Help from his friends

Editorial

Sam Sullivan’s squeaker victory over Jim Green in the Vancouver civic election Saturday is being credited in some circles to the Chinese-Canadian vote which, according to a Simon Fraser University exit poll published in the Vancouver Sun, went for Sullivan by about a two-to-one margin.

But it may be fair to say, in a race as tight as this one was, that several blocs of voters could be credited with aiding the outcome. The Jewish community could reasonably consider itself among these.

At a candidates’ forum last week at the Jewish Community Centre, Sullivan made much of his substantial support in the Jewish community. The longtime councillor named numerous leaders in the Jewish community who were supporting his candidacy for mayor.

It is worth noting that numerous leaders of the Jewish community could also be found pounding signs and knocking on doors for Green. Indeed, Sullivan – who has a rudimentary enough grasp of the Hebrew language to read the book of Genesis in its original argot – was not the only one to prevail upon Vancouver’s Jews as a favorite son. Green revealed to the Independent in a recent interview that his father was apparently Jewish.

Overall, though there are no official tallies of such things, it appeared that Sullivan may have taken a majority of Jewish votes – perhaps because he spent more time reaching out to our community prior to the election.

What might this mean for Vancouver’s Jews? Well, it’s always nice to be on the winning side. And while both Green and Sullivan could probably have been depended on to champion continued support for Vancouver’s multicultural diversity, a key concern for our community, Sullivan begins his term backed by a raft of strong Jewish community leaders.

The time may come when Jewish Vancouverites need a leader who will stand up for us if our city’s substantial activist community re-engages with the anti-Israel movement as it has done at various times over the past several years. Sullivan may intuitively understand the vulnerability felt by members of Canada’s Jewish community. But, if he doesn’t, he has plenty of friends who will fill him in.