Of the main issues in the upcoming municipal election, few can be deemed explicitly “Jewish” – that is, of relevance solely to the city’s Jewish community.
Like most constituents, Toronto Jews seem predominantly concerned with transit, gridlock, housing and taxes.
Israel – a political wedge issue for many Canadian Jews – rarely enters the conversation.
And yet, on several occasions in the lively lead-up to voting day on Oct. 27, matters pertaining to the Jewish community have been come to the fore, if only fleetingly.
Here, then, is a roundup of some of the “Jewish” municipal election issues that have arisen – both those that have occupied headlines and those less conspicuous.
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
At a Sept. 19 mayoral debate between two of the race’s leading candidates, John Tory and Olivia Chow, hosted by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC), an otherwise civil conversation turned less decorous when the question of whether the city should make funding Pride contingent on the participation of the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) in the festival’s flagship parade.
Tory, the darling of the crowd, who were mostly senior FSWC members or top donors, reiterated a long-held position that he would vote to withdraw Pride funding if QuAIA is allowed to march, while Chow, though she said she doesn’t agree with the group’s message, said QuAIA’s presence shouldn’t warrant de-funding the event.
While Tory’s statement made a brief media splash, particularly since in 2011, the city manager deemed QuAIA’s message not to be in violation of Toronto’s anti-discrimination policy, the issue seemed to be more of a red herring than anything else, and it wasn’t brought up at a subsequent debate co-hosted by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and United Jewish Appeal (UJA).
“I don’t think it’s a burning issue in the [Jewish] community,” CIJA’s vice-president for the Toronto region, Howard English, told The CJN. “I’d say the vast majority of Jewish community members are upset about the presence of this group at Pride, but we should note that the QuAIA contingent at the parade was very small this year, while the [pro-Israeli] presence was very large… QuAIA is a small contingent of extremists that lack major support.”
Community security
The issue of safety at Jewish community institutions, such as synagogues and day schools, has taken on increased relevance after Israel’s latest war with Hamas in Gaza triggered a spike in reported anti-Semitic incidents in cities worldwide, including some in Toronto.
The issue was raised at the FSWC and CIJA/UJA debates, and both Chow and Tory stressed the need for strong, intercultural education and community co-operation with the Toronto Police Service.
At the CIJA debate, which, in addition to Chow and Tory featured fellow leading contender Doug Ford and Jewish long-shot candidate Ari Goldkind, Ford noted that the city had hired more police officers under his brother’s administration and re-allocated a number of them to the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS).
Regarding community security, Goldkind, the dark horse whose catty one-liners and progressive, pro-taxation platforms have garnered attention of late, told The CJN in a phone interview that he believes Toronto is a very safe city.
“Could it be safer? Yes,” he said. “But we live in a multicultural city with a lot of people who don’t like each other. That’s a reality. I’m not in favour of more armed guards or metal detectors. I think that degrades our quality of life.”
Ultimately, while Jewish voters presumably want candidates to be sensitive to the community’s concerns about security, the issue doesn’t fall exclusively under the purview of the mayor.
“The federal government has already developed an infrastructure program that provides matching grants for institutions within vulnerable communities that want to enhance security,” noted English, referring to the National Crime Prevention Centre’s Security Infrastructure Program (SIP), which collaborates with communities with a demonstrated history of being targeted by hate crimes.
“Municipally, the role a mayor plays is to support the police service in moving quickly in the event of breaches of community security… the Toronto Police Service [already] does an excellent job of moving fast when an incident strikes a Jewish institution.”
He added: “All the candidates have developed a warm relationship with the Jewish community… We’re satisfied with the degree of understanding among all of them regarding our community’s security.”
The Fords and the Jews
The highest-profile, though arguably the least substantial, “Jewish” election matter was Ford’s invocation at the CIJA debate of his “Jewish doctor… Jewish dentist… Jewish lawyer… Jewish accountant,” and, several days later, of his maybe, possibly, Jewish wife (whose maternal grandparents were reportedly Jewish).
His bumbling on the subject, which was nearly drowned out by the audience’s booing, was a reaction to Goldkind’s accusation that Ford hadn’t sufficiently apologized for his brother’s past use of an anti-Semitic slur. Ford reiterated his disapproval of the slur and stressed his “family’s utmost respect for the Jewish community.”
Nelson Wiseman, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, spoke to The CJN about the Ford-Goldkind showdown several weeks after the debate, saying that Ford’s comments needn’t be taken too seriously and that the audience’s harsh reaction was unnecessary.
“[Ford] gave a clichéd response [at the debate], and the audience also gave a clichéd response by booing,” Wiseman said. “It would’ve been more effective to just let him talk and dig his own little grave there, if you see that as putting him in a grave.”
Wiseman added: “And really, if he’s an anti-Semite, would he have a Jewish dentist and doctor?”
Goldkind reiterated his frustration with the Ford brothers in a recent interview with The CJN, lamenting: “Nothing is a strike against the Fords. They seem impenetrable. People seem willing to provide a series of free passes to them, for a variety of reasons, and I’m not willing to provide that.”
Whether anyone in the Jewish community is putting serious stock in Doug Ford’s attempt at solidarity via stereotyping is debatable. As English noted, “We’ve never had a problem with Doug Ford’s attitude towards the community or to his relationship with it.”
Of course, Jewish constituents don’t, generally speaking, seem to be supporting Ford in large numbers.
“My feeling is the overwhelming majority of Jews didn’t vote for [Mayor] Rob Ford last time, and an even higher percentage won’t vote for Doug Ford this time,” Wiseman said.
“It has nothing to do with the ‘Jewish’ issue, or [Rob Ford’s] slur… but that Jews on the whole are a relatively well-off, highly educated group in Toronto… These are factors that [generally] seem to contribute to not voting for the Fords.”
Most Jews will likely vote for Tory, who’s farther right than Chow and more centrist than Ford, he said.
“Many Jews are small ‘l’ liberal in many ways, because of the talmudic tradition and concern with human values. But because of their socio-economic status, they tend to also have small ‘c’ conservative values, especially at the municipal level… Tory being a Conservative probably doesn’t hurt, either.”
Scrapping in the Ward 5 trustee race
A lesser-known “Jewish” election issue is the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee race in TDSB Ward 5, which encompasses the heavily Jewish municipal Ward 10 (York Centre), bordered by Steeles Avenue and the 401, Allen Road and Bathurst Street.
Of the seven candidates running for Ward 5 trustee, six are Jewish, including incumbent Howard Kaplan.
Candidate Tibor Martinek told The CJN that both Jewish and non-Jewish parents in the ward have complained that some of its schools are simply “below par,” that the elementary school in the Armour Heights neighbourhood is in drastic need of repair, and that kids from the ward have had to be bused to a middle school out of district.
“Kaplan didn’t work with them to try to find a solution,” Martinek said.
He also takes issue with Kaplan having barred access, several weeks before last year’s High Holidays, to a small synagogue congregation that had met for years in a portable at Rockford Public School.
“He closed it because he wants secularism in schools,” Martinek said. “He left the people high and dry.”
Kaplan addressed these critiques, telling The CJN: “Some of our schools are very crowded, so there isn’t room [for students who have to be bused out of district]… Until we’re able to expand our schools, either by getting more portables, adding modular units to the schools or adding to the schools themselves with brick and mortar, all of which are expensive… we have no option but to find space for these students.”
He said additional funds are needed from the Ministry of Education to deal with outstanding repairs in the district.
Regarding the synagogue controversy, Kaplan said the congregation had been using the portable for more than 30 years “without paying a single cent in rent,” and that, with the portable in bad shape, issues of liability were at play.
“In 2011, I tried to schedule a meeting [with the congregation leaders] to work out an arrangement and some kind of payment,” Kaplan said. “Nobody showed up… We later sent a letter to the congregation asking them to vacate by the end of May, and then extended it to end of June. Nothing happened, so we told them we’re closing it.”
He added: “[The shul] had more than 100 per cent subsidizing for 30 years. The least they could do is say thank you!”