July 14, 2020: From Charlotte Whitton and Lionel Groulx to Oscar Peterson

By Michael Regenstreif

In the spring of 2011, the City of Ottawa cancelled plans to honour Charlotte Whitton by naming the city’s new archives facility for the first woman in Canada to serve as the mayor of a major city. Whitton was Ottawa’s mayor from 1951 until 1956 and again from 1961 until 1964.

The plan to name the new facility for Whitton was abandoned following a campaign against the move led by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the Canadian Jewish Congress (which was soon to be absorbed by the newly restructured Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs) because of Whitton’s antisemitism.

During the Second World War – as millions of Jews were being murdered in the Holocaust – Whitton was director of the Canadian Council on Child Welfare and lobbied the federal government to keep Jewish war orphans out of the country. Later, as mayor of Ottawa in 1964, Whitton refused to accept a $450,000 donation from supermarket chain owner and philanthropist Bertram Loeb to establish a medical research centre at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. “Some observers suspected that Ms. Whitton cringed at the thought of seeing a Jewish name on a city facility,” noted the Globe and Mail in its obituary when Loeb died in 2006. (In 1988, long after Whitton’s death, the Loeb Research Centre opened at the Civic Hospital following a $14 million fundraising campaign spearheaded by Loeb in honour of his parents.)

I was recently reminded of the effort to fight bestowing that honour on Whitton because there is currently a grassroots campaign in Montreal to rename the Lionel-Groulx metro station in honour of legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. An online petition to that effect has currently has more than 22,400 signatures.

Lionel Groulx (1878-1967) was a Catholic priest and historian whose writings on language and Quebec nationalism have influenced Quebec politics for generations. Claude Ryan, the former editor of Le Devoir who was leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1978 to 1982 and the province’s minister of education from 1985 to 1989, has referred to Groulx as “the father of modern Quebec.”

However, Groulx, as well documented by historian Esther Delisle in her 1993 book, The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929–1939, was an unrepentant antisemite. Delisle found hundreds of antisemitic and pro-fascist quotations attributed to Groulx during the period in question, many of them from articles he wrote under verified pseudonyms. Groulx’s antisemitism persisted well after the period of Delisle’s book. For example, in an article about the current effort to rename the metro station, the Globe and Mail notes that Groulx in 1954, wrote that Jews have a hunger for money which he described as “an often monstrous passion which lacks all scruples.” A counter-petition by Groulx loyalists who want to retain the station’s name has received over 10,600 signatures.

I lived in Montreal until I moved to Ottawa in 2007 to work at the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin and (notwithstanding restricted travel during the COVID-19 pandemic) I return there frequently. As a metro user, I have passed through the Lionel-Groulx station countless times over the years (it’s one of the two transfer points between the metro’s two most important lines) and every time I’m in that station I am reminded of Groulx’s antisemitism and the influence it had on Quebec society. So, changing the name of the station is something I strongly support.

This current campaign is at least the third effort to change the name of the Lionel-Groulx station. In 1990s, after the revelations published in Delisle’s book, Jewish community activists unsuccessfully petitioned the city to change the station’s name. And a previous effort to change the name to honour Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was launched after his death.

Peterson would be a most-worthy figure to honour with the name of the metro station. Peterson, who I would argue was Canada’s most significant jazz musician – for that matter, one of the world’s greatest – grew up in the very neighbourhood where the station is located (while Groulx had no connection to the area). I had the opportunity to see Peterson perform numerous times over the years – he was always brilliant – and I still enjoy his many recordings.

It’s also worth noting that although visible minorities comprise 31 per cent of Montreal’s population, not one of the city’s metro station’s bears the name of a person from a visible minority background. Renaming the station for Peterson, a celebrated Black Canadian, would begin to address that failing.

The Jewish community was right, almost a decade ago, to fight the City of Ottawa’s efforts to honour a historically-important former mayor because of her antisemitism. In many ways, it was about the soul of the city. And now, the campaign to rename a Montreal metro station to honour a most-worthy Montreal musician rather than the most influential Quebec antisemite of his era, is also very much about the soul of that city.

June 3, 2020: We cannot and must not be silent or indifferent

By Michael Regenstreif

Nothing was published yesterday – June 2, 2020 – on the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin website and the only thing posted on our Facebook and Twitter accounts was an empty black box with the hashtag #BlackOutTuesday.

The Bulletin – along with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation, the Ottawa Jewish Archives, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and many other organizations and individuals – was participating in a day of solidarity, reflection and symbolic protest against racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, by white police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25; a murder that was captured by multiple bystanders on video.

Floyd had been arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill in a convenience store and, as shown on video, was in handcuffs and lying face down on the ground when a veteran police officer – who was fired and later charged with third degree murder and manslaughter – knelt on Floyd’s neck with his full weight on the knee and maintained the pressure for almost nine minutes as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly said that he couldn’t breathe. A brutal scene to see. The officer continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck for about three minutes after he lost consciousness. Meanwhile, two other Minneapolis police officers knelt on lower parts of Floyd’s body as a third officer stood by. Those three other policemen were also fired but are yet to be charged in the case.

Floyd was just the latest of many persons of colour who have died unjustly at the hands of police over the years in the United States (and we Canadians must not be complacent about this as it has also happened here too many times) but his death sparked protests around the United States the extent of which have not been seen since the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. As I write, more than week after Floyd’s murder, the protests continue. And while the overwhelming majority of protesters have been peaceful, regretfully, some of the protests, particularly under the cover of darkness, have also been coopted by destructive looters and violent provocateurs whose actions have been counterproductive to the noble intentions of those demanding an end to police brutality and racial oppression.

After the horror of seeing the Floyd murder videos on television, I saw a selfie posted by my friend Vance Gilbert to his Facebook page that affected me deeply.

Vance, who lives in the Boston area, is an African American singer and songwriter and one of the cleverest and most entertaining stage performers I know. He’s been here in Ottawa a couple of times over the years to play at the folk festival. This is the caption to the photo that Vance posted on Facebook on May 27:

Friend: “Cool mask!”
‪Me:“Stoppin’ droplets, baby! I love airplanes so I’m stylin’. I’m over 60, so I’m in a high-risk group.”
‪Friend: “What’s that around your neck?”
‪Me: “It’s a knee brace.”
‪Friend: “Whaaa..?”
‪Me: “Protects my neck from knees. I’m in that *other* high-risk group.”

Vance was brilliantly using humour and satire to make a point.

“Don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the knee brace,” I wrote to him in the Facebook comments. “I guess I can laugh at how clever it is but cry over the truth that it tells.”

The murder of George Floyd has focussed attention on the deeply rooted racism in American society. And although much progress has been made over the years, the past few years have seen regression under a U.S. president whose modus operandi has been to stoke division, to sew a politics of resentment and who has, on too many occasions, employed both veiled and not-so-veiled racist rhetoric. I cannot forget that in 2017, when Colin Kaepernick and some other Black football players were protesting police brutality against African Americans by quietly and respectfully kneeling during pre-game singing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” this American president said they should be kicked out of the country.

I recall the Civil Rights Movement adage that “freedom is a constant struggle” and I am gratified to see that our Jewish community in North America – from major and grassroots organizations to the full spectrum of denominations – is acting in solidarity with the African American community. Here is a small sampling of statements from Jewish organizations:

“This week has reminded us yet again that we have a long way to go in our work towards a more just society for all. We will not stop fighting for a world free of racism and bigotry in all of its forms,” said a tweet released by The Jewish Federations of North America.

“Anti-Black racism is a scourge to which we are not immune in Canada. We stand with our friends in the Black community, to whom we say: with great anger & broken hearts, we denounce this hate, we recommit to working with you to combat & eliminate it,” said a tweet from CIJA, the advocacy agent for Jewish federations in Canada, including the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

“Racism is not a thing of the past or simply a political issue. It is a real and present danger that must be met head on. … We call on all … to unite in the pursuit of justice and brotherly love and respect, regardless of race, creed or color. In this encounter, let us all seek greater understanding amongst our fellow men and women – all of whom are created in the image of God. Let us work in partnership toward eradicating all forms of bigotry and racism,” said a statement from the Orthodox Union.

“United in purpose, we will dismantle the systemic racism all too embedded still within American law enforcement and its justice system. The firing and we hope prosecution of the four Minneapolis police officers involved in this one egregious murder is a necessary step, but it cannot be the only action against structural injustices that have plagued generations and continue to this day. We must forever strive for a free and just society for all people,” said a statement released by The Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement.

“The national rage expressed about the murder of Mr. Floyd reflects the depth of pain over the injustice that People of Color – and particularly Black men – have been subjected to throughout the generations. In recent months we have seen, yet again, too many devastating examples of persistent systemic racism, leading to the deaths not only of Mr. Floyd but of other precious souls, including Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery,” said Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

“We remember others before them: Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Trayvon Martin. Sandra Bland. Oscar Grant. Philando Castile. Walter Scott. Terrence Crutcher. Samuel Dubose. Michael Brown. The list feels endless, and so too is our despair. But as we recite the Mourner’s Kaddish for them all, we say now, again: We will not sit idly by. Our country simply cannot achieve the values of ‘justice for all’ to which it aspires until we address ongoing racism in all sectors and at all levels of society. We remain in solidarity and action with the NAACP’s urgent #WeAreDoneDying campaign, whose policy demands cover areas of criminal justice, economic justice, health care, and voting, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans,” added Rabbi Pesner.

“We must dismantle white supremacy now if we are to have any chance at building a more just and equitable world for all people. For all people – because we are committed to the core Jewish value that all people are created betzelem elokim – in the image of the divine – and are therefore equally deserving of full human dignity and safety. But also, specifically for our people – the Jews of Color within the Reconstructionist movement and beyond who face the oppression, pain, and fear of living under white supremacy every day. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that our Jewish communities provide a safe, supportive, loving and empowering haven for all of us, most especially Jews of Color,” said a statement posted by Reconstructing Judaism and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

From talking with Black friends over the years I am well aware that their reality differs from mine in many ways. And while many other African Americans have died unnecessarily and disproportionately at the hands of law enforcement officials, the murder of George Floyd during a pandemic that has brought death and economic hardship to so many seems to be a turning point. It is up to all of us to ensure that our societies and communities rise to the challenge epitomized in the principles of tikkun olam to repair our world. We cannot and must not be silent or indifferent.

August 19, 2019: A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian

By Michael Regenstreif

No matter what one may feel about the policies of “The Squad,” four women of colour elected in 2018 to their first terms in the United States Congress, or even the antisemitic tropes that were tweeted by one of them, there was no denying the explicit racism employed by U.S. President Donald Trump in his attacks on them last month.

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” Trump tweeted on July 14.

And that was only the beginning of Trump’s tweet storm.

Just for the record, three of the four congresswomen Trump was attacking – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib – were born in the United States. The fourth, Ilhan Omar, was born in Somalia and was brought to the U.S. legally as a refugee when she was a child. Omar became an American citizen in 2000 when she was 17.

By the way, earlier this year when Jewish organizations and congressional colleagues came down hard on Omar for employing antisemitic tropes in criticizing Israeli government policies toward the Palestinians, she did apologize for them – even writing an op-ed in the Washington Post describing Israel as the “historical homeland” of the Jews and reiterating her support for a two-state solution to the conflict, calling for “internationally recognized borders, which allow for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination.”

So, while Omar did come to understand why Jewish people were hurt by her words, and apologized for them, Trump has shown no such understanding.

Even leaders of some of the U.S.’s closest allies took the unusual step of calling out the American president for remarks he made about domestic political opponents.

“The prime minister’s view is that the language used to refer to these women was completely unacceptable,” said the spokesperson for then-prime minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she rejects Trump’s racist comments and stands in solidarity with the congresswomen he targeted.

“That is not how we do things in Canada. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and the diversity of our country is actually one of our greatest strengths and a source of tremendous resilience and pride for Canadians, and we will continue to defend that,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau’s comments were inspiring to hear at that time. Our Canadian Jewish community, and so many other ethnic and religious communities in Canada, have thrived in a country that takes justified pride in its multiculturalism.

But, and it’s a big but, “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” is not necessarily true when Quebec, our second-largest province, encompassing nearly a quarter of our population, uses the notwithstanding clause to override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to prevent people working in the public sector from wearing kippot, hijabs, turbans and other expressions of religious belief, including Stars of David, under its Bill 21.

For example, Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan is a Sikh whose religion mandates that he wear a turban – a turban that he wears in the House of Commons, a turban that he wore as a Canadian military officer serving on deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina and three times to Afghanistan, and a turban he wore during an 11-year career as a Vancouver police officer and detective. Now, though, because of that turban, Sajjan cannot be a police officer in Quebec.

With a federal election two months away, are Trudeau and the other federal leaders and candidates willing to defend our diversity – in both official languages – and ensure that “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” is more than just a platitude?