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January 4, 2002
Remain vigilant, says CJC
Hate crimes and poverty top new year agenda for group.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
Canadian Jewish Congress is looking warily to the year ahead. Changing
economic conditions and an evolving political landscape has senior
community officials cautiously trying to influence the provincial
government's direction.
Nisson Goldman, chair of CJC, Pacific Region, spoke to the Bulletin
in a year-end interview about what his agency hopes to achieve in
the next several months.
Since the Liberal government was elected last year, a "core
review" has been started, in which every government expenditure
is being analyzed to determine whether it is necessary. Goldman
is specifically concerned about the status of the hate crimes team,
a cross-jurisdictional group that investigates, prosecutes and keeps
statistics on bias-motivated crimes. He said there are several ways
a government can cut services. One is to change legislation so that
a body like the hate crimes team is disbanded. Another is to cut
funding, which essentially has the same effect of disbanding it
without the political repercussions.
Because so many government programs are on hold during the review
process, it is impossible to say what the final outcome might be,
but Goldman said the team is stagnating already.
The hate crimes team, at full strength, consists of an RCMP officer,
a Vancouver police officer seconded to the project and funded by
the province, a prosecutor, a statistician and a small support staff,
said Goldman. However, the statistics position is currently unfilled
and the province has not come through with the money for the Vancouver
police officer this year.
"The team is limping along with basically one RCMP officer,"
he said. "The prosecutor, we think, is still there, but he
needs something to prosecute."
On the positive side, Goldman said, CJC has met with Attorney General
Geoff Plant and has received encouraging words.
"The attorney general has promised us some input," he
said.
Though he sympathizes with the fiscal predicament in which the
province finds itself, he said the hate crimes team is a matter
of law and order. If the province is seen as unfriendly to ethnic
or other minorities, it could become a financial issue as well.
"A bad climate for minorities is a bad climate for business
and the government should recognize that," said Goldman.
Although the provincial election was a clear repudiation of the
previous NDP government, Goldman cautioned the new government not
to be blind to some positive aspects of the NDP legacy.
"Not everything the previous government did was bad,"
he said. "We don't want to see the baby thrown out with the
bath water."
Another issue of concern to CJC and the larger Jewish community
is poverty. As the government's priorities become more focused,
Goldman said, he hopes they will continue with programs that ameliorate
poverty in British Columbia.
On CJC's agenda for the next year is continued vigilance against
anti-Semitism. Goldman said it is easy to get complacent about the
matter, but inevitably some sort of anti-Semitic incident boils
to the surface after a period of relative quiet.
They will continue to urge security measures at communal organizations
as tensions around the world have a way of making their way here.
Goldman said he will also expand CJC's engagement of churches and
other religious bodies in interfaith dialogue.
Last year, CJC launched a more aggressive effort to reach out to
the general community. Regional officials have met with senior business,
labor and government officials in a sharing of ideas that Goldman
hopes will lead to stronger alliances between communities. The meetings
will continue in the new year.
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