By Michael Regenstreif
Sometimes, deadlines and the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin publication schedule don’t co-operate with the news we’d like to bring you.
A case in point is the proposed new structure for the organization overseeing national advocacy for the Canadian Jewish community, which, if all goes according to the organizers’ plans, will be presented to the boards of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) on December 8 and UIA-Federations Canada on December 12.
This issue, dated December 13, actually went to press on December 3. So, we do not have coverage yet of whether or not the new structure has been approved or precisely what form it will take.
CIJA, the entity being reorganized, is a relatively new body. It was established seven years ago by UIA Federations Canada – the national organization of the Jewish federations in Canada, including the Jewish Federation of Ottawa – as an umbrella organization to co-ordinate the advocacy efforts of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canada-Israel Committee, the Quebec-Israel Committee, National Campus Jewish Life and the University Outreach Committee.
Although the plan was not to be made public before the December meetings I referred to, some information – or, at least, speculation – emerged a few weeks ago when the Canadian Jewish Congress posted a document on its website expressing concerns about its brand, structure and future, should CIJA reorganize all of the advocacy organizations into a single body with a single board of directors. (The document has since been removed from the Congress website.)
Apparently, in a brief submitted to the CIJA reorganization committee, Congress suggested that the name, “Canadian Jewish Congress,” be retained for the new advocacy entity in order to preserve the history and branding built by Congress over the 91 years since its 1919 founding.
The issue of the proposed reorganization gained some mainstream attention when Andrew Cohen wrote an op-ed column in the Ottawa Citizen, November 30, headlined “Saving the Canadian Jewish Congress.” Cohen argued that Congress was an effective organization with a rich history and that “only fools and amnesiacs would dissolve it.”
Cohen also admitted to a sentimental attachment to Congress in that his great-uncle, Lyon Cohen (songwriter Leonard Cohen’s grandfather), was the founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
The next day, the National Post ran a front page story speculating that the future of Congress was in doubt.
While it’s true that Congress has nearly a century of history to be proud of, changing times do demand that our organizations evolve to meet the needs of contemporary times. There is much logic to the idea of consolidating national Jewish advocacy activity.
It’s also true that, of the various bodies falling under the reorganization plan, including CIJA itself, the Canadian Jewish Congress does have, by far, the longest history and the best-known brand name.
Maybe “Canadian Jewish Congress” wouldn’t be a bad name for the reorganized umbrella. We should know soon what’s to be.
