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CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS - CONGRÈS JUIF CANADIEN

ONTARIO REGION
4600 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario M2R 3V2 Phone: (416) 635-2883 Fax: (416) 635-1408

Chair Sent via email to ldavey@rsmrch.com Chief Executive Officer

DR FRANK BIALYSTOK BERNIE M. FARBER
franklinb@sympatico.ca bfarber@on.cjc.ca

Regional Director
LEN RUDNER
November 19, 2010
lrudner@on.cjc.ca 12 Kislev 5771
National President
MARK FREIMAN Ms Louise Davey
RSM Richter Chamberland
Vice-Chairs
FREDELLE BRIEF
2 Place Alexis Nihon
OSSY GOLDENBERG Montreal, Quebec H3Z 3C2
HERSHEL SAHIAN
NOREEN SLACK

Hon. Legal Counsel Dear Ms Davey,

IGOR ELLYN

Secretary Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region has had the honour of representing the
STUART SVONKIN needs of the Jewish community of Ontario to both provincial and municipal levels
Treasurer
of government. We have met with cabinet ministers to ensure that Jewish
AVI BARKIN prisoners are treated in a culturally appropriate manner and have advocated for
greater security and safety for our community and its institutions. We have
presented briefs on the matter of child poverty at Queen’s Park.

We have helped police services develop a better understanding of the impact that
hate- and bias-motivated crime has upon the soul of a targeted community. We
have sat in courtrooms with the victims of crime and have stood up in the
classroom and in conference rooms for students who have been treated unfairly in
the educational system.

We have made representations to school boards on matters relating to educational

practice and sensitive issues within the curriculum. We have educated employers
to understand their responsibilities in matters relating to reasonable
accommodation, and have publicly and privately advocated for a society that is
open and welcoming for all Ontarians. It was in Ontario that the award-winning
anti-racism program, Choose Your Voice, was created – a program that has now
reached more than 700,000 students across Canada. We work on a continual basis
with other ethno-cultural and religious organizations to promote communal
harmony and to build mutually beneficial alliances.

Supported and funded by Federations and Combined Jewish Appeals across Canada
This necessarily incomplete list describes not only our past activities but our present tasks as
well. Canadian Jewish Congress has been, and remains, the primary address for domestic Jewish
advocacy in Ontario. It is an address that is known and respected both within and outside the
Jewish community, with a reputation that has been won through the dedicated efforts of
volunteers and staff over the course of decades.

As proud officers of Canadian Jewish Congress in Ontario we cannot claim to be unbiased in our
respect for the history of CJC, the importance of its current work and the value of its highly
recognized brand. We nonetheless recognize the necessity of change and are supportive of the
restructuring process that is currently underway. The work of advocacy is too important to be
unexamined, but proposed changes must be carefully considered.

We are supportive of the preliminary document for its emphasis on improving the effectiveness
and efficiency of advocacy delivery on behalf of Canadian Jewry. Indeed, we encourage all
efforts that ensure that the community continues to receive the greatest possible value for its
investment of charitable dollars. We are cognizant that funding for advocacy has been reduced in
recent years and that a single organization is more efficient from a financial and organizational
standpoint than the current structure. We also concur with the preliminary document
recommendation that the Board of Directors be limited to 22 members from across Canada, in
accordance with the brief presented by the subcommittee of the Board of Directors of Canadian
Jewish Congress, Optimizing Canadian Jewish Advocacy in the Twenty-First Century: Toward a
Renewed Federated Public Affairs Structure, dated June 2010. We further concur with the
proposition that lay members of UIAFC be involved in the provision of advocacy. We are
heartened by the promise by Steven Cummings, co-chair of the restructuring committee made at
the teleconference meeting of the CJC Executive on October 27, that human rights will be central
to the mandate of Newco. We strongly urge the restructuring committee to underscore that
financial transparency and non-partisanship in the political arena will be part of the mandate of
Newco.

The Provision of Advocacy in Ontario

Approximately 60 percent of Canada's Jews live in Ontario. Given the proposed structure of
Newco, it is clear that advocacy will flow from the Board of Directors to the JCOPAS (Regional
Committees). Our position is that advocacy has historically been a two-way street. Many of the
gains made by the Jews of Canada regarding human rights, the provision of equal services and
the ties with local and provincial institutions, have occurred because of local initiatives. In the
proposed structure of Newco, we do not see many of the features that have been central to the
provision of advocacy on behalf of the Jews of Ontario. We strongly endorse the principle that
information must flow easily in both directions (between the centre and the periphery) and that
the regional committees be given the proper staff resources to ensure that all communities in
Ontario receive the benefit of the new advocacy structure. One of our officers, who has long
represented the needs of small communities at CJC meetings, expressed this need very clearly:

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 Who will go with us to the school boards, to meetings with local newspapers or will speak
up for us when swastikas appear on storefronts? Small communities have needs that must
heard; there must be resources available to meet their needs

We are deeply concerned that the needs of small communities in Ontario will be either
minimized or not properly appreciated. We observe, respectfully, that the information gathering
process employed so far by the restructuring committee and its agents has focused its energies on
meetings with lay and professional leaders. While an array of perspectives has been gathered,
this process has not considered the experiences of the grassroots which have provided and
received advocacy services. To our mind, this is a serious oversight.

We are also concerned that we do not see a role for volunteers in Ontario in Newco. For
generations, volunteers throughout the province have provided expertise and leadership on the
local issues and concerns of our community. What will be their role within the proposed
structure? If advocacy is to flow solely from the national perspective, what is there to motivate
them? What is there to encourage new members? In recent years we have welcomed volunteers
from diverse segments of the community including traditional Orthodox, gays and lesbians,
youth, and representatives from small communities. We fear that we will lose the benefit of their
contributions under the proposed structure. Further, how will we attract new volunteers from the
younger generation if there is not a clear indication of the governance structure, professional
leadership and the funding of the JCOPAs? We cannot underestimate the importance of the skills
and diversity of our volunteers. Our people are our sustainable advantage. Without them, the
vitality of Newco cannot but be diminished. Successful volunteer engagement is predicated on
visibly valuing their contributions.

The proposed structure appears to be top-heavy with representation from Toronto and Montreal.
Approximately 40,000 Jews live in cities and towns in Ontario outside the Greater Toronto
Area. Who will hear their voices? Minimally, we suggest that the National Board of Directors
have one representative from Ottawa and one from a smaller community in Ontario. In the words
of one of our Officers, the current proposal represents a complete abandonment of smaller
communities. “We have called on CJC in the past but now there seems to be no provision for us.
This structure guarantees the ultimate exclusion of the grassroots community from the business
of amcha.”

Finally, our essential concern is that the "small issues and concerns" of our community will not
be addressed. While the emphasis is naturally on big issues of advocacy, the base of our
advocacy work deals with concerns about antisemitic incidents; the lack of provision of services
by employers and landlords; antisemitic materials in schools; antisemitic incursions in unions,
Christian and Muslim organizations; relations with other ethno-cultural communities; and a host
of other issues. Further, in recent years we have increasingly responded to the very real concern
of the defence and security of Jews and Jewish institutions in Ontario. How will these
challenges be met, especially in non-federated communities? Who will provide these? Who will
respond to these threats at a professional level? These are not exclusively national issues, nor are
they necessarily provincial ones. Usually they are out of the limelight. But these are the stuff of
our daily work, and in this proposed structure, we do not see how we can adequately be
responsive and pro-active to these local needs under this proposed structure.

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Newco's "Brand"

While we understand that the new name of Newco, that is its brand, is still to be determined, our
concern is the possibility that its name be changed from Canadian Jewish Congress. We remind
the restructuring committee that CJC has been the pre-eminent national, provincial and local
Jewish organization in Canada. We dismiss the claim that national leaders confuse CJC with
other organizations, both those under the CIJA umbrella, and others. One need look no further
than the National Plenary of 2009, where the leaders of our national parties spoke. CJC is not
only recognized in Canada, but also in international Jewish organizational circles for its
leadership and experience in advocacy.

In Ontario, our concern is that if the CJC name is not present in Newco, then our community will
turn to organizations outside of the community umbrella for guidance and response. Ultimately,
Newco may become a secondary agency for the provision of advocacy for our community,
thereby negating the best intentions of the restructuring committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Newco Document.

Yours truly,

Dr. Frank Bialystok

Chair,
Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region

Signed with the unanimous consent of the Officers of CJC Ontario Region.

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