elections

Time to vote again!

You may not know there is an election underway. Voting to elect delegates to the Canadian Zionist Federation closes Sunday, so you still have time to cast your ballot.

Although some of us have been receiving emails urging us to vote, it’s likely that most of us don’t even know there is campaign going on. It’s not front-page news.

Those chosen in the CZF election on Sunday will become delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress, in Jerusalem, in October. (The legendary First Zionist Congress was convened by Theodor Herzl, in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.)

Even if you haven’t yet heard about the elections, we think it’s worth taking a few moments to familiarize yourself with the slates, their platforms, and the role of CZF in connecting Canadian Jews to Israel. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have a small but important voice in the future of Zionism and our relationship with the Jewish homeland. Registering to vote costs $2.

The Canadian Zionist Federation is a national affiliate of the World Zionist Organization, and is comprised of 11 national Jewish Zionist organizations. These include the religiously affiliated groups ARZA Canada, “the Zionist voice of the Canadian Reform movement,” the Conservative movement’s MERCAZ Canada, and the Orthodox Eretz HaKodesh; political groups affiliated with Israeli parties, including Likud Canada, Herut Canada and Meretz Canada; ethnically oriented groups like Shas Olami, affiliated with the Sephardi and Mizrahi Orthodox party Shas, and Mizrahi Canada; and a linguistic grouping, the Canadian Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, as well as the non-denominational, non-partisan youth group Young Judaea, and Ameinu Canada, “a national, multi-generational community of progressive Jews in Canada, the United States, Australia and Brazil.” The slates in this election reflect and overlap within and across these groupings.

The World Zionist Organization styles itself as “the parliament of the Jewish people,” and it convenes every five years. WZO sets priorities for the Zionist movement worldwide. It is the main global voice on policy around Israel-diaspora relations, on such topics as Jewish education funding abroad, aliyah and religious recognition. The WZO allocates hundreds of millions of dollars in funding through Zionist institutions like the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal) and Jewish National Fund.

Through the Canadian Zionist Federation – and then via the World Jewish Congress – each of us is granted a say in these essential issues. If you care about Israel and its relationship with the diaspora, and you would like to have a voice in the direction of that relationship, this is one important avenue.

Take time to peruse the platforms of the various groups vying for your vote. You may want to place particular attention on issues around the preservation of Israeli democracy, and legal protections and social equality for women and minorities in the country. Perhaps one or more of the platforms will reflect your views on how Israel can work toward peace while protecting its citizens and ensuring the long-term security of its borders.

Read the materials and see which slate best reflects your opinion on how many millions of dollars should be spent to strengthen Jewish life in Israel and worldwide. These elections – and the decisions to be taken at the Congress to which the delegates will be sent – represent the values and priorities of world Jewry.

Israel and Jews collectively are at an unprecedented moment – and while, by definition, every moment is unprecedented, especially in Jewish history, this feels different.

Perhaps you didn’t know you were eligible to vote. Maybe you were only vaguely aware of the Canadian Zionist Federation and what it does. You had probably heard of the First Zionist Congress but maybe didn’t know that the through-line in Zionist history continues from Basel in 1897 to Jerusalem in 2025.

Now you know a little more. Dive deeper. And, on or before Sunday, vote at czf.ca.

Stein running for city council

Jaime Stein hopes to bring a Jewish voice to the table at Vancouver City Hall. He is vying for one of the two seats that will be filled in a by-election April 5.

One seat opened after Councilor Christine Boyle was elected as a New Democrat to the BC Legislature in the provincial election last year. She had been the sole representative on council for the OneCity electoral organization.

The other seat opened after Councilor Adriane Carr, one of two Green party councilors, resigned, citing frustration with the governing style of Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC majority.

photo - Jaime Stein said that, when meeting with a couple of hundred voters every day, he and his running mate, Ralph Kaisers, are hearing that people are “really happy with how ABC is willing to take on difficult issues” — Jaime Stein said that, when meeting with a couple of hundred voters every day, he and his running mate, Ralph Kaisers, are hearing that people are “really happy with how ABC is willing to take on difficult issues.” *(Courtesy Jaime Stein)*

Stein is on the ABC slate, with running mate Ralph Kaisers. They hope to increase ABC’s existing majority on council. ABC currently holds the mayor’s chair and six of the 10 councilor positions.

Aiming to prevent a larger ABC majority are four electoral organizations.

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver has nominated former city councilor Colleen Hardwick and community organizer and urban researcher Theodore Abbott.

The three other groups have nominated one candidate each. OneCity has nominated schools and street safety activist Lucy Maloney. COPE, the Coalition of Progressive Electors, has nominated writer and punk musician Sean Orr. The Green party has nominated filmmaker and advocate Annette Reilly.

There are six independent candidates running: Jeanifer Decena, Guy Dubé, Charles Ling, Karin Litzcke, Gerry Mcguire and Rollergirl.

The dual by-election is the first test of the ABC majority on Vancouver city council since Sim and his party were first elected in 2022.

Stein said that, when meeting with a couple of hundred voters every day, he and his running mate Kaisers are hearing that people are “really happy with how ABC is willing to take on difficult issues, whether it’s in the Downtown Eastside or whether it’s with crime and safety or whether it’s just examining new ways to do things that maybe councils in the past haven’t done.”

He thinks there is a silent majority that doesn’t make a lot of noise but who are generally pleased with the direction the city has been taking in the past three years.

The issues that led to the ABC victory in 2022 have not changed significantly, according to Stein.

“I think the biggest issue, number one, is crime and safety,” he said. “People want Vancouver to be a safer city, one that they can get out and enjoy.”

The second most common issue he hears about, he said, is “making Vancouver open for business again.”

“That means reducing red tape for businesses,” said Stein. “It means making it easier for people to interact with the city, whether they need permits, etc., and also opening it to the world, like bringing more festivals and events here, like FIFA or Web Summit, and trying to generate tourism dollars in the city for folks.”

While Stein sees value in having a Jewish voice at the table, he said Vancouver already has Canada’s “most friendly mayor and council to the Jewish community.”

Although Vancouver’s second mayor, David Oppenheimer, was Jewish, there have never been a great many Jews in elected positions either locally, provincially or federally from British Columbia. Stein hopes his candidacy inspires other Jews to get involved.

“It’s a voice that needs to be at the table, not only to advocate for our community but also to serve as a role model for others to get involved in either the political process or in civic discourse in general,” he said.

Stein has corporate and nonprofit sector leadership experience, including in the technology sector at companies including BroadbandTV, Taplytics and Hootsuite. He partnered with Canadian Blood Services to raise $12.5 million for establishing Canada’s national public cord blood bank, inspired to do so by the loss of his father, Howard Stein, to leukemia, in 2006. He is also on the board of an agency advancing Alzheimer’s research.

In the Jewish community, Stein was selected as a 2024 Wexner Fellow, a two-year educational program focused on Jewish learning and leadership development. He chairs a committee on the Antisemitism and Israel Crisis Response Team. With the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Stein has worked with elected officials to develop public policy to strengthen community safety and security. He has been a volunteer and fundraiser supporting Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Centre and has volunteered in different capacities with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and others.

Last year, Stein was nominated as the BC United candidate in Vancouver-Langara, but did not run in the provincial election after the party folded its campaign and endorsed the BC Conservatives.

Polls are open election day, which is Saturday, April 5, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but there are opportunities to vote early at Vancouver City Hall, on Tuesday, April 1, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and people can also cast their vote by mail. For full details, go to vancouver.ca/vote.

TEAM shares its vision

In Vancouver, affordable housing continues to be an issue, despite the amount of development. (photo from satanoid / flickr)

In the April 5 civic by-election, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver has nominated Colleen Hardwick, a former city councilor, and Theodore Abbott, a community organizer and urban researcher.

TEAM is a political organization with a mandate of reversing what it sees as problems that have developed over the past decade, and prioritizing thriving, livable neighbourhoods. It promises to value the contributions of neighbourhood organizations, commit to genuine consultation with residents and put first the types of housing that residents say they need to manage the housing crunch. TEAM also promises to resist the promotion of building that maximizes developer profits.

TEAM was created in 2021 and the organization’s website notes that the name comes from the Electors’ Action Movement (TEAM), “the party that brought residents together in 1968 to save Strathcona, Chinatown, Gastown and Vancouver’s waterfront from a freeway system. Then, City Hall bureaucrats badly underestimated the desire of residents to have meaningful involvement in the face and future of their city.

“We are feeling a similar disconnect today.”

In addition to the priorities listed above, TEAM highlights evidence-based decision-making, being “realistic about Vancouver’s contribution to climate change … without overburdening already financially-stressed residents,” and helping council, school and park boards to work together more.

These are all issues that deeply concern David Fine. The Jewish filmmaker and TEAM member is working on a documentary titled Is This the City We Want to Build?, wherein he interviews renters facing the loss of their homes under the Broadway Plan. Born in Toronto, Fine lived in London, England, for 19 years before moving to Vancouver in 2004.

“There’s a huge disconnect between earning potential and the high prices of houses here,” he said. “Our housing market is overrun by developers who want to sell to international buyers instead of locals. We’re seeing massive tower development, displacement of thousands of people from affordable housing and criticizers being called ‘anti-progress’ and ‘anti-development.’ Over the years, on a civic level, not enough has been done to address this, and I feel the civic parties have been funded by, and are acting on behalf of, the development industry – to serve their interests.”

Fine believes the city urgently needs more housing, but housing that serves a broad spectrum of needs.

“Small apartments don’t work for growing families that need space and, if you’re driving families further out, it undermines the whole notion of a walkable city,” he said. “Look around at the pace of development and the threat of towers everywhere. Some 2,000 homes a year will be demolished in favour of towers. People need to be aware of what’s going on and oppose this, and TEAM is the only party taking a position on what’s happening.”

image - The area that the City of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan comprises — The area that the City of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan comprises. *(image from City of Vancouver)*

Michael Geller, another member of the Jewish community, has spent the past 50 years involved with housing and more than 20 developments.

“I’ve made a living promoting high-density development, but I’m concerned about where all those existing tenants are going to go, notwithstanding tenant protection policies,” Geller said. “I just don’t think it’s fair for them to have to move to Langley or Burnaby, or out of the community, and there isn’t the available stock to relocate a lot of those tenants.”

An architect and a planner, Geller believes that proposals to treble or quadruple allowable density is a planning mistake.

“I’ll be glad if most of those existing buildings, especially those that have been well maintained, continue to operate as affordable rental buildings,” he said. “I don’t want the city’s rezoning plans to change the character of some of Vancouver’s charming neighbourhoods. “

The densification of Vancouver and the financialization of the housing market are polarizing issues. If you’re a tenant, you’re likely feeling the vulnerability caused by the possibility of change, and, with it, the threat that a community you’ve grown to love may become unaffordable. If you’re a property owner or a landlord, you want to maximize your investment and, if that means increasing rent or redeveloping, should that decision not be yours?

“I’m torn,” Geller admitted. “There are several property owners who are friends of mine and members of the Jewish community, who’ve asked me to assist them in seeking approvals for redevelopment of their properties. At the same time, I feel it would be better not to completely change the character of some of our lovely streets.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond.

Interesting time to live

It is said that a week is a lifetime in politics and – well, would you look at that? – it is almost exactly a week before the Liberal Party of Canada selects its new leader to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Conventional wisdom says that leader will be Mark Carney. Of course, if conventional wisdom were dependable, prime ministers John Turner and Kim Campbell would have gone down in history as figures in the biggest landslides in electoral history. Of course, those “fresh faces” were indeed involved in two of Canada’s most decisive electoral sweeps – just not in the ways they had hoped. Both had taken what appeared to be their respective parties’ hopeless chances and revived their fortunes temporarily before being devastated in their parties’ worst showings to date when the votes came in.

Both Campbell and Turner were, to an extent, known quantities, though Turner had been out of the political scene for close to a decade and Campbell was a single-term cabinet minister without the deepest roots in federal politics when she became the country’s first (and, to date, only) female prime minister.

So, while conventional wisdom tells us that Carney will be the next Liberal leader – and, by convention, as leader of the governing party, prime minister – conventional wisdom can be bubkes, as Turner and Campbell learned.

Carney, former head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has never held elective office. Many Canadians wouldn’t recognize him in the lineup at Tim Horton’s. In a time of economic anxiety, Carney’s undeniable credibility on that topic is the selling point that has brought members of the Liberal caucus to his campaign by an almost four-to-one margin over presumed second-place candidate Chrystia Freeland, whose shock resignation led to Trudeau’s retirement in the first place.

In any event, surveys suggest that, under Carney, the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre would go from shoo-ins to a neck-and-neck race. One poll suggests that, given Anyone-But-Trudeau, centre-left voters would rally around Carney to keep the Conservatives out, with New Democratic Party support crashing to half of what it gained in the last election.

Whoever wins the probably-almost-immediate general election after the leadership vote will inherit one of the most unenviable scenarios. With the once and once again US President Donald Trump reprising his role as global disruptor, threatening the Canadian (and global) economy with tariffs, aggression and assorted chaos, the new Canadian leader will walk a tightrope of defending Canadian interests while not unnecessarily rattling the cage of the Most Powerful Man in the World ™. Trump injects variables into politics that can never be accurately predicted – and Canadian leaders will be forced to react.

It is almost inevitable that everything will be seen through a prism of Trumpism, including the flashpoint issue of the Middle East conflict. With the US president repeatedly promising variations on the theme of “all hell” if developments do not go in Israel’s favour, fragile diplomacy, such as it ever has been between Israel and its neighbours, seems to be a thing of the past – particularly with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu largely echoing Trump’s sociopathic scheme for some sort of Las Vegas in the Gaza Strip.

Canadian voters tend to make electoral decisions on domestic issues, not foreign policy. Nevertheless, there is another variable that could play a sleeper in the coming election. It’s something few people seem to have on the radar but that may emerge as things unfold.

Anti-Israel activists (call them “pro-Palestinian” if you will, though it is hard to see how stopping traffic, chanting slogans, burning flags, etc., are aiding Palestinians) are no doubt planning to continue disrupting any public event where they can make their case against Israel. While justifying the atrocities of Oct. 7 as “brilliant” and justifiable, for example, is probably a bridge too far even for those most sympathetic to the Palestinian people and those who desire peace, depend on these extremists to nonetheless disrupt political events across the country – and do not expect them to do so in stereotypically polite Canadian style.

There are a lot of external variables facing Canadian politicians in the coming weeks. Responding to harangues from Washington by an unprecedented leader will force our own leaders to respond. Closer to home, expect disruptions and pandemonium from so-called “pro-Palestinian” activists. How politicians react to these unpredictable interventions could change the trajectory of the race. How Canadians, in turn, respond to the politicians’ reactions could prove one of the most volatile variables in the unsettled political firmament.

A profoundly false (we think) assumption says that Canadian politics and history are boring. In this era, a more ancient dictum – the curse “May you live in interesting times” – seems more apt.

דיקטטור נכנס לבית הלבן והקהל מריע

בסרטים מצוירים רואים את החיה החזקה ביותר עומדת על גבעה וכל שאר החיות החלשות מריעות ומקבלות את מרותה. בארה”ב היום אותו כלל חל על הנוכל דונלד טראמפ שחזר לבית הלבן, והאמריקנים – בטיפשותם שבחרו בו – מריעים עכשיו בשמחה לעומתו

כל מי שקצת בדק את ההיסטוריה של טראמפ וכנראה לא הרבה אמריקאים עשו זאת, יכול למצוא בקלות אינפורמציה רבה שמוכיחה עד כמה הקריירה העסקית שלו מבוססת על נוכלות, רמיה, עושק ובדיות. בני משפחתו, משקיעיו, עובדיו ורבים אחרים מספרים בפרטי פרטים עד כמה טראמפ שיקר ורימה אותם, והמציא מציאות מדומה על מצבו הכלכלי – אך הוא לא נפגע מכך. המערכת המשפטית בארה”ב היא כה חלשה כך שלטראמפ התאפשר להמשיך ולרמות במשך כחמישים שנותיו הראשונות כאיש עסקים. עם הכרזתו שהוא רץ לנשיאות, המפלגה הרפובליקנית קיבלה אותו בזרועות פתוחות, במקום להעיף את הנוכל. מדוע? כי במפלגה הרפוליקנית בעידן הנוכחי הנורמות נשחקו עד דק והרצון לשלוט הוא הערך הכמעט יחידי שרלוונטי. מצד שני עומדת מפלגה דמוקרטית חלשה ונאיבית שחבריה מדברים על ערכים דמוקרטיים לטובת מדינתם, בזמן שהרפוליקנים השתלטו במהירות יחסית על כל ארבע מערכות הממשל: בית המשפט העליון, הבית הלבן ושני בתי המחוקקים. בעוד שהדמוקרטים מדברים על ערכי שוויון, חופש ועזרה לזולת ולא יכולים להגיע להסכמה שתאחד אותם, הרפובליקנים חיפשו רק את מושכות השלטון וכל דרך היא לגיטימית מבחינתם, להגשמת ערך זה עליון זה. כולל שקרים, איומים והפחדות. כך היה בקמפיין הבחירות הראשון של טראמפ וכך היה גם בקמפיין השני. וזאת בשיתוף פעולה מלא של ההמון ברחובות שהרגיש כאילו טראמפ הוא קומיקאי שמספק להם לחם ושעשועים

בקמפיין הראשון טראמפ נעזר בחברת התעמולה האמריקאית השמרנית קיימברידג’ אנליטיקה, שעזרה לו לנצח את הילרי קלינטון. קיימברידג’ הבינה שהיא צריכה להשפיע על כעשרים אלף בוחרים שלא ידעו במי לבחור כדי שטראמפ יזכה לרוב האלקטורים. החברה פימפמה להם שקרים וזה עבד מול הדמוקרטים שחיים בעבר ולא הבינו מול איזה נוכל ושקרן פתולוגי הם התמודדו. קיימברידג’ עזרה קודם לכן לפמפם שקרים בקמפיין שתמך ביציאת בריטניה מהאיחוד האירופי. לא פלא שהחלו חקירות בעניין קייבמרידג’ היא הכריזה על פשיטת רגל שכך שלא נאלצה לספק מסמכים ודוחות

במקפיין הבחירות השני של טראמפ הוא נעזר במכונת תעמולה הרבה יותר אפקטיבית וחזקה – טוויטר (אקס) של אילון מאסק. כל אחד יודע שמאסק הוא האחרון שאפשר לסמוך על אמינותו ויושרו. מאסק חושב רק במונחים של כסף, קפיטליזם טהור ושליטה על ההמונים. ממש כמו חברו הטוב טראמפ. טוויטר שימשה מנוע תקשורתי עצום להאדרת שמו של טראמפ, תוך שהיא מפמפמת שקרים והפחדות אל ההמונים וזה עבד מצויין. מה גם שהמצד השני שוב הדמוקרטים החלשים לא קלטו באיזה עידן הם נמצאים

טועה מי שחושב שאחרי עדין טראמפ החיים יחזרו למסלולם. הוא הצליח בקדנציה הראשונה להביא לרוב של שופטים שמרנים בבית המשפט העליון, וזה ישמר במשך שנים רבות. אותם שופטים כבר גרמו נזק אדיר לנשים ובארה”ב לאחר שביטלו את חוק ההפלות הפדרלי

טראמפ וחבריו יגרמו נזקים רבים למערכות השלטון, האכיפה והצדק בארה”ב, מה שיבטיח לרפובליקנים את את השלטון לשנים רבות בעתיד. והחשוב מכל: שלטונו של טראמפ הוציא את כל השדים הרעים מהבקבוקים ולא ניתן יהיה להחזירם. עבור לא מעט אמריקניים טראמפ משמש דוגמא ומופת שתוך שהוא מוכיח ששקר הוא כמו האמת

Choose your next PM

By the time Justin Trudeau emerged from the front door of Rideau Cottage last week to announce his intention to end almost a decade as Canada’s prime minister, any element of surprise had evaporated. His future was sealed – and not by his choice.

As is so typical in our polarized times, Trudeau’s reign has been neither as masterful as his PR flaks suggest nor as disastrous as the monster truck crowds with their “[Expletive] Trudeau” stickers would have us believe. The truth lies somewhere in between. Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric of some opposition figures depicting Canada as a failed state in line with Somalia or Haiti, we remain arguably the most fortunate people on the planet and any commentary to the contrary is either self-serving propaganda or the worst example of First World ingratitude.

Among those who are glad to see Trudeau go there is a prevailing crankiness that he waited too long. True, abandoning ship days before our greatest trading partner and rather obtrusive (at the best of times) neighbour is set to (re)inaugurate an unpredictable kook as their head of state does raise some concerns. But let’s get some perspective.

Canadians are sleeping with an elephant, as the current prime minister’s late father, Pierre Trudeau, famously quipped. “No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” Under the incoming US president, that country seems destined to become twitchier and gruntier.

Trump is proposing an Anschluss in which Canada becomes the 51st state. Why 51st, we have to wonder? Why not the 51st to, at a minimum, the 61st? How do Lilliputian Vermont and Rhode Island and the practically unpeopled Wyoming justify statehood, two senators each and the assorted benefits of statehood but our 3.8 million square miles is mooted to get a single state and a measly two senators? Canada’s 40 million people exceed the combined populations of the 21 smallest US states so excuse us for being a little miffed at the idea that our landmass and people deserve an American presence equivalent to Arkansas or New Mexico. But perhaps we’re getting ahead of negotiations here.

We josh, of course. But this much is deadly serious: were an American president to genuinely promote annexation – either militarily or through the economic bullying Trump suggested last week – Canadians would have little defence but throwing Timbits and snowballs at the invading forces. There is plenty of comedic fodder around this subject but laughing has a tendency to stop abruptly when an underestimated madman gets his hands on the levers of power.

The idea that who occupies 24 Sussex Drive makes a whit of difference in the circumstance is an exercise in national self-delusion. In the event of an American invasion of Canada, Greenland or Panama, who ya gonna call for backup? Perhaps China or Russia might be willing to come to our aid. There’s a cheery idea – although not entirely out of the realm, given evidence that both these countries have already had their fingers in our democratic processes, and geopolitical and economic interests in the Arctic landmass.

The Liberal party is now charged with finding a new leader to pull it back from an apparent electoral abyss. In most instances, we would argue that this is an internal party matter for partisans to decide. The added wrinkle of our constitutional conventions, in which the leader of the party in power effectively automatically becomes PM, adds gravitas to the current situation.

Whether or not one is a Liberal partisan, it may be worth participating in the process. In the last bun toss, in which Trudeau was selected, it was an effective free-for-all in which, without even coughing up a membership fee, anyone was pretty much welcome to cast a vote – sort of like a “no purchase necessary” cereal box contest for a balsa-wood airplane.

We are in a challenging political environment right now, where single-interest groups are flexing their disruptive muscles – anti-Israel activists, for example, are trying to cancel Christmas, they are disrupting public events, have shut down theatre performances and generally are making their small numbers have outsized impacts. While there is not on the horizon, at this point, a standard-bearer for the hate-Israel demographic, count on the myopic activists to inject this issue into the contest, likely to the detriment of the Jewish community’s safety and interests and, we would argue, to Israelis and Palestinians.

Those who believe in a multiculturalism where Jews are welcome, a world where both Israelis and Palestinians are safe, and a body politic where dialogue trumps flag-burning should really pay attention to the process the Liberal party is about to adopt to select their next leader – who will be our next prime minister – and ensure that our views and interests are at least as well represented as the regressive mobs, be they on one side or the other of the issues we care most deeply about.

Hope for best outcomes

Every election leaves a portion of the electorate thrilled and another group disappointed. The more polarized the electorate, the more intense these emotions. Two elections recently were certainly examples of this – and they were elections that could hardly have been closer.

The British Columbia provincial election returned the New Democrats under Premier David Eby to office – but just barely. A single seat assured a majority government but that is a most precarious victory. Eby will need to be vigilant to ensure not a single member of his caucus steps out of line on a confidence vote or becomes disgruntled enough to bolt the party. This is almost certainly part of the reason Eby gave every member of his caucus a special title (along with added pay for the responsibilities).

Eby has a reputation for centralizing power in his office – to be fair, almost every leader in our parliamentary system does, but apparently Eby is a master at micromanaging – and this is a double-edged sword. He does not lack the skills to keep potentially wayward sheep in line, but excessive domination tends to incite rebellion.

Jewish voters especially will be watching a few things. The new mandatory curriculum for Holocaust education is to be rolled out next year. Given behaviours of the BC Teachers Federation and the potential for individual instructors to go rogue, the possibility exists for this curriculum to be weaponized against Jewish people. There are already dispiriting anecdotes about anti-Israel activism among some teachers. The introduction of mandatory Holocaust education could open the door to reactionary activism among those who think the Holocaust should not be privileged over other human catastrophes, as well as conversations that could turn in inappropriate directions because they lack the language or support for context. We hope that the province’s curriculum experts have anticipated this potential and worry that it is a nearly impossible task to monitor. We should be looking for various types of evaluation to guide these educational programs.

The back-from-the-grave BC Conservative Party, now the official opposition, has promised to introduce adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism among its first acts in the new Legislature. This will put the Jewish community and our issues in the centre of political drama immediately – not a welcome or comfortable situation for our minuscule demographic; the debate is sure to engender opposition and recriminations.

In the broader scope of 2024 history, though, our provincial election will be a footnote next to the election that took place a few days later. The reelection of once and now future US president Donald Trump will almost certainly have exponentially more dramatic effects.

The reelection of Trump turned out to be not as close as every poll suggested, but also not as commanding as some commentators say it was. He won the popular vote this time by about 2.5 million votes, which, in terms of the raw vote margin, is the fifth-lowest since 1960 – but, compared to having lost the popular vote by almost three million votes when first elected in 2016, the 2024 margin points to a swing in the electorate that cannot be ignored.

Trump’s recent election seems to have been met by opponents with a fatalistic sense of déjà vu. His choices of cabinet appointees suggest his second term will be no less a circus than his first and quite possibly more damaging in many ways.

According to exit polls, Jewish voters in the United States supported the Democrat, Vice-President Kamala Harris, over Trump by a margin of almost four-to-one. (Israeli voters, if they could have voted, would have backed Trump by almost mirror-image landslide margins, according to at least one poll, a disparity that deserves discussion some other time.)

Support for Trump’s stated pro-Israel positions is premised on the presumption that what he says is what he will do. This is true for all politicians of course, but it is especially true for an individual as volatile and unpredictable as this one. (Whether his positions are actually good for Israel and Jews is also a topic for further analysis and discussion.)

Whichever parties or candidates we support, all of us should hope for the best outcomes. Much depends on it, if in significantly different magnitudes – the government of BC does not, for example, have nuclear weapons – but polarized partisanship does not serve the majority well.

As a Jewish prayer for elected officials says, “May they be guided with wisdom and understanding to serve all its inhabitants with justice and compassion. Strengthen their resolve to protect freedom and promote peace, so that harmony and tranquility prevail among all who dwell here.”

And the winner is …

The recent British Columbia provincial election was one of the closest in history – so close that the result is not yet certain. By press time, the incumbent New Democratic party was leading or elected in 46 seats, the Conservative party in 45 seats and the Green party held two. While 47 seats are needed for a majority government, that number would represent a very precarious situation from which to govern.

Recounts are taking place, as is the counting of 49,000 absentee ballots that have not yet been tabulated. With several ridings featuring races divided by just dozens of votes, it remains possible that either the NDP or the Conservatives could form government when the dust settles.

The likeliest scenario echoes the tight 2017 election, which resulted in a minority government. A supply and confidence agreement between the Green party and John Horgan’s New Democrats made Horgan premier and allowed him to govern for more than three years as if he had a majority.

Many Jewish voters took special interest in this election. Provincial and municipal elections have not generally carried the same level of interest around specifically “Jewish issues” as a federal election, but that is less true now. While Jews obviously share the same policy interests as other British Columbians, and have the full diversity of opinions as other voters, current events added gravity to this campaign.

There has been an alarming increase in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents. This has magnified attention on issues that fall at least partially under provincial jurisdiction, like public security, police enforcement and prosecution of hate laws, education and public sensitization around multiculturalism and intercultural harmony, and a host of other topics.

Regardless of who forms government, both parties have expressed commitment to the implementation of mandatory Holocaust education, something that was announced by the last NDP government.

Some Jewish British Columbians felt a sense of betrayal by the treatment of former NDP cabinet minister Selina Robinson, who was fired from cabinet after referring to pre-state Israel as a “crappy piece of land.”

The election of Nina Krieger, the NDP candidate in the riding of Victoria-Swan Lake, will certainly reassure Jewish voters that they have a voice if the New Democrats form government. Krieger is a member of the community and was a longtime executive director of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Her expertise will be invaluable as the province operationalizes the Holocaust education curriculum and as a liaison with the Jewish community.

The new Conservative caucus also has many vocal allies, including Claire Rattée, in the far northwestern BC riding of Skeena, who is Jewish, and many others who have made efforts to connect with the Jewish community over the past year especially.

Both Krieger and Rattée were profiled in the last issue of the Independent.

All parties made the right noises toward the Jewish community during the election campaign. Politicians, of course, are generally good at making the right noises. Follow-through is what matters.

We are encouraged that, during the campaign, the Jewish community and the Middle East conflict were not exploited as wedge issues by any party, a tendency we have occasionally seen at the federal level.

The apparent lack of polarization around issues important to Jewish people is a bright light in a deeply polarized province. With the collapse of BC United, the erstwhile BC Liberal party, the centre of the political spectrum became something of a vacuum. Not only did the Oct. 19 election indicate a stark binary between left and right in the province – not a particularly new phenomenon here – but urban/rural divisions have rarely been more pronounced. To look at a map of the province after the election is to see an ocean of blue, with the Conservatives having won almost every rural seat. New Democrats won all but a single seat in the city of Vancouver and the rest of their caucus is almost entirely from urban centres and the close-in suburbs.

There is an adage that has rarely been more apt: “In the Maritimes, politics is a pastime, in Quebec a religion, in Ontario a business, on the Prairies a cause and, in British Columbia, entertainment.”

By the time you read this, perhaps we will know who the premier will be. Perhaps not. In times of uncertainty, we can guarantee this: expect no dull moments.

Politicians make their pitches

BC New Democratic Party candidate Kelly Greene, left, represented the incumbent party in Richmond-Steveston, and BC Conservative Party candidate Michelle Mollineaux, who is challenging Greene for the seat, spoke at a candidates forum last month, hosted by Beth Tikvah and CIJA.

British Columbia’s Oct. 19 election is now short days away. While provincial politics has not traditionally been a forum for issues of culturally specific concerns to Jewish voters, matters like public safety in response to rising antisemitism, and problematic developments in the education system, have focused attention for Jewish voters.

These concerns took centre-stage at a candidates forum co-organized by Beth Tikvah Congregation, in Richmond, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Sept. 22. Hate crimes, British Columbia’s Anti-Racism Act, the definition of antisemitism, communal security, law enforcement and a host of other issues were addressed by election candidates representing the BC New Democratic Party and the BC Conservatives. The BC Green Party was invited to send a representative but did not.

Kelly Greene, the NDP member of the legislative assembly for Richmond-Steveston, represented the incumbent party. She said she has been having conversations with parents and students who are experiencing antisemitism.

“There is fear where there wasn’t before,” Greene said, declaring that schools need to be safe and welcoming for everyone. She pointed to the NDP government’s commitment to implementing mandatory Holocaust education and said the NDP government has instituted a “suite of actions,” including improved antiracism data collection, new hate crime policies for prosecutors to address wilful promotion of hatred, and the creation of a racist incident hotline.

More needs to be done, she acknowledged. “It is a work in progress, to be honest,” she said.

On the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, Greene said the government needs “to be nimble” and should avoid including specific definitions in legislation. She cited the spike in anti-Asian hate during the COVID pandemic as an example of unanticipated incidents, responses to which could be hindered by narrowly defined descriptions of the problem.

The Conservatives disagree on this point. Michelle Mollineaux, the Conservative candidate challenging Greene in Richmond-Steveston, said her party – win or lose – will bring the adoption of the IHRA definition to the floor on the first day of the new legislative session.

Mollineaux noted that her party has released a comprehensive antisemitism strategy, in which they promise a special advisor on antisemitism and Jewish community affairs, collaboration for safety in the community and schools, and an investigation into bias in classrooms.

“Antisemitism is the most heinous crime against the Jewish community,” said Mollineaux, who called for more antisemitism programs in schools and increased education about Jewish people, history and the Holocaust.

“Oct. 7 was a reflection of the ignorance of what the Jewish people have been facing,” she said.

No ideologies – or Palestinian flags – should be allowed in public school classrooms, Mollineaux said. “Children need to feel safe,” she said. “Students are not safe”

Mollineaux said, “Universities should limit the amounts of protests that are going on. Those kinds of ideologies have to stop.… What they’re doing is wrong because it breeds hate.”

Addressing legislation that would create “bubble zones” around sites such as Jewish schools and community centres to prevent disruptive protests, New Democrat Greene called it a “sad reflection” that any institution needs such protections, as hospitals did during the pandemic to prevent anti-vaccine activists from impeding access to facilities.

Mollineaux did not disagree with the possibility of using bubble zones but said there needs to be more focus on the underlying problems. Education, embracing all cultures and “understanding where we came from,” must be the means to making such bubble zones unnecessary.

“How many bubbles do we have to keep building?” she asked.

Shane Foxman, a former journalist and now director of development for Vancouver Talmud Torah elementary school, moderated the forum, and asked why public expressions that seem to contravene hate crime laws are not resulting in criminal charges.

Greene responded that the New Democrat government has hired more prosecutors to reduce the workload and provided new guidelines to the Crown on suspected hate crimes.

Mollineaux said “police are under-resourced” and alleged that courts give “a slap on the hand” to perpetrators so that victims are revictimized and offenders “get off scot-free.” She called the court system a “revolving door.” She also called for mandatory antisemitism training for all police and politicians.

“We need to get this under control,” she said.

On the cost of living and issues affecting children and families, both candidates agreed that more needs to be done.

Mollineaux said children with special needs are not getting the educational supports they require and children in provincial care are aging out and becoming homeless adults.

On housing, Greene noted that the most recent statistics show rental prices declining in Metro Vancouver, even as they rise across Canada. She said the speculation and vacancy tax has freed up 20,000 more units of housing, while the government is building more.

Access to family doctors is improving, Greene added, with more than 800 family doctors hired in the last year alone.

Beth Tikvah’s Rabbi Susan Tendler delivered an Indigenous land acknowledgement and blew the shofar.

Another Jewish community election forum, featuring candidates in the riding of Vancouver-Langara, was to take place Oct. 9, after the Independent’s deadline.

The election landscape took a dramatic turn last month, when an agreement between Conservative party leader John Rustad and BC United leader Kevin Falcon resulted in BC United (formerly the BC Liberals) suspending their campaign in an effort to unite the right-of-centre vote. Some former BC United candidates are now running as independents, including two in Richmond.

Election day is a Saturday, but there are many ways to vote. Anyone can vote by mail. Advance voting is available at designated locations in every constituency Oct. 10-13 and Oct. 15-16 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting is also possible at any district electoral office. Full details are available at elections.bc.ca.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has a BC Election Hub at cija.ca/bc_election_hub. This resource outlines community priorities and contains a range of other information. CJPAC, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, has election-related information at cjpac.ca.

Running on core values

Nina Krieger is the BC New Democratic Party candidate in the riding of Victoria-Swan Lake on Vancouver Island. (photo from ninakrieger.bcndp.ca)

Nina Krieger, former executive director of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, will be the New Democratic Party candidate for Victoria-Swan Lake in the Oct. 19 provincial election. She will be vying for the seat vacated by the minister of transportation and infrastructure in the present cabinet, Rob Fleming, who announced this summer that he will not be seeking reelection.

Krieger told the Independent that her work at the VHEC and her decision to seek public office were inspired by having grown up in a family of teachers, with a father who was a union leader, and the values that permeated her home: education and helping others.

“In my household, I learned about the importance of institutions in society, such as unions, that support people when they are facing challenges,” said Krieger, who believes that the BC NDP have acted on this philosophy while in government.

Krieger was the VHEC’s executive director for 12 years and its education director for six. Under her stewardship in recent years, she has positioned the VHEC, located in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, to be part of JWest, the redevelopment of the JCC, which will mean increased availability of childcare, more seniors services, and expanded arts and cultural spaces, among other things.

“The forward-looking and hopeful work of VHEC and the JWest project speak to the shared responsibility to uplift one another, which is at the heart of my values, Canadian values and the BC NDP’s values,” Krieger said.

Her choice to enter the political arena during this, in her view, critical election is led by a desire to bring people together in this era of increased social and philosophical polarization.

“I would like to use my voice, and my experience as someone who has led and bridged communities, to work to build a better BC for all. Times are challenging right now, and I believe that we need a government that is fighting for you and your family and your ability to live a good life,” Krieger said.

Similar to ridings throughout the province, housing, health care and the cost of living are top-of-mind for voters in Victoria-Swan Lake. Krieger points to plans the NDP has put in place to build hundreds of thousands of new homes and dozens of new hospitals, to reduce ICBC rates and to lower the costs of childcare. Each of these items, she warned, could be on the budgetary chopping board were John Rustad and the BC conservatives to take power.

“We all want the same things: to afford the costs of everyday life, to have access to quality health care when we need it, and to have strong services that we can count on, from childcare to long-term care. We want to be part of strong, safe, prosperous and caring communities,” Krieger said.

One consistent thread in the NDP’s campaign has been to draw attention to the propensity of some in the BC Conservative Party to lend to too much credence to, if not openly adhere to, conspiracy theories.

“As a Holocaust educator, I know about the danger of conspiracy theories. Students of history and observers of politics know that conspiratorial rhetoric has real consequences. It sows distrust in government and distrust between communities and between neighbours,” Krieger said. “Unfortunately, John Rustad and several BC Conservative candidates have a track record of peddling untruths and conspiracies, something that is dangerous to the fabric of civil society.”

Krieger is one of two Jewish candidates known to the JI among the more than 300 people competing for 93 seats in the 2024 race. In this capacity, and as someone who has led a Jewish organization, founded by Holocaust survivors, she believes she can serve as a connection between government and the Jewish community, so that government understands the experiences of Jews in the province, and can act in a way that is guided by this understanding.

“I am committed to bringing my experience and insights to the vital task of building a more just and inclusive society, where the safety, security and well-being of Jewish people and all people are prioritized,” she said.

Amid the surge in antisemitism across the province and around the world since the Hamas attacks on Israel a year ago, Krieger sees a role for an MLA to connect with Jews in British Columbia. She said she has experienced the same pain and anxiety many in the Jewish community have felt in the wake of Oct 7.

“Countering antisemitism requires a whole-of-society commitment that includes the active participation of governments and civil society. If I am elected, I will do my part and will connect with Jewish constituents to ensure their lived experiences are brought forward in provincial discussions,” Krieger said.

Premier David Eby understands these concerns, Krieger said, pointing to a hate-crime prosecution policy that includes fighting antisemitism and the provision of anti-hate security funding to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. Nonetheless, she and Eby agree that more needs to be done to ensure everyone in the province feels safe.

Although foreign affairs are not a provincial matter, Krieger said MLAs play a critical role in listening to local communities affected by global conflicts and in supporting people in British Columbia by providing a sense of security. Moreover, she stressed, many in the province are deeply affected by the Israel-Hamas war and it is distressing for all people of good conscience to witness suffering and the loss of life.

“While the conflict in the Middle East will not be solved at the provincial level, there is a responsibility to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate of all forms in our society, and to ensure that people feel safe in our public spaces and public institutions,” Krieger said.

As head of the VHEC, Krieger consulted with the Ministry of Education and Childcare about making Holocaust education mandatory for high school students in the province, starting in the fall of 2025.

“We know that learning about the Holocaust can help young people be more resilient to antisemitism, xenophobia and conspiracy theories,” she said. “If elected, I would welcome an opportunity to contribute to ongoing efforts to strengthen Holocaust education and combat antisemitism.”

Should she win a seat, Krieger imagines that she also will have a role to play in ensuring that there is a diversity of lived and professional experiences around the caucus table, and in bringing her expertise with intercultural work, as well as countering antisemitism and hate, to the role of MLA.

There is a great deal at stake in this election, Krieger said, and this was her motivation to seek office under the NDP tent. The NDP’s seven-year tenure, she said, has made strides in improving housing, health care and affordability.

“Now is not the time for cuts to programs and services. Now is not the time to take away cost savings. Now is not the time to cancel initiatives that are starting to make a difference in the lives of people. Now is not the time to question climate science or make decisions based on conspiracy theories,” Krieger said.

Since its formation in 2009, the Victoria-Swan Lake riding has voted solidly in favour of the NDP, with Fleming obtaining a sizable majority in each of the last four provincial elections.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.