Review of the Year

Review of the Year OTHER COUNTRIES Canada National Affairs A HE GENERAL ELECTION OF OCTOBER 1993, Canada's first since the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, resulted in a massive shift in electoral fortunes. The Progressive Conservatives, who had governed the country since 1984, were routed and reduced to a rump of only two seats in a House of Commons with 295 members. The big winners were the Liberal party, now led by Jean Chretien, a veteran of the Trudeau era with extensive cabinet experience, Preston Manning's Reform party, which came out of nowhere to capture over 50 seats in the West in a protest against conventional political practices, and Lucien Bouchard's Bloc Quebecois (BQ), which became the official opposition in its first election. The BQ, closely related to Quebec's provincial party, the Parti Quebecois (PQ), was launched by Bouchard and other disgruntled Conservatives after the Meech Lake failure. Its overriding objective is to achieve the independence of Quebec, the province where it obtained all 54 of its seats. The Reform party was plagued by a widely held impression that it provided a haven for racists and even anti-Semites. Party leader Manning made a speech to the Jewish Civil Rights Educational Foundation in January in an effort, at least his fifth, to dispel the image that his party was inhospitable to Jews. He implored his audience to participate in the party in order to "inoculate us against the viruses of extremism, racism and anti-Semitism." The Reform leader announced that his party had expelled about 25 members who held a variety of racist views. The Liberal party also expelled a racist, Roger Alacoque, who had ties to France's National Front. Among the issues that were most important to the Jews of Canada were the preservation of national unity against the separatist threat, control of racism and anti-Semitism, the successful prosecution of Nazi war criminals living in the country, the maintenance of a fair immigration policy, and a constructive foreign policy posture with regard to the Middle East. In the October 25 election, constituencies with substantial numbers of Jewish voters generally elected Liberals, despite the strong bonds between the Jews and former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Four Jews were elected to the House of Commons: Sheila Finestone and David Berger won reelection in suburbs of Mon- 209 210 / AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK, 1995 treal, while veteran parliamentarian Herb Gray earned another term in Windsor. They were joined by Barry Campbell, who carried a key Toronto riding. Three Jewish former MPs were not in the new House: Robert Kaplan of Toronto retired from politics, while Dave Barrett of British Columbia and Gerry Weiner of Quebec went down to defeat. Weiner, who had served in the cabinet under Mulroney and his successor, Kim Campbell, was a focus of controversy during the campaign when it was alleged that he abused his power and exercised undue influence to help his son Mark secure the PC nomination in another riding. Weiner denied doing any- thing inappropriate and the affair dissipated; still, both Weiners were swept away in the Liberal tide that carried the Montreal suburbs. Hugh Segal, a former Mulroney advisor, attributed his party's massive defeat to the breakdown of the coalition of groups "who felt outside the mainstream" — such as Westerners, Maritimers, and Quebec nationalists — which had been the corner- stone of Mulroney's 1984 and 1988 victories. Reform and the BQ took away two of those key elements, leaving the party uncompetitive. The inability of Kim Camp- bell, who succeeded Mulroney, to establish her credibility as prime minister contrib- uted to the party's rout. In the new cabinet, Herb Gray, who was first elected to the Commons in 1962 and became the country's first Jewish cabinet member in 1969, assumed the posts of government House leader and solicitor general of Canada. Chretien appointed Sheila Finestone to a subcabinet post, secretary of state with responsibility for multiculturalism and the status of women. Within the Prime Minister's Office, longtime Chretien confidant Eddie Goldenberg was appointed as a senior policy adviser, while Chaviva Hosek became the director of policy and research. When Brian Mulroney stepped down as prime minister in June, Jewish leaders lauded him for a number of accomplishments and especially for his strong support for Israel. Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) president Irving Abella observed that "we have lost a good friend." He added that Mulroney "understood the needs of our community. He was very sensitive to them and he had a visceral attachment to Israel." B'nai Brith Canada president Gabriel Nachman recognized Mulroney for establishing the Deschenes Commission of Inquiry on Nazi war criminals, for ensuring the adoption of a law that reduced the possibility of husbands using the get (Jewish divorce decree) as a bargaining chip in divorce negotiations, and for his strong stance in favor of multiculturalism and against racism. A new immigration law, which took effect in January, was expected to prove favorable to Soviet Jews with trade or professional skills. However, the bill was expected to make it more difficult for Russian Jews coming to Canada via Israel to claim refugee status, because it presumed that asylum was available to them in Israel. Israel and the Middle East The government, most Canadians, and the Jewish community generally wel- comed the signing of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles (DOP) in September, CANADA / 211 although there were some dissenting voices within the Jewish community (see below, "Israel-Related Activities"). Prime Minister Kim Campbell and Secretary of State for External Affairs Perrin Beatty endorsed the pact enthusiastically. Ontario premier Bob Rae held a public celebration in October at Queen's Park in Toronto, the seat of the provincial government. Among the cosponsors were CJC, Palestine House, and the Canadian Arab Federation. In a speech there, Irving Abella expressed the sentiment that "for this evening at least, hope triumphs over hesitation, dreams over doubts, anticipation over apprehension." Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres both visited Canada during 1993. Peres made a quick trip in April. In a series of speeches, he gave hints of the policy shift that was manifested in the DOP, referring to "returning the territories to the Palestinian people," allowing them self-rule, and subsequently offering "negotiated independence." Rabin became the first foreign leader to meet with new Canadian prime minister Chretien when he arrived in November to address the General Assembly (GA) of the Council of Jewish Federations, which met in Montreal. At the GA he gave a vigorous presentation of the logic and necessity of his government's rapprochement with the PLO. In his private talks with Chretien and the new external affairs minister, Andre Ouellet, Rabin stressed the need to increase Canada- Israel trade, which at $300 million annually placed Israel forty-third among Can- ada's trading partners. The leaders also explored the idea of a free-trade agreement. In an interview with the Canadian Jewish News in April, Canadian ambassador to Israel Norman Spector also stressed the need for increased trade and reiterated the firm basis of Canada's support for Israel and the congruence between the policies of the two countries. In December he pointed out that Israel's free-trade agreements with the United States and the European Community made it increasingly difficult for Canadian goods to be competitive in Israel, implying that Canada should reex- amine its earlier reluctance to enter into such a pact with Israel. Stephen P. Cohen, who heads the independent Institute for Middle East Peace and Economic Development, based in Montreal, and who had been meeting for some time with Arab leaders, including PLO chairman Yasir Arafat, in order to facilitate communication between Palestinians and Israelis, told a large audience at Montreal's Beth Zion Synagogue in September that the DOP was a realistic basis for a future of peace, providing both for Israeli security and the attainment of Palestinian aspirations. In the weeks following the signing, Canada announced a commitment of $55 million over five years to improve the lives of Palestinians in the territories. The government also supported a plan to move 4,000 Palestinians from Sinai to Gaza and pledged $4 million for that. The refugees lived in an abandoned military installa- tion known as Canada Camp, which was built by Canada for UN troops in Sinai following the Suez War of 1956. While Peres was in Canada, he and External Affairs Minister Barbara McDougall agreed to establish the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Pro- gram, to promote R&D in the private sector. In June the health ministers of the two countries signed a joint agreement to share information on health services. 212 / AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK, 1995 Jason Friedberg, a 24-year-old from a Montreal suburb who had immigrated to Israel, where he was studying in a yeshivah and serving in the army, was murdered by terrorists near Jerusalem in March. He was buried in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Anti-Semitism and Racism A number of highly visible manifestations of anti-Semitism occurred this year. The most graphic incident took place on the first day of the year, when seven Montreal area synagogues were desecrated with red swastikas. Since the synagogues were located in different parts of the Montreal area, it appeared that the attacks were a coordinated effort. B'nai Brith spokespersons characterized the events as "an attempt to intimidate" the Jewish community, which included many Holocaust survivors. Political and communal leaders expressed their deep concern and solidar- ity with the Jews.

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