogue shootings that same week in March, the public safety minister gave $10 million in emergency funding for security at Jewish community safety hubs.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister has also shown symbolic support. He personally attended Holocaust memorial ceremonies and Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah events, and he stood in solidarity after the Bondi Beach massacre.<\/p>\n
But critics say that\u2019s not enough, because his foreign policy positions against Israel have made things worse for Jews here at home on the ground, as has his avoiding challenging Quebec\u2019s government on new secularism laws which ban public sector workers from wearing religious symbols.<\/p>\n
So how does his first year measure up? Joining us now \u2014 David Birnbaum in Montreal, a former Liberal MNA in the Quebec legislature; Noah Tepperman in Windsor, a former NDP riding president, now reevaluating his membership in the party after the election of Avi Lewis as NDP leader; and Dan Mader joins from Ottawa. He\u2019s a conservative strategist with Loyalist Public Affairs. It\u2019s good to see you all. Welcome back to The CJN\u2019s North Star.<\/p>\n
In the last few weeks, we\u2019ve had stunning developments in the House of Commons with the Liberals now a majority. Folks, how did that happen and what does this mean?<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: Not that much, in my humble view, because I think pragmatically speaking, we were in a similar place with respect to legislative room and maneuverability four weeks ago. In a way it\u2019s now been formalized, for two reasons. One \u2014 a dubious one \u2014 because a bunch of folks have crossed the floor, and that always, and properly, raises ethical questions. And the other is, of course, the by-election wins, including quite significantly the one in Quebec, which is not good news for the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois and which is perhaps good news for our Jewish community.<\/p>\n
Dan Mader: Yeah, look, I think I\u2019d agree with a lot of that. I think it is a bit more secure. This may mean they can get legislation through the House more quickly. One of the things that surprised me about this government is they have not been very effective at getting legislation through. I think that has in some ways been a bit of an afterthought for the Prime Minister and his team, who are more concentrating on what they can do quickly without passing legislation. And now they should in theory be able to move stuff more quickly, but we\u2019ll see if they take advantage of that ability and what they do with it.<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: I was encouraged certainly to see the government being able to work with the Conservatives on passing Bill C-5, which I think is important, and being able to demonstrate that you can work with other parties is important. I certainly hope that the Prime Minister will continue to do that and not simply use his majority as the only way of moving something through.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: What is C-5?<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: The infrastructure spending bill \u2014 the big bill.<\/p>\n
ELLIN Bessner: I need to push back on something that Dan said. I\u2019m surprised nobody else did. When you said it took a long time \u2014\u201d they didn\u2019t seem to be that concerned about passing legislation quickly\u201d \u2014 with Bill C-9, the Conservatives were the ones who were pushing back and filibustering, according to what the Liberals were saying, to keep this bill on combating hate from actually passing in committee.<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: Yeah, look, I was thinking more of a few other kinds of measures that were less controversial, like taking the HST off new homes for first-time home buyers, That took almost a year for the government to pass and bring into force.<\/p>\n
I think the anti-hate legislation is incredibly controversial. The Conservatives take a view that this is not going to actually combat hate. It is only going to result in, for instance, members of our community being punished for speaking up against terror and against hate. And I happen to agree with that.<\/p>\n
So I think there are uncontroversial measures that have taken a long time to get through the house. I think that it is right \u2014 in a minority parliament, the Opposition does its job fighting against measures that it has fundamental disagreements with.<\/p>\n
As far as the Canadian Jewish community, diverse as it is, under the Carney government \u2014 now a majority government \u2014 where do we stand?<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: In terms of Israel?<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Well, there\u2019s two points. There\u2019s Israel \u2014 we can talk about that first \u2014 and later we\u2019ve got to talk about safety, security, and anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n
Under a majority government now, where does the Jewish community stand when it talks about Israel?<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: It seems like a pretty straightforward question, but I think there\u2019s a lot of material there. You\u2019ve got things that are sort of the status quo that haven\u2019t changed in a material way.<\/p>\n
The first thing you can look at is trade and economic ties. There continues to be a very strong, very robust relationship there. Looking at it from the outside, that\u2019s not something which I think has changed radically. And you\u2019ve got the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement as an example of that. There\u2019s still a lot in terms of science, technology, and innovation in terms of sharing and relationships and collaboration between the two countries.<\/p>\n
When it comes to security and multilateral cooperation, there is still a lot that is present there. That is not to say that there isn\u2019t pressure.<\/p>\n
Going back to the first question about Carney and managing his caucus \u2014 he does have to manage a caucus that includes people who are very supportive of Israel and people who are very unsupportive of Israel, and that\u2019s a balancing act that he\u2019s continuing to walk.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also got to manage a relationship with a country that has a leader whose values don\u2019t necessarily line up with his own country\u2019s values or the values of his electorate or the values of our electorate. That makes for a very, very complex relationship. And when you also look at the fact that the Iran war involves three countries \u2014 one of which is Israel, the other one of which is the United States \u2014 that makes for even greater complexity because what Israel wants and what Israel\u2019s strategies are may or may not be what the United States wants or what its strategies are, and the US is the much bigger player in that particular partnership.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: The Prime Minister, who I think we would agree has clearly created additional international space for Canada to be at certain tables \u2014 his name would be a known entity in so many places around the world where typically a Canadian prime minister\u2019s name would not be known. That strikes me as leverage that is probably comforting to all Canadians, including Jewish Canadians. The fact that we have a little bit more room to do and say what we need to say \u2014 and that room also has socioeconomic benefits that we can look to accrue\u2013it requires the Prime Minister to be as responsible as possible on an international stage, and that responsibility, one would hope, includes thoughtful statements about world stability and about the absolute importance of \u2014 in reasonable and smart ways \u2014 reducing the influence of this terrible rogue regime in Iran. That\u2019s obviously of interest to the Jewish community and to Israel.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d all agree that, by definition, we are going to be somewhat unsatisfied with the federal government\u2019s positioning on Israel, and clearly more dissatisfied when it\u2019s confronted with reacting to a very controversial government in Israel right now. So there\u2019s a level of dissatisfaction that I think is our default in the Jewish community. Will that level go up or down? I\u2019m somewhat hopeful that it\u2019ll go down a bit with this federal government now having some additional leverage as a majority.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner:\u00a0 And how will it go down?<\/p>\n
David Birnbaum: Well, in the obscure way I\u2019m suggesting \u2014 you have additional responsibility but leverage accrued by a Prime Minister who has enhanced his international reputation, and I guess with those tools, I would expect there to be some additional impetus to do the right thing. First of all, for a community that\u2019s so deeply anchored in Canada and deserves its issues to be dealt with, and to track a responsible position \u2014 one would hope \u2014 on Israel and the Middle East as well.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Okay, Dan, come on in.<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: You can get a pretty good understanding of the Prime Minister and what he\u2019s likely to do by thinking that he is really focused on economics \u2014 on the economy more than on foreign affairs. On foreign affairs, mostly it\u2019s thinking about \u201cHow do you respond to President Trump, how do you handle President Trump?\u201d And a comfort level with Europe and working to build stronger alliances with Europe as part of how to counter that. I think a lot of what he does flows from that.<\/p>\n
I think the most positive thing we can say about some of his dealings with Israel is that I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a huge issue for him, but I think he\u2019s going along with the leaders in Europe that he\u2019s comfortable with. There are some things that have been worrisome lately. His decision last week to promote the Iranian regime at the UN into a leadership position \u2014 when the past candidate opposed that \u2014 seemed to be just trying to quietly oppose President Trump and his war on Iran by supporting the regime at the UN. I think that\u2019s really dangerous. I think Canada should be saying, \u201cWe need to free the Iranian people from this occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a great place. Vis-\u00e0-vis the last Prime Minister \u2014 I don\u2019t know \u2014 Canada is definitely a stronger place in the world than under the last Prime Minister. It was hard for us to go the opposite way. But whether our community should feel better \u2014 I don\u2019t know. The signs aren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: And those sirens are going off in Israel because Israel initiated a war. And the tactics and outcomes of that war aren\u2019t clearly being enunciated by anybody.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: It\u2019s also provoked domestic attacks in Canada on Jews in synagogues, Jewish schools, and online since February 28th \u2014 and even before. I\u2019ve covered it. I\u2019ve been to the synagogues that were shot at in Toronto in the early morning. So, we have to talk about the political situation domestically and how Jews are being impacted.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s government is now a majority. What do we expect them to do to help keep Canadian Jews \u2014 400,000 of us \u2014 safe, that they couldn\u2019t do before?<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: We want to see what the impact of Bill C-9 is. I think that\u2019s going to be very important. Now that that has passed \u2014 what\u2019s the impact of that going to be? Whether or not the Conservatives were right on that particular point remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
I happen to think that it\u2019s not an either\/or. What we want is both. We want better legislation and we want better enforcement.<\/p>\n
This clarifies and improves some of the legislation for enforcement. So let\u2019s now continue to hold the government accountable to following through on that.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: Yeah, I think we often forget that there\u2019s all kinds of laws on the books that sit on the books and don\u2019t do anything. And we\u2019ll see if we can expect C-9 to get through the Senate. But then I think there are visible and essential steps that we have a right to expect \u2014 with respect to formal discussions with law enforcement authorities across the provinces and within the federal government, discussions that are public with municipalities, who are given some new levers here, to see that this law not be a dead letter. Because it\u2019s two things.<\/p>\n
One \u2014 done properly, a law is adopted and there\u2019s an information campaign around it that helps Canadians understand the necessity and the consequences of a law being adopted. The necessity: the Jewish community has lived under intolerable conditions of insecurity over the past years without requisite action on that score.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Attorneys General in the provinces, the law enforcement authorities, municipal authorities can do nothing if they\u2019re not compelled to do something \u2014 including not even understanding the law that will have been adopted. So I think we have a right to expect, when this gets to the Senate, to see that it\u2019s not simply pro forma \u2014 that there are follow-up actions taken with respect to communications and on-the-ground implementation. That would show the community and show Canadians that it matters when communities are targeted for their identity and their religion in hateful and threatening ways. Something gets done, and the federal government can show some leadership beyond getting this law adopted to demonstrate that point.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: What about money? We have an economic statement coming out April 28th. What would be a meaningful amount of money that the community would get, if that is in the next statement, for security?<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: The announcement of that $10 million goes back a while now, and having worked in community security \u2014 when I was the executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress in Quebec \u2014 the money dissipates very, very quickly. So there would have to be an expectation of a consequent follow-up. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d want to place a bet on whether we\u2019ll see that. We have a right to expect it, though.<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: Either we need money or action \u2014 or ideally both. And I think Toronto is a great example of that. We see hate marches going through Jewish neighborhoods with a police escort protecting the hate marchers, and the only people that got arrested are anyone who confronts them.<\/p>\n
And so I think that\u2019s the Conservative \u2014 the right-wing \u2014 fear about new legislation: it will only be used against us if it\u2019s used at all. We\u2019re not seeing laws enforced. I think there\u2019s a feeling that if we ever did see them enforced, judges would throw them out anyway. But we\u2019re not seeing enforcement because there\u2019s no political will to tackle this. The only time we get any kind of accountability in Canada is if we\u2019re worried that President Trump might be offended \u2014 then suddenly there\u2019s accountability. Otherwise, there is no accountability for politicians who mess up or don\u2019t act.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of debate about how to do that and how to get broader Canadians to care. I think there is a way to get people to care about the threat to law and order, the threat to Canada, the broader threat of jihadism. But until then, and until politicians like Premier Ford as much as the Prime Minister actually feel some political pressure from their voters \u2014 not just our community, but broader voters saying clean up the streets \u2014 there isn\u2019t going to be a lot of pressure to act.<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: I think this is a place where the Conservative talking points tend to lose a lot of nuance \u2014 certainly conveniently so. And I\u2019d be the first to say that there hasn\u2019t been enough enforcement. But that\u2019s not to say that there hasn\u2019t been enforcement. You look at the conviction last week of somebody who\u2019s from LaSalle \u2014 essentially a suburb of Windsor \u2014 who was convicted for a series of online offenses, with a pretty significant conviction there too. That\u2019s not nothing.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Matthew Althorpe got 20 years, and they\u2019ve just arrested the guy who shot at \u2014 allegedly shot at \u2014 the restaurant in the Jewish neighborhood, two days after the video. And the incident with the hook-nosed antisemitic figure at the Bathurst and Sheppard area \u2014 so there\u2019s not nothing.<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: There is absolutely action. And unfortunately the repeated theme that nothing is happening tends to be a whole lot louder than the recognition of the things that have happened, which actually skews our community\u2019s perspective on the state of affairs in a way that I think is not helping.<\/p>\n
The other thing that I think we have to talk about \u2014 and this is something from the Ontario legislature, it does have a national impact \u2014 Michelle Cooper\u2019s private member\u2019s motion from last week and the unanimous support that it got. I think that\u2019s really, really significant for the specialized hate crime unit. That is a response. It is a response that got unanimous support from within the legislature here in Ontario. That\u2019s absolutely not nothing. And while that\u2019s not a federal piece of legislation, that is something that takes place in Toronto, which is the largest Jewish community in the country. And we have to keep that in perspective as well.<\/p>\n
music<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Coming up, sparks will fly over whether the NDP looks more like right-wing Fascist parties in Europe than a left-wing Canadian movement, and, will Carney throw Quebec\u2019s Jewish community under the bus? Stay tuned.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Folks, we\u2019re talking about the domestic political landscape. There has been a new player on the scene. We talked about Avi Lewis being elected as leader of the NDP \u2014 not yet sitting in the House. Historically it\u2019s significant for the Jewish community to have Avi Lewis as leader, just in terms of historical timelines of how many Jews have run big things in politics. Whether you agree with him or not, that\u2019s a separate matter. But I want to ask you \u2014 what does this do to the position of anti-Zionism and normalization of anti-Israel political policies, now that he actually gets to go and talk in the lobby and leads a party with official party status?<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: When you look at the way they have assigned the critic roles within the current caucus \u2014 that\u2019s not part of his official responsibilities as a shadow critic. Those responsibilities still fall to people like Heather McPherson.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Can I push you on that to make it clearer? In other words, do you think he\u2019s not going to have a role in making anti-Zionism more palatable, more normalized?<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: We can talk about that. By being elected to the leadership, he continues to make it more palatable. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to be the person who makes it palatable \u2014 before he was elected leader, it certainly seemed to be quite palatable across much of the country. And I think, going along with sort of the populist political trends, we\u2019re likely to see that kind of thing continue. He will be a player in that.<\/p>\n
If he is the person out there using his voice, his language, and his moments in front of a microphone and camera to speak about anti-Zionism, that will make it aggressively worse. If Heather McPherson is the person doing that as his sort of mouthpiece on those points, it will also advance those points forward \u2014 not quite as much as it would if Avi Lewis were the one making them.<\/p>\n
I think one of the most damaging things I\u2019ve seen so far from him since he was elected leader was what I would describe as a revisionist history take on his family\u2019s relationship with anti-Zionism. Steven Lewis was a Zionist. David Lewis was a Zionist. And for Avi Lewis to speak to his family\u2019s tradition of anti-Zionism \u2014 to me that\u2019s a concerning flag, because there\u2019s a revisionist history element to it.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: I think we should remember that Avi Lewis has just been elected leader of a party that almost elected the Prime Minister of Canada less than a decade ago with Tom Mulcair. Avi Lewis has so many massive challenges before him. I don\u2019t like what he\u2019s said and done with respect to Israel and the Middle East, but I think he wants to say nothing \u2014 nothing about this issue where we might deplore his stand \u2014 before he says something about tons of other issues that are aimed at having the NDP reappear on the political spectrum as a somewhat credible political force. He\u2019s got a ton of work ahead of him to do that. And Avi Lewis has so many jobs before \u2014 even if he was inclined \u2014 he gets to spend his political capital on saying destructive things about Israel and the Middle East. So I\u2019m not overly worried about him having this new platform.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Dan, did you want to weigh in?<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: Yeah, look. I think that we shouldn\u2019t be normalizing the NDP. I think they should be totally ostracized \u2014 the way, like, Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland or any kind of far-right extremist party would be \u2014 because you don\u2019t get a bigoted leader unless you\u2019re a bigoted party. And let\u2019s be clear: Avi Lewis is an anti-Israel bigot. He\u2019s a hater, and he\u2019s promoting hatred against Israelis because he\u2019s a party full of people who believe in that kind of hatred. I think what we all need to be doing is making clear that this party is outside of the mainstream and it\u2019s unacceptable, and people shouldn\u2019t be treating them as a normal political party anymore.<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: To which I would also say:\u201d O ye without sin cast the first stone\u201d. There\u2019s a certain irony in hearing a Conservative take that kind of position, knowing that in the same way that the NDP has done in this instance, Conservatives have been willing to take support from wherever it\u2019s been offered \u2014 whether those people line up with the values of every single elected member of the party or not. And that\u2019s the kind of reason why somebody like me is doing everything possible to investigate the opportunities to sever my provincial and federal relationships with these two parties.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: So you\u2019re announcing this here today?<\/p>\n
NOAH TEPPERMAN: I\u2019m certainly looking into it, and it\u2019s not a shocker. I\u2019m not the only one. There are plenty of people who are doing it.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Point of order \u2014 the Conservative leader, when Trudeau was prime minister, had to deal with three members of his party who posed for pictures with a far-right figure who came to Canada, and they got slapped on the wrist.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: David, speaking of political developments \u2014 the CAQ in Quebec has said goodbye to Premier Legault and they have a new leader. What do you know about her relations with the Jewish community? And secondly, I want to talk about the whole Jewish community impact of the new law about even tighter secularism rules. Give us an update.<\/p>\n
AVID BIRNBAUM: I think it\u2019s a pretty blank page with respect to the new Premier-designate and the Jewish community. The only thing that gives me a modicum of comfort is that she has a very strong background with respect to human rights and equality in her earlier life. And look, she\u2019s part of a party whose record with respect to language legislation and inclusion is pretty spotty, to say the least. So there\u2019s some concern there and a relationship to be built \u2014 and as always, sadly, we\u2019re not at the top of the agenda, and with the Quebec election on the horizon, we\u2019re clearly not on the top of the agenda.<\/p>\n
I would want to mention with respect to Bill 96 \u2014 which goes further than Bill 21, which is before Canada\u2019s Supreme Court \u2014 that is a clear and present danger. And when the Prime Minister of Canada hedges on the notwithstanding clause, we scratch our heads vigorously in our English-speaking, slash Jewish community. Let\u2019s remember the bulk of Quebec\u2019s Jewish community remains of Ashkenazic origin and speaks English.<\/p>\n
There\u2019ll be discussions, and our Jewish community has been really good about building discreet and somewhat solid relationships with Quebec bureaucracies when it comes to everything from the very funding of Jewish day schools to the notion \u2014 which could be quite clearly illegal \u2014 of Jewish schools next year commemorating the Holocaust and including a prayer that would likely be part of such a service within a school, a Jewish day school funded by the government.<\/p>\n
So there\u2019s some really worrisome stuff in here. Like always with bad legislation, you enable the folks on the fringes \u2014 those who are intolerant \u2014 to jump on board opportunistically and call into question all kinds of legitimate arrangements. Up to and including what remains a model for the rest of the country: the funding of secular studies within our Jewish day school system to the tune of 60 cents on every dollar. That\u2019s a pretty important relationship, which this bill once again puts at some real risk.<\/p>\n
So that bill is a real concern for the Jewish community, and I come back to it being a real concern to hear the Prime Minister of Canada, in his first meeting with Quebec\u2019s Premier-designate, say: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, be happy, we\u2019re not about to do anything to limit the implementation of the notwithstanding clause.\u201d That\u2019s scary and ominous news for Jewish Quebecers.<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: What\u2019s going on in the Supreme Court is extremely dangerous in terms of whether Canada\u2019s going to remain a democracy at all or be ruled by an unelected bunch of judges. I mean, we already have our rights being limited constantly by the courts \u2014 everything from the right to be safe, the right to actually deport people who are a threat to our country, the right to equal justice before the law and not have race-based justice and sentencing discounts based on race, the right to trade provincially, the right to not be forced to join a union. We\u2019re constantly having our rights limited by an unelected legislature that calls itself the Supreme Court. And if we don\u2019t have the escape valve of the notwithstanding clause, then we start to wonder what do we even bother electing governments to do anymore, because they don\u2019t make the decisions. So this is a fundamentally important hearing and decision that\u2019s going on \u2014 with the Supreme Court having real temptation to give itself even more power at the expense of our democratically elected leaders.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: I think that\u2019s a vast overstatement. Canadians \u2014 including a vast majority of Canadian Jews \u2014 support the fact that our regime, our democratic constitutional monarchy, includes an entrenched Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Guided and ruled over first and foremost by the legislatures across the country, and with proper checks and balances by the Supreme Court. And when it doesn\u2019t behave, governments can then move forward within reason and demonstrate the need for a law to be adopted notwithstanding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms \u2014 to note that that be an emergency valve rather than a routine blind power to secure some esoteric principle of parliamentary supremacy which already exists. Those are two very different things.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: It\u2019s good to hear you guys so diplomatically having it out. Everyone is so collegial \u2014 this is the first time I\u2019ve actually heard David push back on anything. I love it! Look, we have to wrap it up. One success for the Carney government that has happened, and maybe one not so successful.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: You can talk about the fact that the Prime Minister has moved Canada\u2019s reputation on the globe into a place that far more closely resembles the tradition of which most of us as Canadians are proud of. The fact that Canada\u2019s outreach to Europe and the European Union has been as effective as it has \u2014 that\u2019s also been really important. So that\u2019s one option. The other option is to look at the fact that he\u2019s created a majority government. That\u2019s a pretty big success.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: Alright, Dan, you want to go?<\/p>\n
DAN MADER: Yeah, sure. Look, I would say one big success: people want to hear from Canada internationally again. And whether you agree or disagree with what the Prime Minister said in some of his big international speeches \u2014 and I disagree philosophically with a lot of it \u2014 people are interested in it. They want to hear it, and they know that it\u2019s going to be substantive and based on principles, and not just sort of a buzzword soup that we tended to get over the last few years. So I think that is important, and that is good for the country.<\/p>\n
I would say the biggest failure is not getting stuff built yet. And we already see the ambition going down \u2014 whether it\u2019s housing, whether it\u2019s energy projects.<\/p>\n
DAVID BIRNBAUM: And I think I would frame it by saying: to create, in this very difficult period \u2014 given what happens to the south of us \u2014 the expectation that Canada will begin to fundamentally reorient itself towards much greater productivity and diversity on the world stage, which, if properly followed through, results in greater stability, economic wealth, and then the ability to treat everybody properly because greater wealth will have been created. So I would put that in the success column, with a star beside it: it\u2019s got to be seen to happen.<\/p>\n
Noah Tepperman: I think the affordability and housing \u2014 housing certainly touched on Dan\u2019s point \u2014 that\u2019s been a nothing burger based on both the Prime Minister\u2019s promises for focus and also the need. In Canada, our food inflation remains incredibly high, not just at home but also comparatively, in a time when we are facing all of the international inflationary and economic pressures. That means that Canadians are still really struggling. And frankly, that is a point that Avi Lewis so far in his new role has been communicating very effectively, and something that Mr. Poilievre has also been effectively communicating. If he wants to really change the way Canadians are feeling about him here at home, the Prime Minister has to get serious about that and get serious about those investments \u2014 at a time when spending is going to be facing a lot of pressure.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: Because in economic times that are perilous, instability \u2014 Jews always suffer in history, not just now. They\u2019re always blamed. And so you can only hope that if you\u2019re saying: build stuff, spend stuff, and make Canada a better and more affordable place \u2014 that would be a good thing for the Jews. And I\u2019m not a pundit, so is that okay if I say that?<\/p>\n
David Birnbaum: Yes of course.<\/p>\n
ELLIN BESSNER: We will see you again in the Fall and see how the majority\u2019s done since then. Talk to you guys soon. Thanks a lot.<\/p>\n
ALL: Thanks very much. Bye.<\/p>\n
Ellin Bessner: And that\u2019s what Jewish Canada sounded like for this episode of North Star, made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n
So has Carney been good for Canada\u2019s Jews? After Tuesday\u2019s mini budget, why not write to us and tell us whether the government delivered? We\u2019re at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n North Star is produced by Zachary Judah Kaufdman, with Michael Fraiman as our executive producer and Alicia Richler as the editorial director. Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n Our transcripts are generated with AI. Please excuse any typos.<\/p>\n Credits<\/p>\n Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner<\/a> )Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)Music: Bret Higgins<\/a><\/p>\n Support our show<\/p>\n