August 13, 2018: We must protect democratic values

By Michael Regenstreif

About 25 years ago, I returned to Concordia University in Montreal to do a master’s degree in political science. One of my courses, “Impediments to Democracy,” examined challenges to democratic systems posed by institutions like the Canadian Senate in which appointed senators have the power to delay or even stop legislation passed by the elected members of the House of Commons.

I have thought of that course lately while observing new impediments to democracy being thrown up by powerful politicians in advanced democracies – including the United States, Israel, and right here in Ontario.

On July 27, the very day that the nomination-filing period for Ontario’s municipal elections on October 22 ended, Premier Doug Ford announced that the size of the city council in Toronto would be slashed from 47 councillors to 25.

Changing the size of Toronto’s city council was not something Ford mentioned even once in the campaign for the June 7 Ontario election that brought him to power; or in his new government’s Speech from the Throne delivered by Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell on July 12 – just two weeks earlier.

Moreover, the announcement that the number of city council seats in Toronto would be cut almost in half was made without any consultation with the people of Toronto or their elected representatives at the municipal or even provincial levels. With nominations for the mayoralty and city council seats open since May and closing that day, Ford, essentially, announced he was unilaterally changing the rules in the middle of the game.

Prior to taking office as premier, Ford’s only previous experience in elected office was as a one-term Toronto city councillor from 2010 to 2014. During that term, he also served as the righthand man to then-mayor Rob Ford, his late brother. Few will deny that Rob Ford’s tenure in office, fuelled by substance abuse and marked by sometimes-bizarre behaviour, was less than successful. The Ford brothers were frequently at odds with their city council colleagues. When Rob Ford withdrew his candidacy during the 2014 election campaign due to a cancer diagnosis, to which he later succumbed, Doug Ford stepped in but lost the election to John Tory (ironically, a former Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader).

With that history in mind, it is hard not to see the premier’s move to slash the size of Toronto’s city council as anything but vindictive payback to his former colleagues. Such vindictiveness is profoundly undemocratic.

If this measure is passed (as I write on August 3 it hasn’t yet), Toronto – with a population more than three times larger – will have a city council almost the same size as Ottawa: we have a mayor and 23 councillors. Following Ford’s Toronto logic, we should have about eight councillors. But, Ford says, he has no plans to tamper with the size of Ottawa’s city council – thus adding credence to the theory that the Toronto move is simple vindictiveness.

Meanwhile, south of the border, the daily news is dominated by myriad challenges to democracy posed by U.S. President Donald Trump – too many to mention but not the least of which is his constant campaign to discredit the mainstream media as “the enemy of the people” or “fake news.” A free press is essential to the functioning of democracy and it is protected by the first amendment to the United States Constitution, which, as president, Trump has sworn to protect and defend.

And, in Israel, whose inspiring 1948 Declaration of Independence established the country as a Jewish state while guaranteeing “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex,” as well as guaranteeing “freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture,” there are aspects of the new nation-state law that serve to contradict those notions of equality.

Even Jews in the Jewish state do not seem to have complete freedom of religion given the monopoly the haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate holds over so many aspects of Jewish life in Israel. Just last month, a Conservative rabbi was arrested in Haifa for performing a non-Orthodox Jewish wedding.

In these times, we need to be increasingly vigilant about protecting our democratic values and in holding our elected officials to high standards of democratic conduct.

July 23, 2018: A few troubling sore spots

By Michael Regenstreif

Almost three years ago, after Justin Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in the federal election, I wrote a column suggesting Canada’s strong friendship with Israel would continue unabated under the new government (From the Editor, November 9, 2015). Stephen Harper, then the outgoing prime minister, had often been lauded for his strong support of Israel.

Indeed, Canada and Israel have maintained strong ties since Trudeau became prime minister. Just a few months after taking office, Trudeau’s Liberals joined with the Conservatives in passing a motion strongly denouncing the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. In the debate, Liberal cabinet ministers denounced the BDS movement as a modern-day form of antisemitism. And, on May 28, a modernized and more comprehensive Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement was announced by the two countries.

So while the relationship between Canada and Israel has remained strong, there have been a few “sore spots” in the relationship, which have troubled many in the Canadian Jewish community.

One is that the Trudeau government declined to follow the U.S. lead and move the Canadian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That decision reflects the policy that “Canada considers the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. Canada does not recognize Israel’s unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem,” and that an Embassy move should only take place after a settlement has been reached.

Former prime minister Harper has since stated that Canada should follow the U.S. lead and move our Embassy to Jerusalem as well. However, Harper made no move to take that lead himself while he was in office from 2006 until 2015 – and the official policy on Jerusalem quoted above is unchanged from the Harper era.

Two other sore spots came up recently over Canada’s response to Palestinian deaths during the violent protests on Israel’s border with Gaza.

On May 16, Trudeau issued a statement condemning the use of excessive force against the demonstrators and the loss of life and injuries. Trudeau’s statement came in the wake of a Palestinian-Canadian doctor being wounded while treating injured Palestinians on the front lines in Gaza. Trudeau’s major sin of omission was that he failed to mention the role of Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls Gaza, in engineering the violence or that many of the Palestinians killed were actually Hamas terrorists.

Then, on June 13, Canada abstained from a United Nations General Assembly vote condemning Israel for the violence in Gaza. The vote passed by a margin of 120-8 with Canada being one of 45 countries that abstained. (Canada did however support a failed U.S. amendment that would have recognized the role of Hamas and its ongoing campaign of rocket attacks in the conflict.)

There was a not-unjustified feeling among many in the community that Canada abstained rather than voted against the resolution condemning Israel because of Canada’s campaign to win one of the temporary seats on the UN Security Council in 2021. Canada’s support for Israel was seen as a reason it failed to win a seat in 2010. If that was the motivation, I doubt that an abstention will be seen as enough for the overwhelming anti-Israel bloc at the UN.

Disturbed by Trudeau’s statement and the UN abstention, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) arranged a meeting with the prime minister on July 5.

After the meeting CIJA CEO Shimon Koffler Fogel issued a statement saying, “The discussion was frank, constructive, and encouraging. The prime minister was very receptive and responsive to the issues we raised. He absolutely recognized the destructive role played by Hamas. He expressed full confidence in Israel’s capacity and will to hold its troops to a high ethical standard, rather than be singled out for an inherently biased international investigation. And he reaffirmed Canada’s support for Israel, and committed to be more vigilant in countering anti-Israel resolutions at the UN.”

Although we’ll have to see how future developments unfold, I would certainly feel encouraged by the results of the July 5 meeting.

June 25, 2018: Winds of change in Ontario politics

By Michael Regenstreif

Less than six months ago, Doug Ford, who served one term as a Toronto city councillor between 2010 and 2014, was planning to run for mayor of that city.

Now Ford is a few days away from being sworn in as premier of Ontario after leading the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party to a majority government in the June 7 provincial election. The New Democratic Party (NDP) became the official opposition, and the Green Party – which had never held a seat before – elected its first MPP.

A huge story was the utter collapse of the Liberal Party of Ontario. After winning four elections since 2003, they struck out and were reduced to just seven seats, not quite enough for official party status in the legislature.

I attended the meetings the Jewish Federation of Ottawa held with local candidates from the three major parties and offer here a few observations and opinions beyond the reporting I did on the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin website before the election.

All Ottawa-area candidates for each of the three parties were invited to the meetings, which were scheduled to suit the parties. Each party was asked the same set of main questions provided to them in advance. These questions on combatting antisemitism, support for the vulnerable, community security, Ontario-Israel ties, and preventing genetic discrimination, were drawn from the Ontario election guide prepared by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. A question about funding for faith-based schools was also asked at each of the meetings.

The Liberals sent four candidates – all incumbent MPPs, three of them cabinet ministers: Bob Chiarelli (Ottawa West-Nepean), Natalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa Vanier), John Fraser (Ottawa South) and Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre).

As experienced MPPs, the Liberal candidates were well versed on the issues and offered full or qualified support to Jewish community positions or requests on the main questions. It was only on the issue of funding for faith-based schools that the Liberal candidates diverged from the community. While they would not pledge support for changing the status quo (in which Roman Catholic schools are fully funded while all other faith-based schools receive no funding), the candidates did say they would personally be open to future discussion on the issue.

Des Rosiers and Fraser were among the seven Liberals across Ontario to retain their seats and Fraser became interim Liberal leader following the resignation of Kathleen Wynne.

The NDP was represented by two candidates: Eleanor Fast (Ottawa South) and Chandra Pasma (Ottawa West Nepean).

Fast and Pasma did seem engaged on some of the issues and unfamiliar with others. Neither offered any promise that an NDP government would revisit the issue of funding for faith-based schools.

The white elephant in the room during the NDP meeting was Ottawa Centre candidate Joel Harden and his support for the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Although the meeting took place at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, which is located in Ottawa Centre, Harden did not attend.

Fast and Pasma – neither of whom was elected – pointed out that BDS was rejected by the federal NDP and is not a policy of the provincial party, and both said they had voted against BDS resolutions at policy conventions or in their riding associations.

Harden, though, was elected in Ottawa Centre and it now remains to be seen what kind of relationship he will develop with the Jewish community. Clearly, outgoing Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi, who was supportive of many community initiatives, will be missed.

The PCs were represented by just one candidate, Colleen McCleery (Ottawa Centre). While she was friendly enough, McCleery seemed unprepared for the discussion and was largely unaware of the issues, including school funding. Clearly, the PCs would have benefited from the presence of more serious candidates like Lisa MacLeod (Nepean) or Jeremy Roberts (Ottawa West-Nepean).

Despite the slimmest of platforms, Ford’s key to winning power was the collapse of Liberal support after 15 years in government, and a populist message. Winning, this time, was seemingly easy. Now he’ll have to govern – and that will be a lot harder.