Time for Canadian Jewish Congress brand to be revived

By Jack Silverstone and Mike Cohen

Had it not been dissolved in 2011, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) would have celebrated its 100th anniversary last year as an organization recognized and respected worldwide for its strong and successful advocacy role.

At a time when acts of intolerance in an unstable world seem only to grow worse, we believe there is an important role for a body like CJC. While existing Jewish organizations serve the community well, none can truly present itself as being democratically elected.

Delegates to the first CJC Plenary in Montreal in 1919.

CJC stood out from the time of its founding in Montreal in 1919 for exactly that. Its officers were not appointed, but rather elected. Triennial plenary assemblies allowed for members of the Jewish community from coast to coast to register as delegates and vote for representatives as well as on policy matters. Their work was vital. As historian and former CJC national president Professor Irving Abella stated in Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper: “On March 16, 1919, 209 Canadian Jews gathered in the Monument National Theatre in Montreal to take part in the founding of the Canadian Jewish Congress. This was, at the time, a country of quotas, restrictions and boycotts. It was and would, for most of the next 50 years, remain a nation blanketed by a stifling and seemingly impenetrable antisemitism and xenophobia.”

The so-called “Parliament of Canadian Jewry” had a unique structure that provided for Canada-wide representation. Delegates from national, regional and local Jewish organizations as well as synagogues and service clubs from across the country were able to have meaningful input into national and regional policy through regular local meetings, regional conferences and annual consultations culminating in a plenary assembly every three years. Although this was a complex process, especially at the national level, given the vast size of the country, it provided for a truly valuable mechanism for discussion and policy-making on critical issues. With the advent of online meetings, it is easy to surmise that a continued CJC would have been able not only to maintain but also to expand its grassroots consultative role in the finest democratic tradition.

Largely for this reason, as well as for the excellence and professionalism of CJC’s representations, the doors of government officials of all political stripes—federally, provincially and across the world—opened widely for CJC delegations. The same was true for diplomatic missions and international organizations.

After its founding, CJC functioned for only about a year, during which time its major accomplishment was creating the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society before a lack of funding and administrative resources caused CJC to pause operations. As former CJC Ontario Region Chair Frank Bialystok explained in an article that appeared in the now defunct Canadian Jewish News, “Congress was reconstituted in 1934, at which point what are now local Jewish federations had already come to the fore.” He added that the period between 1967 and 2000 was characterized by competitiveness and overlapping mandates among Jewish organizations in Canada.

CJC was constantly in the news with its proactive approach when it came to denouncing and combating antisemitism, racism and Holocaust denial, ensuring that Nazi war criminals in our midst were brought to justice, standing up for Israel, and reaching out to small Jewish communities scattered throughout the country. For decades CJC spearheaded advocacy for Jews who desperately needed help in the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Syria and elsewhere.

At the same time, CJC was very much a human-rights organization. This was perhaps best exemplified in its legal interventions in significant court proceedings and commissions of inquiry. In more than thirty major cases, the organization was able to assemble top legal talent from across most regions of the country to participate on its behalf.

CJC intervened in legal matters where the interests of the Jewish community and of all those in a free and democratic Canadian society were at issue. Participation by CJC in cases that might not at first glance have appeared to bear a direct link to its constituency exemplifies the power and importance of outside party intervention and the value of solidarity among all Canadians in upholding the laws and principles upon which a just society is built. CJC’s broad-minded approach resulted in the development of a solid and diverse history of participation in the Canadian judicial arena. CJC successfully utilized the role of intervenor to advance the interests of minorities for the ultimate benefit of all Canadians. Without the leadership and active participation of intervenors such as CJC, Canadian law and indeed Canadian society would not be what they are today.

As Professor Abella noted: “It began as an organization for Canadian Jews, but soon after its founding became an organization for all Canadians who needed its help. Throughout its history, the congress was in the forefront of epic battles for human rights, equality, immigration reform and civility in this country. It stood arm in arm with Indigenous peoples in Canada fighting for their rights and dignity, with Canadian Sikhs demanding their right to wear turbans at their jobs and in Legion halls, and with a host of minority groups making their way in Canada. To each of them, the CJC has been a mentor, sharing its expertise and experience.”

Today we believe that the name and, even more importantly, the mission of the Canadian Jewish Congress are missed. The void of its departure from the Canadian scene has not been filled. Over a century after its founding and a decade after its demise, perhaps the time has come to reconstitute this exceptional organization.

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Jack Silverstone served as national executive director and general counsel and then as executive vice-president of CJC from 1985 to 2003. Mike Cohen was CJC’s national director of communications from 1988 to 1999.