Local News
The CJN (Canadian Jewish News) responds to accusations by Jewish National Fund Canada that it has been unfair in its reporting on JNF Canada’s problems with the CRA
Back in August we printed a story titled “A detailed look at the awful predicament in which JNF Canada now finds itself since the CRA revoked its charitable status.” A large part of that story was taken from reporting done by Ellin Bessner for the CJN (Canadian Jewish News). Since then we have been asked by Bessner to give the CJN’s side of the story.
At the time we printed that story, and even up until the CJN approached us on Nov. 22, jewishpostandnews.ca did not contact the CJN for comment on JNF Canada’s’ accusations about their reporting. We regret our own lack of journalistic standards and have since removed that story from our website.
On November 22, we received an email from The CJN’s Bessner. She had come across the article we had on our website and reached out to us.
Bessner insisted that JNF Canada’s claims about The CJN’s reporting on the CRA story are false. Bessner adds that JNF Canada’s claim that the CJN never asked them for their views is also not true..
Following is Ellin Besser’s view of what happened between JNF Canada and the CJN:
After their Aug. 10 revocation, The CJN contacted the JNF to ask for an interview. They agreed to talk to The CJN, but asked us to wait to do the interview until Aug. 16, a full six days after the CRA revoked their charitable status. We waited because we wanted to give JNF enough time to speak to us fully. Also, there was Tisha B’av on Monday Aug. 12 so JNF’s staff was not available.
As JNF well knows, and the public knows because we put it into our reporting, The CJN team of Bessner and Jonathan Rothman conducted an hour-long, videotaped interview with JNF CEO Lance Davis by ZOOM, on Aug. 16. We even made sure that Davis made his own audio recording of the interview on his personal phone.
While other news organizations were quick off the mark after Aug. 10 to publish a JNF revocation story, these other outlets did not conduct a full journalistic investigation, and published only JNF’s side.
While waiting for our interview, we continued our reporting. We knew that under the Income Tax Act’s privacy rules, the CRA never comments on cases while the audits and negotiations are underway. In fact, by law, the CRA cannot divulge anything about its audit process to the public, until after a charity is revoked. Then, the public can ask for the CRA’s internal documents concerning the reasons why a charity was revoked. So we asked.
On Aug. 15, the day before our scheduled JNF interview, the CRA released to us 358 pages of internal documents regarding its dealings with JNF, including some documents dating back to 1967, when JNF Canada was officially granted charitable status in Canada.
No other news outlet in the world received the documents at this time; The CJN was the first. Our team read all the 358 pages the night before our interview.
During our interview with Lance Davis the next day, we told him that we had the CRA’s documents. During the interview, we went through the issues which the CRA documents had raised.
It was obvious that Davis had prepared talking points for his interview, as we had sent him the questions in advance, which they had requested. He was reading off another computer screen. Davis answered all our questions, including a list of issues raised in the CRA documents.
These ranged from missing paperwork, lack of oversight and direction, why documents were not provided in English or French but in Hebrew, why they were not kept in Canada but in Israel, why in-house travel expenses were not receipted the way CRA needed, why the donations to JNF from Canada went not to buying trees at all, until 2017, but to paying labour costs for workers in Israel.
We went back and forth with the JNF team over the next ten days by email, as we fact-checked issues. They also acknowledged this. They answered our fact-checking questions. We told them when our stories would likely be coming out, and we told them there would be print stories and a podcast or two.
In the meantime, to get our story as complete as possible, we consulted with financial experts and charity experts, with JNF donors and with our lawyers.
It became apparent that JNF was extremely careful about who we spoke to, as we learned they had vetted what one of the donor interviewees told us: JNF’s p.r. person told me he had heard the raw tape of our interview shortly after we had hung up after we conducted it, but long before it was published.
Only after all CJN’s due diligence, which was a full sixteen days after JNF’s revocation, did we publish our series of stories.
On the evening of Aug. 26, we reported on the contents of the CRA allegations, linking to the CRA documents, and that same evening, we also released our podcast containing JNF’s Davis’ interview. We also ran a lengthy print story early the next morning, again quoting Davis extensively.
The following day we ran another podcast with some donors’ views, and more JNF arguments.
Here are all the stories and articles which The CJN has published on the CRA/JNF story. https://thecjn.ca/news/jnf-canada/
JNF has been spinning things to attack our reporting, because they assume few people actually took the time to read The CJN’s work.
JNF is saying it was “blindsided” by the CRA’s revocation. But the truth is, and the documents which CRA released (and later JNF released and JNF told us) show JNF has been secretive about its own legal communications with the CRA dating back to 1967, and through four subsequent CRA audits. They received an amnesty from the new Revenue Minister in the 1990s.
The fifth audit, started in 2014 and has been the source of the agency’s latest problem over the last 10 years.
Unlike the CRA, JNF was always able to publicly release their legal communications and letters back and forth with CRA. They did not do this back in 1989, when they were told they were not in compliance. They did not do so in August 2019, when they received the official Notice of Intention to Revoke, from when the clock to revocation started ticking. And they did not do so in June 2023, even after JNF received a letter saying the NITR notice was confirmed.
Even during our interview, JNF did not disclose it had its own documents that could better show the context of its challenges dealing with the CRA. JNF chose to release these only in September on their website. But they selectively released a document here and there to a “friendly” columnist for the National Post. These documents would have shown the fact that JNF’s detractors in the anti-Zionist advocacy world of Independent Jewish Voices, had their letter writing campaigns and media statements and briefing reports taken into consideration by CRA communications staff.
JNF also did not disclose on its website their annual audit documents for the years between 2018 and 2023, where the auditors’ reports stated the CRA had informed JNF it was going to lose its charitable status.
This is a lack of transparency on JNF’s part, thus hiding this knowledge from their donors, supporters, and the wider public. They also did not file these with the CRA, as they were legally required to do.
Only after our stories came out, did JNF upload the missing paperwork to its own website and posted on the CRA’s.
Two things can be true at the same time: JNF was facing compliance problems with CRA rules for years and hid this from its donors and the Canadian public and JNF acknowledged to us and to the CRA that it wanted to keep this issue quiet.
It is also possible that JNF was treated unfairly by the CRA, who may have been influenced by anti-Israel groups, or anti-Israel staff. The CRA denies this, but only time and Access to Information requests for Cabinet documents and internal CRA communications will tell.
During the pandemic, JNF had requested and obtained some documents from the CRA through access to information requests, showing internal reports that outline the media campaigns/internal pressure on the department from anti-JNF groups including Independent Jewish Voices, who wanted to have the charity shut down.
JNF could have released these important documents to the CJN and to the wider public immediately, but chose not to do so. We only found them on the JNF website, in September. And we reported on this, too.
Likely this will all be decided by the Federal Court of Appeal.
Local News
Here’s the kind of abuse that Jacob Brodovsky (and so many other Winnipeggers) have been receiving from someone by the name of Michael Kalo for years
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted May 3) There’s a particularly ugly side that often comes with being in the public eye – and that’s being on the receiving end of some of the most vile and awful comments, often threats – sometimes on social media, sometimes in emails, and sometimes on websites.
For years now many prominent Winnipeggers (almost all of them Jewish) have had to endure just that kind of vicious attack from someone by the name of Michael Kalo. But how do you fight back against someone who writes some of the most awful things – and then sends them out to various members of the media (including me), all the while hiding behind a series of aliases? There’s no point in suing him for defamation; he’s penniless. (The police have seized his computer in the past and are well aware of him, but the individuals whom he has defamed have always been reluctant to have the Crown press charges, thinking that it will only draw more attention to him – which is what he seems to want.)
But I’m different – and I’ve finally had enough of his crap.
I just received another email from Michael Kalo. This time I told him I was going to post his email and my response – but I was going to reveal his true name. (He sent the email under the name “Harvey Weinstein”.)
I’m also posting a video that was sent to me that shows Kalo engaging in an argument with someone (and the identity of that person was not revealed to me by the person who sent me the video.) In it you can hear Michael explain why he’s consistently called Ben Carr a “kike”, “a spoiled Jew boy,” along with some other choice epithets. (Kalo has sent out numerous emails defaming Ben Carr using the name “Mohammed Greenberg” as the sender.)
First, here’s the email in which Kalo goes after Jacob Brodovsky, who recently left his post as co-executive director of BB Camp following a storm of controversy (about which you can read elsewhere on this site):
Dear Bernie:
Jacob Brodovsky is a vile and entitled (self-hating) JEW BOY Bastard, who should keep his long nose away of the private affairs of a foreign sovereign and free country he knows nothing about.
We hear that him and his JAP wife Lexi are expecting a baby.
We respectfully believe that if a boy, they should name him Adolf, and that in a case of a girl, her name should be Eva.
In terms of these scums’ future employment, we suggest that they now look into finding, for a change, a real job.
Perhaps by moving to Gaza and starting a summer (training) camp for (young) terrorists.
Indeed, the BB Camp Board reached the right decision as to these two haters of Israel, the brave and only Jewish state.
Having said this, we wonder why the two were hired (and overpaid) at the first place, and more importantly why it took that long to finally terminate their positions.
We thank you for your ongoing attention to this matter, in our view second only to the scandal of (former Mayor) Sam Katz stealing millions of dollars from the City’s hard working taxpayers and its Police force without, to this day, facing any consequences (other than having to move from Tuxedo to Headingly…lol).
Go (IDF’s) Jets Go!
Harvey W.
And here’s how I responded to Kalo:
You know what I’m going to do Michael. I’m going to print your letter on my website – but I’m going to say that it was sent by someone named Michael Kalo, who has been defaming various Winnipeg Jews for years. That way it will have the opposite effect of what you’re intending. I’m also going to post the video in which you call Ben Carr (and the person filming the video) a kike.) And if you want to come after me the way you’ve been going after anyone and everyone who provokes your ire, go right ahead. (You seem to have a real hate on for successful Winnipeg Jews. Is it because you’re such a failure in life yourself?) And I’m going to bcc this email to some of the people you’ve been defaming so that they can see how much of a fool you”ve been making of yourself for years.
-Bernie
And here’s the video of Michael (who is apparently walking away with a Ben Carr sign tucked under his arm):
Local News
Rabbi Matthew Leibl’s Friday afternoon service at Simkin Centre has grown in popularity
By BERNIE BELLAN In November 2023 I published a story in The Jewish Post & News about the first-ever Friday afternoon “Erev Shabbat” service at the Simkin Centre, which was held October 27, 2023.
It was an opportunity for me to see how much of an impact the newly spiritual care aide at the Simkin Centre, Rabbi Matthew Leibl, was having on residents. But that was in 2023 – only 2 years after the Simkin Centre had emerged from the most harrowing period in its history.
As you may recall, when Covid 19 began to spread in early 2020, it was personal care homes across Canada that were hit hardest – and the Simkin Centre was not spared the ravages of Covid. A total of 11 residents passed away at the Centre in 2020 and 2021.
Another result of the Covid epidemic was that the number of non-Jewish residents at the Simkin Centre jumped by quite a large number during the epidemic. Here are some figures showing how many more non-Jewish residents moved into the home by 2021 than had been there previously:
2017 – 67 non-Jewish or 33.5%
2018 – 63 non-Jewish or 31.5%
2019 – 71 non-Jewish or 35.5%
2020 – 61 non-Jewish or 30.5%
2021 – 86 non-Jewish or 43.0%
According to Laurie Cerqueti, CEO at the Simkin Centre, as of May 2, 2025, 44% of the residents are non-Jewish while 56% are Jewish.
Rabbi Leibl had been hired in the spring of 2023. His hiring was enabled by a grant from the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. Here is how the Foundation explained what its purpose was in making a grant to the Simkin Centre for the hiring of a full-time spiritual care aide:
“I know how important spiritual care is in our type of setting,” said Laurie Cerqueti, Simkin Centre CEO. “For our residents, our families, and our community.”
Since she took over the CEO role, Laurie’s thoughts had been directed to ‘How can we serve our people even more than we are now? How can we make this bigger and better?’
This sparked the idea that someone should be brought in to look at what they were doing regarding spiritual care to see where gaps and opportunities lay to develop the program.
The Simkin Centre hired Rabbi Matthew Leibl as the person to fill the role, someone Cerqueti thought would be a perfect fit f for what they’were hoping to do.
“As I spoke with Matthew about this opportunity, we see it as an opportunity to make a significant difference for the residents and their families,” said Cerqueti.
This interaction with the Simkin Centre is not Rabbi Leibl’s first. He has been involved with the Simkin Centre for over 15 years, first working there at age 21. That year, he did concerts three times per week for the residents.
“I found that the music and performing was an incredible way to connect with the people there,” said Rabbi Leibl.
He recalled a story from that time frame where he was performing Oseh Shalom, and one resident who had been, to that point, without her memory and less present, began to mouth the words along with him. The song helped her break through what she had been dealing with.
“That moment was truly a game changer for me. I’m so excited to be able to give back to a place that helped people in my own family and was a great place for me while I was figuring out my way many years ago,” said Rabbi Leibl.
“Simkin is such a special place, and what they’re doing there is awesome.”
In the year and a half since I was present at Rabbi Leibl’s first ever Friday afternoon service at the Simkin Centre much has changed. Most of the new residents who have moved into the centre have, once again, been Jewish. But, in recognition of how many residents are not Jewish the centre has begun offering services for different denominations as well. The May calendar of events lists a Catholic Mass, an Anglican service, a Christian Bible Study, and a Hymnsing.
But it was Rabbi Leibl’s Erev Shabbat service I was interested in seeing again – some 18 months after the first service he had conducted, to see whether it had changed – and how many residents came to watch.
The atrium of the centre was filled with residents on Friday, April 26 – quite a few more than that October 2023 service. The increased number of attendees was also a reflection of how many more of the centre’s residents, once again, are Jewish. (In case you weren’t aware, if there’s a vacant unit at the Simkin Centre and someone who is Jewish is on the wait list to gain admission into the centre, that individual will be given first crack at moving into the centre. I had been told by Laurie Cerqueti that the 14 most recent new residents in the centre were all Jewish.)
There was one other aspect to Rabbi Leibl’s service which was brought to my attention. One of the residents at the Simkin Centre, Carol Manishen, also has a son living in a Shalom Residence: Josh Manishen. When Carol’s husband, Wayne, saw me at that Friday service he told me that he often comes early with Josh – before the start of the regular service at 4:00 pm, and Josh sings various Hebrew prayers, accompanied by Rabbi Leibl on the keyboard. To watch a video of Josh singing, click here:
Two more things to add though: First, Rabbi Leibl is now a regular participant on a podcast that is put on by CJN (what used to be known as the Canadian Jewish News) called “Not In Heaven.” You can find it simply by Googling CJN and scrolling down under the Podcasts link.
Also, since Rabbi Leibl and I go a long way back – and we both have a fond taste for sarcasm, he singled me out from among the audience and said to everyone there: “We’ve even got a reporter from the Jewish Post here.”
I couldn’t help but respond – in my usual facetious manner, that I was there to do an exposé.
To which, Rabbi Leibl retorted: “You can call it “Sex, Drugs, and Candlesticks.” Hmm, I wonder how much more there is about the Simkin Centre that I haven’t learned yet?
Local News
Well, that didn’t take long…BB Camp Board announces hiring of two new co-directors
(Posted April 27) In a span of a little more than two weeks, BB Camp has gone from parting ways with one of its co-executive directors, Jacob Brodovsky, to the hiring of two new co-directors. (We have been attempting to ascertain the status of Lexi Yurman, who was also camp co-executive director with Jacob – who also happened to be her husband, and who is now on maternity leave. Would she be entitled to return as co-executive director once her maternity leave is up, we wonder?)
The BB Camp board released a press release announcing the new hires at 12:42 pm today. Interestingly, there is no mention whether the positions that are to be filled by the two individuals, Sarah Gould and Aliza Millo, are to be permanent or temporary. Also, the two women are referred to as co-camp directors, not co-executive directors. Is there any significance to that, we wonder? Since no one from the BB Camp board has responded to any questions we have posed to them since this whole mess began, we won’t hold our breath waiting for answers to any of the questions we’ve just asked here either.
Here is the complete text of the BB Camp board announcement:
Dear BB Camp Community,
On behalf of the Board, we wanted to let you know that we acknowledge that the last week has caused much stress and uncertainty. We have felt it too and have been working very hard to ensure that the summer season unfolds as we all expect.
We are extremely excited to share with you that our 2025 summer senior Camp leadership team is now in place!
Please give a BB Camp W-E-L-C-O-M-E to Sarah Gould and Aliza Millo!
Sarah Gould: co-Camp Director (Wilderness and Operations)
Sarah is returning to BB Camp as co-Camp Director (Wilderness and Operations). Sarah’s history with BB Camp stretches back decades. She spent many formative summers on Town Island—as a camper, counselor, canoe instructor, and AC out-tripper. After BB, she took her skills to Camp Hatikvah in BC, where she helped develop and expand their wilderness and out-tripping program. Sarah has an intimate knowledge of wilderness programming, the importance of integrating Jewish values into outdoor education, and as camp alumni and a current camp parent, has a clear understanding of our community’s interests and hopes for BB Camp’s future.
Sarah has been fortunate to spend every summer of her life at Lake of the Woods. Her family cottage is on Channel Island, directly across from Town Island. She has strong ties to our Lake of the Woods neighbours and an ability to navigate the lake and Kenora. Sarah also was a key volunteer on the Friends of Town Island campaign, through which Camp was able to successfully partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to have Town Island designated as a protected area—ensuring its legacy for generations to come.
Professionally, Sarah has years of experience in education, research, and community organizing. She taught anthropology and international development at Trent and the University of Toronto and now works as a researcher and consultant in health studies. In her community life, she leads a neighborhood organization in Toronto, where she has spearheaded grassroots initiatives—from building a skating rink to coordinating with city officials and local stakeholders on community improvement projects. Sarah is also active in the Jewish community, including advocacy for Israel and supporting students facing antisemitism on campus.
Sarah is excited to be returning to Town Island and the BB Camp family for an amazing summer of 2025.
Aliza Millo: co-Camp Director (Programs)
Aliza’s history with BB Camp dates back decades as well. She spent many years at Camp as a camper, counselor, section head, and LTP Coordinator. After Camp, Aliza pursued a career she felt was most adjacent to working at Camp and transitioned into the classroom. She moved to Toronto to pursue her education degree, where she also completed a Jewish Education Certificate at York University.
For the next seven years, Aliza taught at the Toronto Heschel School, a school dedicated to tikkun olam and social justice, with a particular focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability. While there, Aliza taught grades three through seven, with a greater focus on the upper elementary years, teaching Judaics, Hebrew, and General Studies in a pluralistic, integrated setting.
After 10 years in Toronto, Aliza was happy to move back home to Winnipeg. Aliza met her future husband David Azuelos at BB Camp many years ago; to get a sense of how important BB Camp is to Aliza, she had her wedding on Town Island. Since her return to Winnipeg, Aliza has worked at St. John’s-Ravenscourt School, teaching Grade 4, cultivating an environmental leadership team at the Junior School level, and even bringing groups of Grade 4 and 5 students to Town Island for Outdoor Ed. Aliza has also helped organize and fundraise for Kendra’s Walk, a student-led initiative at SJR supporting teens living with cancer.
Aliza’s true passion lies in building community, whether in the classroom or at Camp. Since her time as a camper, she has enjoyed returning to the island for Work Weekend, volunteering in the kitchen, and serving on the Alumni Committee ahead of the 70th Alumni Weekend. She is most passionate when working with children and believes in strong communication with parents to build meaningful and supportive relationships. Having worked in a kindergarten to Grade 12 school setting, she has enjoyed maintaining lifelong relationships with students and families in the community.
Aliza is excited to be bringing her two boys, Judah and Dubie, to Camp. She is thrilled to be returning in this position — working with and mentoring the already incredible staff, and helping to foster deep and meaningful connections to Jewish values, traditions, and culture. Aliza looks forward to helping build a strong, nurturing community where every camper feels a sense of comfort, belonging, and pride in who they are — and in being a BB Camp camper.
***
The Camp Board of Directors is grateful that Sarah and Aliza, two lifelong BB Campers who together have an exceptional skill set, will be leading our community’s beloved Camp this summer. We are looking forward to another great Camp summer, full of amazing Camp memories. We will be reaching out directly to Camp families with more information. Please bear with us as our new leadership team gets up to speed and starts working with our current staff. Reach us at info@bbcamp.ca
Ed.note: Here’s a comment we received through our “contact us” link: (Readers of this website should be aware that it is run independently of The Jewish Post newspaper. I will forward any comments sent to me that are meant to be letters to the editor of the paper, but the proper email address for the paper is contact@thejewishpost.ca)
Letter to the Editor re BB Camp
I am a former member of the Board of BB Camp and served as Board Chair for a number of years. I am disgusted in the manner in which the current Board responded to to the public assassination of its Executive Director by dishonest Israeli extremists in our community. I am equally disgusted that what should have been a private internal human resource issue at the Camp was made public by the Board through its e-mails to the community which essentially made it impossible for the Executive Director to continue in his position and which likely tarnished his reputation. All I can say that is that I hope Jacob received a large monetary settlement from BB Camp.
-Irwin Corobow