Local News
The Jewish National Fund is taking the federal government to court after its charitable status is revoked
By JONATHAN ROTHMAN (Canadian Jewish News) The Jewish National Fund of Canada is taking the federal minister of national revenue to court over Canada Revenue Agency’s decision to revoke its status as a charitable organization.
The federal tax agency’s review of JNF’s funding activities followed reports that it was funding projects in Israel related to the military, which would violate Canada’s rules for charitable organizations.
JNF’s court filing says it will contest CRA’s “wrong and unjustified decision to revoke our charitable status,” according to a letter from JNF’s board president Nathan Disenhouse and CEO Lance Davis posted online July 25.
The organization says that while the matter is before the courts, JNF’s charitable work will continue, “including collecting donations and issuing charitable receipts.”
The CJN made multiple requests for an interview to JNF, including to Davis specifically. While JNF did not grant an interview, the organization provided an emailed response to The CJN’s questions about the matter.
“The CRA has only signaled its intention to revoke, and its policy is to revoke only after the charity’s avenues of appeal are exhausted. So, it is the status quo until there is a court ruling. In the interim, we remain open to working with the CRA on alternate courses of action,” JNF told The CJN.
In its federal court appeal notice, JNF also posits there is a “reasonable apprehension of bias in the decision,” saying Canada’s revenue minister “was under great public pressure to revoke [JNF’s] registered charity status.”
JNF maintains the core issue for the revocation remains “the CRA’s assertion that our original founding charitable object that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a charitable object.”
Media reports about JNF’s struggles with the CRA since the July 24 court filing have inaccurately referenced past projects, conflating two different matters, Disenhouse and Davis wrote in an email to Canadian supporters on July 30. JNF sought to “clear up a misconception” it said had been “advanced in numerous articles recently published about JNF Canada,” they wrote in the July 30 email.
“The articles conflated the matter of JNF’s community projects on IDF bases and our recent notice of confirmation to revoke our charitable status. In the June 26, 2024 correspondence from CRA, there was not one mention of the projects on IDF property.”
Some of the previous projects, critics of JNF alleged over the past decade or so, had taken place on land that crossed into the West Bank, or involved infrastructure supporting the military, like building playgrounds on a military base. (One of its fiercest critics, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), a Canadian Jewish group which supports the boycott and sanctions movement against Israel, has been involved for more than a decade in the attempt to have CRA revoke JNF’s charitable status.)
“The fundamental issue was with respect to our charitable purpose. It was very unfortunate that certain journalists shared content from articles about JNF Canada from many years ago that was not referenced in CRA’s recent correspondence,” Disenhouse and Davis wrote to supporters.
In the late 1960s, the minister of national revenue approved the organization’s purposes and activities, and so “we did not know that there was an issue with our purposes or activities because previous CRA audits did not reveal an issue,” JNF wrote to The CJN in a response to emailed questions.
The organization has been audited five times by the CRA since it began in the 1960s, with the most recent audit in 2014. As a result of that audit, which was based on work done in 2011 and 2012, JNF learned in 2019 that the CRA intended to revoke its charitable status.
JNF said that since the original notice of intent to revoke was issued in 2019, the CRA has been unwilling to meet in person with them.
JNF points out that, according to CRA’s website, they revoked three to five percent of charities audited, “and a large number of them are for failing to file their annual documentation with the CRA. It is evident, based on the statistics, that it is only in rare occurrences is a charity revoked.”
JNF’s email went on to explain that CRA had refused to pursue options other than revocation of its charitable status.
“There are a number of options available to the CRA aside from revocation and we do not understand why they would pursue the most punitive course of action,” JNF wrote.
JNF said CRA had not taken the steps that are outlined on its website, including “exploring compliance measures such as education letters, compliance agreements and sanctions before revoking an organization’s charitable status.”
“The CRA not only skipped steps one to three, it also refused to entertain our suggestions of new objects for our charity or to discuss a compliance agreement,” wrote JNF in the email, adding that CRA representatives “refused to sit down with us at any point in the 10 years of this audit, except for one meeting a few months ago when two representatives of the appeals division granted us an hour and arrived at the meeting with no agenda and no questions for us.”
Bias in the audit, JNF claims
JNF said its appeal filing argues that “there is a reasonable apprehension of bias in the audit.”
An access to information request made it evident “that there was a campaign of anti-Israel organizations, unions, political parties, etc. calling upon the CRA to revoke JNF’s charitable status.
“We have written to the CRA with our concerns that this content may have biased the audit process. CRA replied in writing that there was no bias in the audit.
“This evidence of bias comes from the CRA’s own records, which show that the public pressure on the CRA and the minister to revoke JNF’s status was an important consideration within the chain of authority at the Charities Directorate,” the charity told The CJN.
JNF clarified its position regarding potential CRA bias.
“To be clear, we are not suggesting the CRA is antisemitic,” JNF wrote.
“As a Zionist-inspired organization, however, JNF Canada has many vociferous antisemitic detractors who we believe have influenced the decision-making process in this matter. “
The work done by JNF
Established in 1967, JNF, one of Canada’s oldest Jewish charities, is known for its tree-planting and environmental work in Israel, along with building playgrounds for children. Its more recent projects include JNF Quebec division’s Climate Solutions Prize, which encourages the development of innovative technology addressing climate change by nonprofit institutions and early-stage companies.
However, some of JNF’s projects, which its critics allege support the Israeli military or are on land in the West Bank, have made it the focus of scrutiny by Canadian critics of Israel. Adding to that scrutiny, former prime minister Stephen Harper—criticized by some for his pro-Israel stance–was a visible JNF supporter during his years in office, and JNF named the visitor centre at its Hula Valley bird sanctuary in Israel which opened in 2006 for Harper,
In its email to The CJN, the charity says that it has “systematically and comprehensively addressed” the issues raised in CRA’s 2014 audit.
“Although we do not concede that building parks and playgrounds on IDF land is a violation of charity law, we are no longer are involved with projects on IDF land or any projects that may in any roundabout way benefit the IDF.
“While JNF Canada disagrees that it is contrary to Canadian foreign policy to develop projects on disputed territory (there are dozens of Canadian charities that operate in the disputed territories with CRA’s blessing), we have not supported new projects in the disputed territories since this matter was brought to our attention.”
JNF said that it has an Israeli lawyer review issues of land ownership before undertaking a project “so that we can be certain that we are not doing anything in violation of CRA policies,” and that it had hired a new chief financial officer “who has worked closely with our legal counsel to enhance our record keeping.”
On its website, JNF says its mission currently is “focusing our efforts on the greatest needs in social and environmental infrastructure.”
“We will continue to raise funds in support of building Israel’s charitable social infrastructure to the benefit of vulnerable populations such as youth-at-risk, victims of domestic abuse, children with special needs, veterans and the disadvantaged” while the court appeal proceeds, JNF wrote.
“JNF Canada’s projects benefit all residents of Israel regardless of their religion, ethnicity, creed, [or] orientation.”
Years of anti-Zionist activism led to this moment
The current legal challenge follows years of scrutiny from opponents of the organization, including but not limited to IJV.
IJV’s national coordinator, Corey Balsam, who trumpeted the victory on social media, said the decision came after years of the group’s work on this file, though he noted JNF’s court appeal notice.
“Can’t believe it happened! IJV started working on this 15 years ago, building on decades of work by Ismail Zayid and others,” posted Balsam, referring to one of the four individuals IJV had helped to organize the campaign to have JNF’s charitable status probed and removed over JNF’s Canada Park project.
In 2017, IJV filed a complaint against JNF with federal authorities, alleging that the charity’s activities contravened the Income Tax Act, international law and CRA guidelines.
Then, in a highly critical CBC News article in January 2019, reporter Evan Dyer wrote that JNF had been the subject of the CRA audit over a complaint that it used charitable donations to build infrastructure for the Israel Defense Forces “in violation of Canada’s tax rules.” (JNF maintains that its last CRA audit was in 2014, though conflicting reports reference an audit in 2018. The notice of intent to revoke JNF’s status by CRA is dated August 20, 2019.)
JNF pushed back on the allegations that JNF Canada and its Israeli parent organization, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF), were supporting projects at several military bases, including outdoor fitness areas, developing a new training base, upgrading an existing auditorium for solider intake and new mess hall facilities at two air force bases.
JNF Canada says it stopped funding those projects in 2016 following CRA guidance and told Dyer for that report that JNF operates within CRA rules concerning the organization’s charitable status.
JNF’s CEO, Lance Davis, said at the time the projects were carried out on land owned by the IDF, but that JNF Canada’s charitable funds never flowed to the IDF.
Davis told The CJN in 2019 that with regards to projects “in disputed territory,” JNF is committed to continuing to work with the CRA “to ensure we are in full compliance,” and referred to a 2015 opinion piece in The CJN written by Alan Baker, Israel’s former ambassador to Canada, which argued that the land on which Canada Park sits was “never part of any Palestinian state or entity.”
In 2021, JNF Canada announced it had distanced itself from KKL-JNF which is “an Israeli public benefit corporation.”
“KKL serves as an agent to JNF Canada on a number of our charitable projects. This means that KKL works for JNF Canada in realizing projects that our board selects and agrees to fund. There is a long history between our organizations and we proudly collaborate with KKL on a variety of projects that advance Zionist education and enhancing the environment as well as the quality of life for the people of Israel,” JNF wrote in its email to The CJN.
“There was confusion with respect to the relationship between the two organizations so we rebranded to clarify that we are an independent Canadian charity.”
What the CRA has to say
A spokesperson for CRA declined The CJN’s request for an in-person interview, instead offering written responses to questions.
Addressing JNF’s allegations of anti-Israel sentiment within the CRA’s ranks influencing the charitable status revocation decision, CRA spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova told The CJN via email that the agency is “committed to administering acts for which it is responsible in a fair and impartial manner.”
“The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process,” she wrote.
“Additionally, the CRA has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the tax system and the charitable sector and fulfills this responsibility through a balanced program of education, client service, and responsible enforcement, including audits.”
Citing confidentiality provisions under the laws it administers, CRA declined to comment on specific details of court cases.
The website Charity Intelligence Canada currently lists JNF Canada at a one-star rated charity. “JNF Canada is not financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested,” the website reported.
Its last audited financial statements in 2022, show that JNF received $13.2 million in donations and spent $6.2 million on programs and grants, according to the Charity Intelligence page. JNF Canada’s reserve funds are $30.8 million, the website reports.
“JNF Canada works in Israel and Canada. Its programs in Israel focus on funding social and environmental infrastructure, while its Canadian projects focus on outreach and education in Jewish communities,” the Charity Intelligence page reads.
The website lists the charity’s five core programs as Builders Circle, Climate Solutions Prize, JNF Education, JNF Families, and JNF Future, but notes that JNF “does not provide a breakdown of spending by program.”
As of July 26, Charity Intelligence Canada has updated its JNF page with the following information:
“After nearly [five] years of review and exchanges with JNF Canada, the CRA Charities Directorate announced its decision to revoke its charity status. This would mean that support for JNF Canada no longer receives donation tax receipts. JNF Canada is appealing this decision claiming that the CRA Charities Directorate’s decision is wrong and unjustified.”
Local News
Quick action by archivist Ava Garfinkel saves Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada archives from disaster
By MYRON LOVE The downpour that struck our city on Tuesday, June 9, left a trail of basement flooding and other damage in its wake. As reported elsewhere in this issue of the Post, Temple Shalom, our community’s Reform Congregation, has been forced to relocate its services to other venues because of water damage that has made its building unusable for the foreseeable future.
Another of our institutions that was affected by the storm is the Asper Jewish Community Campus – and specifically the lower level, where the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada stores a good portion of its archives. It was the quick action of archivist Ava Garfinkel and her brother, Max, as well as a number of volunteers in the following days – and the miracle of modern technology – that saved those archives from destruction.
“This was a potentially devastating and irreversible crisis,” notes Belle Jarniewski, the JHCWC’s executive director. “Thanks to the quick and diligent work of our staff and a team of kind volunteers, we were able to implement an emergency disaster plan, separate the affected material and move the damp archives to a frozen storage facility within 48 hours. These crucial actions successfully saved the archive, avoiding any mold growth that would have spread throughout the entire collection at a rapid pace, eventually destroying even the parts of our collection that were left untouched by the flood.”
Jarniewski reports that Garfinkel reached out to conservators across Canada for help. The frozen materials have now been transferred to an out-of-province facility where they will be vacuum freeze-dried in a restoration process overseen by a conservator.
“Our dry and unaffected archives and artifacts were also quickly removed from the basement and brought upstairs to be stored in several places around the Campus,” Jarniewski says. “The directors of the Gray Academy and the Asper Community Campus were kind enough to offer us the space we required to temporarily store our collections.
“The JHC Archive,” she points out, “preserves the precious history and physical memory of our community, also that of the communities across Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario whose histories have been entrusted to us. It dates back to the late 1800s. Information about the delicate, old, and irreplaceable items is frequently accessed by students, researchers, educators, genealogists, and community members. Simply put, the archive constitutes the very heart and memory of our community.”
Jarniewski recounts that when the Campus first opened almost 30 year ago, several rooms on the first floor were specifically designed with climate control suitable for an archive or museum. But, as different community needs arose, the archives were moved out of the specialized spaces and into the basement.
“With space at a premium in the building, we have had to do our best with the cards we were dealt,” she says.
For security and other reasons, Jarniewski points out, moving the JHCWC archive out of the Asper Campus has never been a viable option. “Our museum, our offices, and the other half of our archive are all firmly situated in this building on the main floor,” she notes. “We work within our basement archive daily and we rely on the safety that the security within the Asper Campus affords us.”
To prevent this kind of near disaster again, she added, the lower level storage area has to be renovated for safety while maintaining the standards of practices for long-term preservation. “We have already put a plan into motion for more effective humidity control and the sealing of the room,” Jarniewski reports.
“All of our textual records must be placed in specialized archival enclosures, our artifacts must be re-boxed/wrapped according to their individual preservation needs, and we must purchase adequate shelving that will keep our collections away from the ground and the walls while allowing for effective air circulation. These protective measures will be costly, requiring specialized materials, but they are necessary.”
The overall estimated budget for this project, Jarniewski says, is approximately $100,000. So far, she reports, the JHCWC has received a quarter of that amount through donations..
She expresses the hope that Post readers will consider donating to this essential project so that the JHCWC can continue protecting the priceless history of Western Canadian Jewry for generations to come. A tax receipt will be provided to all donors.
“With the funding in place, we should be able to have everything in place in less than six months,” Jarniewski says.
Readers who may want to consider donating to the JHCWC in support of this vital project can either phone 204 478-8590 or go online to jewishheritage@jhcwc.org. Donations can also be made online though Canada Helps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/jewish-heritage-centre-of-western-canada-inc/
Local News
A response to Isha Khan’s op-ed in the August 1st, 2026 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press
By SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Ed. note: Isha Khan is the CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the August 1st issue of the Winnipeg Free Press Ms. Khan wrote an op-ed defending the museum’s decision to mount the exhibit titled “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present.” The Free Press has published many letters about the exhibit, but some readers of that paper are frustrated that their letters were not published. We were asked by Simone Cohen Scott whether we would print a letter that she had sent to the Free Press, but which was not published.
Since there is always room on this website to publish as many articles as we’d like, we agreed to publish Simone’s letter, which follows here:
Isha Khan states in her op-ed piece that the choices of what to exhibit, what to examine, what to feature, were made according to certain parameters, which she called a “framework.” What, specifically, comprised this so-called framework? It is obviously exclusive of elements relative to the history of the period displayed. She said the purpose of the exhibit was….”to promote reflection and dialogue.” Reflection and dialogue about what? Did the Arabs who left the area know that the United Nations had offered them a state too? If they had known, would they have wanted to accept? If, given the choice, would they have stayed and lived beside the Jews? Or, did they indeed, want five Arab nations to attack the Jews? Such questions as these would have promoted “reflection and dialogue.”
What is the understanding implicit in the exhibit? Khan quotes from a banner that hangs in the museum: Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Should the Jews have rights? If so, what should they be? May they have a state? When a people is attacked by 5 nations, as Israel was in 1948, wherein lie the human rights?
Why did Khan’s advisors choose to use the word Nakba in the exhibit title? The original use of the Arab word ‘nakba’, meaning disaster, was intended to depict, that in spite of being assured by the Arab/Islamic leaders that it would be a quick war and that they would win, that did not happen. The word disaster was meant to mean the shock and the disappointment. The real disaster, or tragedy, ‘Nakba’ if you will, is that the Arab/Islamic countries in the world, (and there are plenty of them), have refused to welcome refugees of a war their own leaders chose to start. They have allowed these displaced persons to stagnate in UNRWA, an industry in itself. Where are the stories of the people in UNRWA housing? Another group it would have been enlightening to hear from is today’s Israeli Arab population – the doctors, dentists, nurses, lawyers, judges, entrepreneurs, business moguls and more, the descendants of those who stayed in the country in 1948, who had and whose offspring have had the same opportunities as every Israeli citizen. There is much easily accessible research that has been neglected in the preparation of this exhibit. This blatant lack of effort is shameful.
Kahn explained, when asked, that the context of the conflict of the time is too complex to have been included. Is she saying that people who go to museums can’t handle broad, multi-faceted ideas… that she deliberately designed a walk-though soundbite, not a process for mind-expanding grasp of history?
Simone Cohen Scott,
(sent to the Free Press August 13th, 2026)
Post script from Bernie Bellan: This website has never refused to carry any post that may be critical of the CMHR, despite what some readers of this website might think. We do allow comments to articles, but anyone commenting through our “Comment” portal has to register by giving their name and email address so that we can confirm they are a real person. In addition, we welcome longer contributions from readers. Many of the posts you will find on this website come from regular contributors, such as Henry Srebrnik. If you have something you’d like us to consider publishing – and the only criteria are that it be reasonably well written and void of slanderous remarks, email to us at jewishp@mymts.net.
Local News
Young Winnipegger Dr. Yale Michaels receives $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society research grant
By MYRON LOVE It has been shown on many occasions that a teacher can have an outsized role in shaping a young person’s life. Dr. Yale Michaels’ life story is one example.
During a recent interview with the young cancer researcher – the son of John Michaels and Karen Stern – Yale recounted how a Grade 7 teacher at Grant Park High School was largely responsible for his decision to pursue a medical career in medicine.
The young Michaels attended Brock Corydon Elementary School and was a long time Massad camper. In junior high school at Grant Park, however, he recounts, “I was having a tough time staying on task. Thankfully, my Grade 7 science teacher suggested that I might find it interesting volunteering to help in a cancer research lab. He had a contact and got me in. I loved it. It was a good fit for me. I never looked back.”
Michaels (whose zaida, Leon Michaels, was a leading cardiologist here) spent much of his free time during his high school years volunteering in the lab. After graduation, he enrolled in Harvard –with help from the university’s financial aid program – where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. He followed that up with a Ph.D. from Oxford in 2019, followed by three years as a post-doctoral Fellow – before returning to Winnipeg in 2023 to work at Cancer Care Manitoba, as well as teach at the University of Manitoba.
“I enjoyed my time both at Harvard and Oxford,” he says. “What made England even more enjoyable is that Yale has family there. His grandparents – Leon and Joan Michaels – were born and raised in London and Yale’s time there overlapped for a few months with his brother Jamie (about whom there was a story in a July issue of the Post), who earned his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing at the University of London.
This past June, the young researcher learned that he was to be the recipient of a $550,000 Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar Research Grant, covering five years of research.
Michaels’ field of research focuses on new ways of combating blood cancers – specifically in the new area of immunotherapy. He is being aided in his research by lab tech Dana Segal and graduate student Serena Dembowksi.
Michaels adds that he is collaborating with a number of other researchers from Winnipeg – and throughout Canada, including Drs. Harinad Maganti, David Szwajcer, Jody Haigh, Versha Banerji, and David Knapp.
Using the patient’s own immune cells – specifically CAR T cells -to treat blood cancers was first approved in 2017, Michaelsreports. “The treatment has shown itself to be really successful. Many patients go into remission and some may have the potential to be cured.”
One of the drawbacks, he explains, is that the treatment is prohibitively expensive. Each dose costs about $500,000 U.S.
“What we are trying to do in my lab and elsewhere is find a way to greatly reduce the cost,” he explains. “It becomes a matter of scale. Other drugs used in treating cancer can be produced in amounts of 1,000 doses per production run. But right now CAR T therapy is made on a one-off basis with an individual manufacturing run for each patient. We are attempting to instead make CAR T cells from stem cells – which can be grown in large quantities. We are trying to use genetic engineering to manipulate them so that they can be administered safely to patients.
“We (Michaels and fellow researchers) are making good progress in this area,” he adds.
He cautions that the research is still in the formative stages and that clinical trials are still several years away. “Our research so far though has shown that our treatment would seem to be effective at killing cancer cells,” he reports. “This grant from the Canadian Cancer Society will help us to further that research.”
Outside of work, Michaels notes, much of his time is spent with his family – Dr. Allison Marmel and their two-year-old daughter, Rose.
(Ed. note: We should note that Yale Michaels was also the punter for the Harvard University football team – by far his greatest achievement.)
