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July 30, 2004
New Burnaby MP ready to go
Robinson's replacement is interested in Israel's parliamentary
system.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Bill Siksay's first trip abroad was a three-week visit to Israel
in 1978. As a university student, he visited the holy sites and
experienced the attractions of the Middle East.
It was a formative experience, Siksay says now, reflecting on that
visit as he looks forward to his new role helping set policy and
make laws as the recently elected member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas.
Siksay, Svend Robinson's longtime constituency assistant and the
controversial New Democrat's replacement as MP, took away from that
trip an enthusiasm for Israel's religious and ethnic diversity,
its democratic traditions and the vibrance of the Knesset.
"I had gone with certain assumptions about Israel, not knowing
a lot about Israel, but [with] certain assumptions about the Jewish
state and this kind of unitary state and whatever," Siksay
told the Bulletin. "When I got there, I was just blown
away by the diversity of Israel. Talking about ... multiculturalism.
I think Israel is a place that struggles with issues of diversity
big-time and has made interesting decisions and is a very interesting
place in terms of the diversity and the multiculturalism and the
religious diversity ... I was blown away by all of that."
Siksay would go on to divinity school, helping to open the debate
in Canada's largest Protestant denomination about ordaining openly
gay men and lesbians. Though he wouldn't become an ordained minister
himself, his partner is the minister at St. John's United Church
in Vancouver's West End, and Siksay said his political activism
has had something of the "pastoral" about it.
His interest in the Holy Land stems at least in part from his Christianity,
Siksay acknowledged, but it also comes from a fascination with the
Israeli political system. The NDP has as a plank the adoption of
proportional representation in Canada and Siksay sees Israel's system
as one of the most instructive.
"The other thing that impressed me on that trip and always
stayed with me was visiting the Knesset," he said. "I've
always seen it as a model of democratic legislatures in the world.
The diversity of opinion that gets represented in the Knesset, the
kind of coalition-building that has to happen there. For me, in
the debate around proportional representation in Canada, I always
see the Knesset as a model. I know sometimes people use it in a
negative way – like [unstable coalition governments] in Israel
or Italy – but I've always seen that as a strength of Israel
and it certainly, it seems to me, never complicated Israel taking
a strong stand when the country felt that its interests were threatened
in any kind of a way.... It may not be the exact model that we want
to adopt here in Canada, but I think it impressed me back in 1978
as a very democratic and very, very interesting legislative Parliament."
Though Burnaby-Douglas may not have a large Jewish electorate, it
has drawn the attention of some Jewish activists over the years,
due to Robinson's activism on behalf of the Palestinian cause and
his often forceful denunciations of Israeli policy.
Siksay has been one of Robinson's closest staff members for the
better part of two decades and he makes no effort to differentiate
himself from Robinson's record.
"You don't work for someone for 18 years and not agree with
them," said Siksay. "In terms of how I might raise [issues],
I might do it differently than Svend because, personality-wise,
we're different."
As Robinson did in previous interviews with the Bulletin,
Siksay noted that there is a segment of the Jewish community that
agrees with strong criticism of Israel and Siksay acknowledged that
he has supported Robinson in those stands. But the new MP said his
own religious training and his different personal style will likely
color his interventions on the Middle East issue.
"We do have a different style and different experience levels
with some of the major issues and some of the difficult, more controversial
issues of the day," said Siksay, while expressing support for
Israel's basic rights.
"I strongly support Israel's right to exist," he said,
adding that the Jewish-majority nature of the state is a matter
of reality. "I think there are diversity issues within Israel
as well, but I understand that [Israel's Jewish identity] is the
history and that's the strong tradition of Israel and I have a strong
appreciation for that as well."
On the recent International Court of Justice ruling against Israel's
defensive barrier along the West Bank, Siksay expressed regret that
the violence has brought the situation to such a level that Israel
feels the necessity to raise the barrier.
"In some ways, I think the wall is a tragedy and I wish that
folks in Israel didn't see it as necessary as I know that many people
do see it as necessary to their security," Siksay said. "It's
a very difficult situation and I think a tragic one that that kind
of [response] has been seen as necessary."
Siksay thinks people living in peaceful Canada can become inured
to the terrorist violence we see on television, and insists that
public figures need to stand up and repeatedly condemn attacks against
civilians. He sympathises with Canadians who have family or spiritual
connections to the region and live in fear of the next terrorist
attack.
"Strong statements need to be made about terrorism and targeting
of civilians," he said. "That's unacceptable. I know that
people sometimes feel that we're becoming kind of inoculated against
it, that we don't understand the disruption that it causes and,
too, that we don't understand the frustration that sometimes leads
people to take those kinds of actions ... I personally, in some
ways, feel very far removed, living here in peaceful Canada, but
know that is something many Canadians live with daily because of
their concern about family and about their own safety when they
travel."
On one issue, Siksay deferred comment. He said he did not have a
full enough understanding of the issues around a Palestinian "right
of return" to make an informed comment.
"I do support a Palestinian state with secure and clear boundaries,
as I support the state of Israel with clear and defined and secure
boundaries as well," he said. "But as for the right of
return, I'm probably not as up to speed on that issue as I should
be."
An issue he has given much time and thought to, he said, is anti-Semitism.
During seminary and in the years since, Siksay said, he has worked
extensively on the issue of Christian anti-Semitism and the steps
the church should take to ameliorate the tenacious history of Jew-hatred.
"For me as a Christian and as a member of the United Church,
it's always been important to raise the whole issue of how Christian
tradition has contributed to anti-Semitism; how, in some ways, very
basic Christian beliefs have contributed to that over the years
and to challenge those [anti-Semitic expressions] in the church,
where they still can take hold."
He vows to do the same now in Parliament. And he hopes to return
for a second visit to Israel.
"I've always wanted to go back because I found it such a dynamic
place," he said.
Pat Johnson is a Vancouver journalist and commentator.
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