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Winnipeg South MP Jim Carr answers questions about his positions on Israel and antisemitism
By BERNIE BELLAN On July 23 I spoke with Jim Carr, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre and Minister without Portfolio in the Federal Cabinet (also special representative to the prairies). I began our conversation with an explanation why I was asking to speak with Minister Carr at this particular moment:
“There are two different angles to me wanting to interview you, Jim. One is Canada’s position re Israel and the Palestinians. The other is the summit on anti-Semitism.
“The first question that I have for you is prompted by a phone call I had from the representative of a national Jewish organization who thought you have been unduly quiet when it comes to giving any kind of a point of view on Canada’s position vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinians, especially as it relates to the recent war. What do you have to say to that?”
Carr: “My position is the government’s position, Bernie. I’m a member of the Cabinet. We speak with one voice. The advocacy that I offer is with my colleagues as a member of the government, but the public expression of Canada’s point of view is the same view that would be expressed by all members of government. We continue to be steadfast allies of the State of Israel and we believe in Israel’s capacity and Israel’s ability to defend itself.
“We work toward a two-state solution and that does not represent a change in Canadian foreign policy vis-à-vis the Middle East. That’s what Canadian foreign policy has been for a long time now and across different governments.
“It’s one I share, so the government’s position as would have been expressed by the Prime Minister or by Minister Garneau (Minister for Foreign Affairs) is also my position.
“I would add something else. Every position I take as a member of the government is informed by who I am as a person, as an individual, and the values and the perspective how I see the world – the larger world, my own community, and that is very much molded by my Jewish upbringing, my Jewish values, my Jewish culture. So, not only on questions of Israel and the Middle East, but also on questions of social policy, of inclusion, on diversity – all those ways of looking at public policy are informed by the fact that I’m Jewish – and proudly so, and have been personally the object of anti-Semitism in my lifetime.
“I understand the anxiety felt in our community, so I think it’s very important that I make that point that the views of the government are views that I share – and all of my views are informed by being Jewish.”
JP&N: “Following up on that then, how would you respond to the suggestion that, while other members of your caucus – and the government, referring to the Cabinet, were fairly outspoken in defense of Israel – you were quiet?”
Carr: “I wrote a letter to the Jewish Federation that detailed my own experience with anti-Semitism, with my own steadfast support of the State of Israel. I’ve never made a secret of that.
“You also know that I am a founding member of the Arab-Jewish Dialogue in Winnipeg and that I share with that group a belief that a two-state solution is the path we ought to be on.
“Canada has a long history of diplomacy in the region. My goodness, it dates all the way back to peacekeeping and Lester Pearson. We have experience, we have diplomatic credentials. Minister Garneau has already visited the region.
“We are available to those who are interested in knowing about how my Jewish values inform all kinds of issues, but it’s important to say, Bernie, that the government’s expressions of policy are ones that I share because I’m a member of government. That’s the way our system works and that’s the way I feel comfortable expressing the government’s point of view.
“The time for personal expressions of policy is within caucus or Cabinet, but I’m very comfortable with how the Prime Minister himself – just two days ago, was very articulate on the subject of anti-Semitism and our support for Israel.”
JP&N: The Minister of Citizenship of Immigration (Marco Mendicino) has come out quite forcefully in defense of Israel. Do you see that as being in any way in conflict with the government’s position?”
Carr: “No. I’d be very surprised if anything he would have said would have been offside the government’s position. He and I and others are very in tune with the thinking in our Jewish community. Let’s also remember that there are very many opinions within your community – and you have reported on that yourself.
“Again, there is a very important point to make: When it becomes the official policy of a government, a minister – that would be me, when it comes to values and respecting points of view, much of my world view is formed by the fact I have been raised in a Jewish home, in a Jewish community, have been very close to the State of Israel – and continue to be, but also understand that peace and a two-state solution is the value we’re trying to achieve.”
JP&N: “Turning then to Irwin Cotler’s Summit on Antisemitism, which was followed by one on Islamophobia – interesting juxtaposition there – one following on the heels of another, do you see anything substantive coming out of these various summits?”
Carr: “I do. I see an anti-racism strategy – and it comes at a moment when the country is so sensitive to crimes of hatred and the moment is a very tender one for communities across the country, and I understand the sensitivity that’s being felt in the Jewish community and in the Muslim community now because of these horrible acts of hatred and the response to them has to be coordinated. It has to be rooted in the security of these communities.
“You will know that we announced a further $6 million investment that will apply in our own community to places of worship so that security and infrastructure can be bolstered – which is very important because people are insecure, especially I think young people. I am, because of the role I played in recruiting Argentinean Jews to Winnipeg – that is a particularly important story for me: many Jews coming to Canada, looking for the freedom to live their lives as Jews now have to contend with this latest outbreak of intolerance and hatred, which is utterly unacceptable.
“As for the Government of Canada – on the security front, on education, on coordinated action, on internet hatred – it’s all coming together now. I think it’s a moment now where all Canadians understand, whether their particular group has been the object of hatred or they observe it as Canadians who care, know it’s time for coordinated action and we’re seeing it now.”
JP&N: “Referring specifically to the internet, which is the source of so much of the hatred that we’re seeing – I watched the presentation of the inter-parliamentary conference on anti-Semitism, where (Montreal MP) Anthony Housefather and (US Congresswoman) Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and several other representatives from parliaments around the world participated. It seemed there was a frustration they all felt reining in social media. I don’t know that any government has found a particularly effective approach to trying to legislate that. Do you see anything that can be done that’s realistically feasible and that can rein in the kind of hatred that’s so pervasive on the internet? They (parliamentary representatives) talked about the “Whack a Mole” problem where you clamp down on one area of the internet and another one springs up. Do you see any way of controlling that?”
Carr: “There is a balance in a free society – you know that as well as anybody. We have to safeguard for people to speak freely, but it has limits that are defined in law. The Charter speaks to them. There are pieces of legislation that speak to them, and the balance is something that one is always searching to find, but I think you would find that there is a consensus among many Canadians that when you are inciting people to take the law into their own hands and to stimulate violence against an identifiable group and for hatred against these groups to be perpetrated is a value that Canadians abhor and to find that balance between freedom of speech and the necessary safeguards to make sure that doesn’t become far more dangerous that we have seen playing out on the internet is where the discussion is joined.”
JP&N: “Okay, this has been interesting. I have to note though that your Conservative challenger in the next election is, once again, going to be Joyce Bateman (for the third time).
“Since I know both of you I have to say that I have nothing negative to say about either one of you. I find you both to be capable, likable individuals. I just find it interesting that the Conservatives are going back to a candidate who’s lost twice to you. But what’s your situation going to be? Are you going to be campaigning full out?”
Carr: “Yes, as full out as the moment will allow, and that will depend on where we’re at when the writ is issued, but I never underestimate an opponent and it’s a huge mistake for any candidate to do that. Joyce Bateman will run hard, she’ll run – I’m sure, an ethical campaign. I have no reason to think she won’t. We’ll run on our platform, on what we’ve accomplished, on what we hope to do for the people of Winnipeg South Centre in the next mandate.
“I’m in that school of politicians, Bernie, where you never take anything for granted, you take your opponent seriously, and you treat them with respect.”
JP&N: “ I have to ask you though about the Green Party MP (Jenica Atwin) who defected to the Liberals. To me there was an element of hypocrisy in the Liberals accepting someone who had been so critical of Israel when you just said yourself that the Liberal Party position is fully supportive of the State of Israel. I know she walked back some of her comments, but it would seem to me to sort of reflect a willingness of the Liberals to try and be all things to all people all the time. How would you respond to that?”
Carr: “When you’re a member of caucus you have your conversations in caucus meetings that are privileged and when you walk out of caucus you talk about policy that caucus and the government formulated. That’s the way it works and that’s the way you maintain discipline in any caucus. If, over time, a member of caucus believes that their view of policy or their view of the world is sufficiently offside with what the caucus’s position is, then they have to have a long conversation with themselves. If you have difficulty aligning yourself with the view of the caucus, then you have to determine whether you want to be a member of that caucus.”
JP&N: “I would be remiss if I didn’t ask the question that has been top of mind for so many people – which is about your health. What can you tell our readers about your state of health?”
Carr: “I continue to receive treatments. They’re going very well. My energy level is good. I’m optimistic. I have been working hard – in a very odd environment – like everybody else, with a computer on the second floor of my house for the last 18 months. I’m looking forward to the campaign. I feel energized by it. I have been, since the day when I made my (blood cancer) diagnosis public which, by the way, was the day after I knew about it, surrounded by goodwill and all kinds of wonderful expressions of support. I’m very grateful for that. I feel ready for the campaign ahead. It’s an honour and a privilege to represent the people of Winnipeg South Centre I and look forward very much to representing them again.”
Local News
Young pediatrician Daniel Kroft and his Jewish history podcast
By MYRON L0VE It has been said that if you want to make sure to get something done, give the task to the busiest person in the room. That adage would certainly apply to Daniel Kroft.
Although only 30 years old, Daniel, the son of community leaders Jonathan and Dr. Cara Kroft, has emulated both of his parents by being a community leader as well as a pediatrician. In the former category, Daniel is a member of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg’s Community Planning Committee (His father, Jonathan, is a Past President of the Federation).
The younger Kroft is also a co-founder of the Manitoba Maccabim – a young Jewish advocacy group. He recently joined Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Manitoba, in a presentation to the Internal Medicine Department of Health Sciences Center on the subject of antisemitism.
Professionally, the Gray Academy graduate (class of 2012) is a member of a clinic run out of St. Boniface Hospital, is on staff at the Children’s Hospital, puts in time at the Health Sciences Centre, and serves as a consultant pediatrician at Brandon’s regional hospital. He also takes trips to northern Manitoba to offer his services.
In addition, he is a member of the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
With all that on his plate, you wouldn’t think that Kroft would have time for much else. If so, you would be wrong. Four years ago, he launched a new initiative, a podcast – “The Jewish Story” – intended to teach interested listeners about Jewish history.
The idea came to him, he says, back in 2021, when he was still a medical student. “It was the time when Black Lives Matter was in the news,” he recalls. “At med school, we were learning all about Black history and Indigenous history. I realized that I actually didn’t know much about my own Jewish history.”
The first source he turned to was the Anglo-Jewish historian Simon Schama and his book, “The Story of the Jews”. He followed up with online courses from Oxford and Harvard as well as a lecture series led by prominent historian Henry Abramson.
Setting up a podcast, he notes, required another learning curve. “It takes me about a year to do the research and organize my podcasts,” he reports. “I had to learn how to do a podcast and about which equipment to buy. I set up a recording studio in a room in my house.”
On his website (rss.com/podcasts/thejewishstory/), Kroft describes “The Jewish Story” as “a Jewish history podcast for the 21st century”. “We use the latest in archaeology, linguistics and historical methods to sculpt the history of the Jewish People from the exodus from Egypt until the present,” he notes.
He started his series of podcasts going back to the beginning – from the earliest evidence of Jewish existence through the establishment of the Jewish kingdom, its conflicts with neighbouring empires, to its destruction by the Babylonians.
And that is just the first episode.
The first season – seven episodes – encompassed Jewish history up to and including the Roman invasion of Jerusalem and destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE. Kroft points out that some of his podcasts feature guest commentators. In his first season, for example, in the third episode, he interviews Rabbi Matthew Leibl about the relevance to modern Jewish life of the first eight centuries of Jewish history.
In the seventh episode, he discusses with his former elementary school teacher, Sherry Wolfe Elazar ,what lessons modern Jews can learn from the Greco-Roman period for Jewish history.
The second series of podcasts focuses on the development of Jewish life in the first centuries after the Diaspora and the effects of the new Christian and Muslim religions on the Jewish people. The seventh and last episode of season two features Rabbi Anibal Mass, the spiritual leader of the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, talking about a wide range of subjects ,including the breakaway Karaites, he definition of Jewish music, and how technology has shaped modern Jewish practice.
The third season covers the 11th-15th centuries while the most recent series of episodes spans the period from 1500 to 1650. Kroft reports that the next group of podcasts will provide an overview of Jewish life in the 17th and early 18th centuries, including the beginnings of Jewish life in North America.
I asked Kroft when he finds the time to work on his podcasts. His response: in his spare time – weekends and holidays.
The podcaster reports that when he started, he was getting 30-40 listeners per episode. Now his numbers are up to 200-300 from all over the world.
For readers who may want to hear Daniel Kroft’s story in person, he will be one of the presenters at the upcoming Limmud Winnipeg. Kroft will be presenting on Sunday, March 23, at 1:30 at the Campus.
For more information aboutLimmud, contact coordinator@limmudwinnipeg.org or 204-557-6260
Local News
Former Winnipegger Ezra Glinter to discuss his new biography of Rabbi Schneerson at upcoming Limmud Winnipeg
By MYRON LOVE The Chabad-Lubavitch movement is one of the world’s largest and best-known Hasidic groups. Driven by the belief that we are on the verge of the messianic age. Lubavitch, under the leadership of the charismatic Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson , has, over the past 70 years. engaged in an outreach program to the Jewish world which may bemunprecedented in Jewish history. Wherever there is a Jewish community in the world, no matter how small, you will find a Lubavitcher Rebbe.
I have seen one survey that more younger American Jews – almost 40% -have developed a connection with Chabad than another branch of Judaism.
Last October, former Winnipegger Ezra Glinter published “Becoming the Messiah: The Life and Times of Menachem Mendel Schneerson,” the first biography of Rabbi Schneerson to combine a nonpartisan view of his life, work, and impact with an insider’s understanding of the ideology that drove him and that continues to inspire the Chabad-Lubavitch movement today.
On Sunday, March 23, Glinter will be introducing his biography to his home town as one of the presenters at the 15th Limmud Winnipeg Festival of Jewish Learning.
(Limmud was founded in England in 1980 with the aim to build bridges between professional and nonprofessional educators and between those of differing religious commitments. Today, the Limmud Festival is held in more than 90 Jewish communities in over 40 countries around the world.)
The New York-based son of Nancy and Harry Glinter has had an interesting life journey of his own – a journey that has included his own immersion for several years in the Orthodox world – making him an ideal individual to explore the Rebbe’s life and work and impact on Judaism.
“It was helpful hat I could apply the skills that I learned in Yeshiva to the research,” Glinter notes.
The fact that he is also self-taught in Yiddish was also helpful.
Glinter in a graduate of Talmud Torah. At the age of 16, Glinter chose to pursue a more religious lifestyle. With his parents’ support, he enrolled in Ner Yisroel in Batimore.
In 2004, after four years in yeshiva, he enrolled at McGill, graduating with a BA in English (in 2008), followed by a year at New York University. Since then, he has pursued a career as a freelance journalist. For five years, he served as deputy arts director for the Jewish Daily Forward. Over the past eight years, he has contributed book, theatre and arts reviews and lifestyle stories to numerous prestigious American publications, as well as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz,”and the Paris Review.
The Schneerson biography is his second book. In 2016, he published “Have I Got a Story for You” – a compilation of 42 stories – published in Yiddish in The Forward over its almost 130—year history.
The stories are an assortment of wartime novellas, avant-garde fiction, and satirical sketches about immigrant life in New York – with short biographies of the contributors. Glinter served as editor of the project – with the stories being translated into English by leading Yiddish translators who were able to capture the sound of the authors and the subtleties of nuance and context.
Glinter notes that he spent four years doing the research for his current book. He reports that his Shneerson biography has been generally well-received – although, he adds, there haven’t been a lot of reviews.
“It seems that both followers of Chabad and secular readers appreciate the book,” he comments.
For the past two years, he has been working as the senior staff writer and editor for the National Yiddish Book Centre, which is located in Amherst, Massachusetts. “We have our own press and newsletter,” he points out. “We translate newly published Yiddish works into English.”
Readers who may be interested in attending Limmud this year can cal l204 557-6260 or email coordinator@limmudwinnipeg.org. Ticket prices are $55 for the full day (which includes lunch and snacks) and $30 for a half day attendance. Reduced rates are available for younnger adults (under 30), students and children.
Local News
Bright future for Israeli-born University of Manitoba Science student Erele Tzidon
By MYRON LOVE Erele Tzidon, a second year Science student at the University of Manitoba, seems to have a bright future ahead of her.
Rabinovich-Nikitin
The year before last, the Israeli-born graduate of Gray Academy received a University of Manitoba undergraduate research award, which allowed her to pursue research as a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, (ICS) researching the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease.
The world-renowned institute, directed by Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum, studies heart disease and heart function with the goal of researching means to repair damaged heart cells and prevent heart failure.
This past November, Tzidon was presented with a second award – the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
“We are very proud of Erele and her achievements,” says Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin. “We believe she has a promising future in medical research.”
Originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel, Tzidon came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer, formerly regional manager for a car rental agency in Israel and now an RBC branch Manager, and Sharon, an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy. Tzidon also has three younger brothers.
The 19-year-od reports that it was through a connection she forged with Rabinovich-Nikitin at G ray Academy (where the latter has three children enrolled in the elementary program) that opened the door to a summer position at the ICS in 2023. She notes that she is at the ICS two days a week and at the U of M three days a week.
“I have always wanted to do research,” she says, “because I have an unlimited number of questions. And I love working with the great team at the ICS.”
One of the primary focuses at the ICS in recent years has been on women’s heart health. Three years ago Kirshenbaum created a new research program within St. Boniface Hospital specifically for the study of heart disease in women. Dr. Rabinovich-Nikitin was the first faculty member seconded to the new research program
In an earlier article I wrote about her in the Post (in 2021), I noted that she, like Erele Tzidon, is originally from Israel, having arrived in Winnipeg in 2016 with her husband Sergey, and their two children (a third child was born here) to further her scientific knowledge through working in Kirshenbaum’s lab.
Rabinovich-Nikitin is graduate of Tel Aviv University with a Ph.D. in biotechnology.
“I was always interested in science, how things work,” she notes. “I have a particular interest in women’s cardiac health.”
Four years ago she herself was presented with the Winnipeg Foundation’s Martha Donavan Leadership Development Award. The award is intended to provide leadership development opportunities for women in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Eligible applicants include women who are full-time or part-time academic faculty members, students of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and students as well as post-doctoral trainees (including residents), presently enrolled in a program of study within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
In 2022 Rabinovich-Nikitin, was the winner of the Louis N. and Arnold M. Katz Basic Science Research Prize for Early Career Investigators awarded by the American heart Association (AHA). This award is the highest international recognition of research excellence for an early career investigator to receive, and Rabinovich-Nikitin is the first ever Canadian scientist to receive this award.
That same year she joined the University of Manitoba Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology as an assistant professor, studying heart disease in women. Rabinovich-Nikitin observes that heart disease in women presents itself in a different way than in men. She notes that one of the new lab’s initial findings was that there is one specific gene that leads to cardiovascular issues in some pregnant women that can point to heart disease later in life, and also have negative implications for the development of their children. Those children are smaller at birth and, as adults, are prone to hypertension, diabetes and obesity,
“We are looking into how that particular gene increases the risk of heart disease.” she says.
Rabinovich-Nikitin would like to invites readers who may be interested in learning more about women’s heart health to a free program the ICS is offering on Sunday, February 23 at the Wellness Institute at 1075 Leila Avenue from 1:00-4:00. The afternoon will feature speakers, children’s activities and Zumba sessions.
“I would encourage everyone who has questions and wants to learn about women’s heart health to attend,” she says.
You can find more about the event at https://megaheartevent.com/
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