Features
New Israeli company launches on Canadian Stock Exchange in 2019 and hopes to attract more Canadian investors

By BERNIE BELLAN
In January of this year I was contacted by an old friend who has specialized in bringing small companies to market. I was asked whether I was aware how many small Israeli companies have been launching Initial Public Offerings on various Canadian stock exchanges, especially the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V) in recent years?
I responded that I had heard from time to time of Israeli companies coming to Canada seeking investors and that I was always interested in learning more.
I was then told that one such company, known as Water Ways, would be sending representatives to meet with potential investors at a Winnipeg law office (Pullan Frohlinger Kammerloch) on January 28.
Subsequently, I was asked whether I’d be interested in interviewing two of the principals of Water Ways: Ronnie Jaegermann, who is a director of the company and who has an extensive background as an investment banker; and Ohad Haber, who is the CEO and founder of Water Ways.
(In case you’re wondering why I’ve listed Jaegermann ahead of Haber, it’s because that Haber admitted at the outset of an interview I conducted with the two of them on February 17 over the phone that his English is not nearly as good as Jaegermann’s; thus, he deferred to Jaegermann during most of the interview.)

As background material that I read prior to writing this article, a piece written by my friend Paul Lungen for the Canadian Jewish News in January 2019 proved to be quite useful. Paul’s article appeared shortly before Water Ways launched its IPO on the TSX-V.
Paul wrote: “A short drive southeast of Haifa, not far from Kiryat Tivon, one will find Kibbutz Ramat-David, where the high-tech irrigation company Irri-Al-Tal has its headquarters.
“There, in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, Irri-Al-Tal develops sophisticated irrigation water systems. Pipes, pumps, driplines and command-and-control systems that operate in the cloud and improve the efficient use of water are all part of Irri-Al-Tal’s product line, which can be found watering crops as far afield as China, Ecuador, Peru and Ethiopia…
Paul’s article noted that Irri-Al-Tal was going to be listed on the TSX-V as “Water Ways” (WWT is how you can find it on the exchange.)
Pauls’s article continued: “Worldwide, irrigation is a $17 billion business, of which Israel’s share is $2 billion and Irri-Al-Tal’s piece of that is less than one per cent.
“In 2017, Irri-Al-Tal reported revenue of nearly $14 million and net income of $967,571. Two year before that, revenue was $8.5 million and net income was $64,216.”
Another interesting element of Pauls’ article – and something that was explored in some detail during the course of my interview with Jaegermann and Haber, was Water Ways’ keen interest in tapping into Canada’s booming cannabis market.
Paul wrote: ‘ “Canada is the biggest public market for cannabis companies in the world,” Jaegermann said, noting that the Canadian company Cronos already has a cannabis venture in Israel and that Irri-Al-Tal “is the primary contractor for their irrigation system.”
‘ “Israel is known for its precision irrigation technology,” Jaegermann continued. Drip irrigation was developed in Israel, where water conservation is a priority. With drip irrigation, 95 per cent of the water is absorbed by the plants and only five per cent is run off.’
When I talked with Haber and Jaegermann, I learned that Irri-Al-Tal was started by Haber in 2004. From information available on the Water Ways website I learned that Haber has an extensive background in the irrigation business, both on the sales and operational sides of the business.
The website also notes that, at Water Ways, “We design, supply, install & maintain irrigation systems for application in various agricultural and aquaculture operations. Our goal is to allow our clients to focus on efficiently growing their crops, their project & their business, by offering our experienced and professional logistic services.
The website continues: “Our mission is to make Israeli agriculture technology accessible to a much wider market around the globe. We focus on purchasing, assembling and exporting technologically advanced irrigation products & systems, manufactured by the leading Israeli companies and distribute them to our global clients.” (During the interview Jaegermann listed China, Mexico, Ethiopia, Georgia, Laos, and Peru as countries where Water Ways has either sold irrigation components or complete irrigation systems.)
Finally, the website notes that ,”With the growth of precise irrigation technologies in the global market, Water Ways Technologies has started to investigate the development of its own solution. The main objective of our research & development efforts is to bring to market a technological solution what will enable agricultural operators to make more intelligent, data-driven decisions, as well as automating time-consuming and labor-intensive processes.”
When I spoke with Jaegermann and Haber over the phone, Jaegermann elaborated on the various components in Water Ways’ business: “Water Ways is engaged in different components. The first is selling Israeli water irrigation technology worldwide – like drip irrigation parts, valves, filters – all manufactured in Israel.
“The other part of the business is designing complete irrigation projects. It’s about a $13 million business. We went public in March 2019, raising about $3.5 million.”
I noted that other smaller Israeli companies looking for new sources of investment have found Canada to be an attractive place to raise capital. I asked Jaegermann why that is?
“Unless your company is at least $100 million in size you can’t go public in Israel on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange,” Jaegermann explained He added that the NASDAQ (which also has many high-tech companies trading on it) presents the same problem for companies which wish to go public and want to expand beyond the initial small cap phase.
As a result, many Israeli companies have gone either to Australia or Canada to raise capital, Jaegermann noted. Both countries have venture stock exchanges which specialize in bringing small cap companies to market.
Another interesting aspect of trading on a Canadian stock exchange for Water Ways is that Canada is now the world’s most advanced market for cannabis related companies and Water Ways is actively involved in selling irrigation equipment to companies in that particular field.
“After the IPO we acquired the assets of a Canadian irrigation distributor (now known as HG Water Ways).” Jaegermann noted that Water Ways has been pinpointing the cannabis market as one that can profit from drip irrigation technology to a very large extent – and that by grabbing a foothold in the cannabis business now, Water Ways is set to grow as new markets for legally grown cannabis open up.
I asked Jaegermann about the meeting which was recently held in the Winnipeg law office to which I referred at the beginning of this article – during which representatives of Water Ways met with potential investors.
Jaegermann said tthat he thought “the meeting went very well. We had about 12 or 14 people in the room and they were very receptive to our story. At the end of the day we provide farmers with the most sophisticated form of water irrigation in the world. It’s the greenest way to grow crops – all developed in Israel.”
I asked though whether the drip irrigation market isn’t already fairly crowded with other companies?
Ohad Haber responded with a short, but to the point answer: “Not so much in Canada”.
Jaegermann added that the drip irrigation market worldwide is worth approximately $2-2.5 billion, Israeli companies occupy about 80% of the market and, he said. Jaegermann added that while, “of all the companies involved, we’re the smallest company right now – our target is to be a $100 million company in a few years.”
Haber also emphasized the potential that the North American market presents as a huge opportunity for drip irrigation companies, since until quite recently it was only other areas of the world, such as South Africa, Asia, and South America where Israeli companies saw potential for developing new customers. By being one of the first Israeli companies to see the tremendous opportunities presented by tapping into the North American market, Water Ways anticipates very large growth in the coming years.
If you would like to find out more about Water Ways, go to their website: water-ways-technologies.com
Features
I Speak “Jew”

By MARK E. PAULL I grew up in Montreal. Born in 1956. Anglo by birth, sure. But that never quite fit. I don’t speak “Anglo” the way they mean it. My real language is Jew.
And I don’t mean Hebrew or Yiddish. I mean the language of reading the room before you enter it. The code-switching, shame-dodging, laugh-first-so-they-don’t-pounce dialect we pick up early. It’s a language built on side-eyes and timing and ten generations of tension.
I speak French—enough to make myself understood. Enough to charm a dinner table, crack a joke, get someone’s uncle to nod. I’m not fluent, but I’m fast. Doesn’t matter. In Quebec, language isn’t grammar—it’s inheritance. It’s who your grandfather cursed out in a hardware store.
To the Francophones, I’ll never be one of them. My accent betrays me before I say a word. I’m just an Anglo. And not even that, really. Because when the lens tightens, when they look closely, I’m just un Juif. Just a Jew.
And to the Anglos? Same thing. I can wear the suit, speak the Queen’s English, order the wine properly—still a Jew. Even in rooms where I “pass,” I don’t belong. I’m not invited in to be myself. I’m invited in to behave. To be safe. To not say the thing that makes the air stiff.
We’re the only people still called by our religion. No one says “Orthodox” for a Greek. No one says “Vatican” for an Italian. No one calls a Black man “Baptist” before they see his face. But “Jew”? That sticks. That’s the label. Before passport. Before language. Before hello.
I’ve mostly made peace with that. But there’s still this ache—knowing you can live your whole life in a place and never really be from there.
Let me tell you a story.
We had this block party once—the folding-table, paper-plate kind. Kids zipping by on scooters. Music low. Everyone asked to bring something from “your culture.”
The Greek guy brought lemon potatoes and lamb—felt like it came with a side of Byzantine history. The Italians brought two lasagnas—meat and veggie—with basil placed like confetti. The Vietnamese couple brought shrimp rolls that vanished before they hit the table. Even the German guy—built like a fridge—brought bratwurst and a six-pack with gothic lettering.
And then us.
My partner made Moroccan fish. Her grandmother’s recipe. Red with tomatoes, garlic, cumin. Studded with olives and preserved lemon. I brought a bottle of white wine. Dry. Crisp. From the Golan Heights. Not Manischewitz. Not even close.
We laid it out. Someone leaned over: “Moroccan? But I thought you were Jewish.”
We smiled. “We are.”
Then: “So… where’s the brisket? Isn’t Jewish wine supposed to be sweet?”
That’s when it hits you. No matter how long you’ve lived here, how many snowstorms you’ve shoveled through, you’re still explaining yourself. Still translating your presence.
Because they don’t know. They don’t know Jews came from everywhere. That “Jewish” isn’t one dish—it’s a whole map. That we had Jews in Morocco before there was even a France. That some of us grew up on kreplach, some on kefta. That some of our mothers sang in Yiddish, others in Arabic, and some in both—depending on who was knocking.
They don’t know. And worse—they don’t ask.
And that’s the part that gets you. Not the slurs. Not the graffiti. Not even the occasional muttered cliché. It’s the blankness. The shrug. The image they already have of you that’s built out of dreidels and sitcoms.
“Jewish” as nostalgic. As novelty. Something they saw once on a bagel.
Sometimes, when those questions come, I float. One version of me walks out. Another turns into a mouse. One turns into a Frisbee. Just gone. Not mad. Just tired.
Because being a Jew isn’t cute. It’s not nostalgic.
It’s ancient.
Before Montreal.
Before France.
Before Poland. Before Spain.
Before pogroms.
Before ghettos.
Before Hitler.
Before even the word Europe.
We were there.
Go back to the 5th century. 2nd century.
Go back to Jesus—our kid, by the way.
Go further—Babylon. Persia.
Keep going—Temple. Exile. Wandering.
And still, after all that, I’m at a table in Quebec explaining why our fish has cumin in it.
It’s almost funny. If it didn’t wear you down a little.
I’m not looking for pity. This isn’t a complaint.
I’m proud. I know what I carry. I walk into any room with five thousand years behind me. I come from people who kept the lights on through every kind of darkness—and laughed through it, too.
But sometimes, I just wish I didn’t have to explain so much.
All I want is to put down my dish…
…and hear someone say:
“That smells amazing. Tell me the story.”
That’s all.
Mark E. Paull, C.A.C. is a Certified ADHD Coach – IPHM, CMA, IIC&M, CPD Certified
Writer | Lived-Experience Advocate | Type 1 Diabetic since 1967
He has been published in:
The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Folklife Magazine, Times of Israel, CHADD’s Attention Magazine, The Good Men Project
Features
At 104, Besse Gurevich last original resident of Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence

By MYRON LOVE At 104, Besse Gurevich is the last of the original residents of Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence. She may also be the oldest member of our Jewish community.
Although her vision and her hearing have diminished considerably, her mind and memory are still intact. A few weeks back, this writer sat down with her in her suite as she recalled a life filled with highs and lows and her many contributions to her community, both in Winnipeg and Fort William before that.
The daughter of Jack and Rebecca Avit, her life’s journey began in 1921 in a home on Carlton Street near Ellice Avenue, near her father’s furniture store. He later operated a cap factory.
When she was ten, the family – she had two brothers and a sister – moved to Manitoba Avenue in the old North End. “My father had put a deposit down on a house on Scotia,” she recalls. “But my parents didn’t feel that the neighbourhood was Jewish enough.”
Her schooling included Peretz School and, like so many of her generation, St. John’s Tech (as it was known back then.) “I was actually supposed to be going to Isaac Newton for high school,” she says. We were living on the wrong side of the tracks for St. John’s. After one day at Isaac Newton, I found a way to transfer to St. John’s.”
In 1940, 19-year-old Bessie Avit married Jack Gurevich, a young man from Fort William. The wedding was marred though, by the sudden, untimely passing of her father.
Following the wedding, Besse moved with her new husband to Fort William where Jack Gurevich worked in retail clothing sales. “We lived in Fort William for 20 years,” she says. “Our three children (Judy, Richard and Howard) were born there.”
She recalls that there were about 200 Jewish families – including her sister and one of her brothers for some years – in town, during the time she lived there. “We were very well known in the community,” she recalls. “I was involved in everything.”
Her community activism continued after the family’s return to her home town. While Jack went to work as a salesman for Western Glove Works, Besse became an indefatigable community volunteer. At one time or another, she served as vice-president of ORT, Hadassah and National Council of Jewish Women in Winnipeg. She was also a long time B’nai Brith member.
In the business world, the highlight of her career was the building of Linden Woods. “I became involved in real estate development for a time,” she recalls. “I was hired by Genstar to develop Linden Woods. The company estimated that it would take about 20 years to complete. I got it done in two.”
She also taught hair dressing for a while. “I worked with many young Jewish brides,” she says.
Recent years have not been kind to Besse Gurevich. Her beloved husband, Jack, died in 2016 – after almost 65 years of marriage. Older son, Richard, passed away in Vancouver in 2018 and, most recently –six months ago – younger son, Howard, followed. She notes that there were 200 mourners at Howard’s funeral.
(Howard Gurevich was in marketing for many years before turning his talents to the art world. In recent years, he was best known for Gurevich Fine Art in the Exchange District and his support of local artists.)
Besse Gurevich celebrated her 100th birthday – which took place at the height of the Covid shutdown – quietly.
While she used to enjoy reading. she is unable to do so any more. She can still listen to television.
And while she has few family members to visit her any more, she does have a group of friends interesting enough from the local theatre scene. For many years, she was a close friend of the late Doreen Brownstone, one of the leading figures in theatre in Winnipeg for more than half a century. Besse became part of the group that would visit Doreen every week and, since Doreen passed on three years ago, the members of the group have continued to visit Besse on a weekly basis.
Features
Winnipeg author’s first novel gripping tale of romance, action and intrigue, set in 15th century Spain and Morocco

By MYRON LOVE “The Chronos of Andalucia”, a novel just released by first-time author Merom Toledano, is a historical romance set in late 15th century Spain and Morocco, filled with passion, action, intrigue, unexpected twists and turns – and, of course, with the requirement of any medieval story – a quest.
The easy-to-read, 190 page book follows the adventures of Catalina, a young woman living by her wits on the streets of Granada in the year 1487, (just after the Christian armies of Ferdinand and Isabella had recaptured all of Spain from the Moors) – while trying to evade the agents of the Inquisition, who had murdered her Jewish mother and Christian father 10 years earlier. She was left with an insatiable desire to learn about astronomy, along with a mysterious map and an astrolabe (an instrument formerly used to make astronomical measurements) – the importance of which will only be unveiled if she can get to the city of Tangier in Morocco.
Early on, there is a reference to Abraham Zacuto, a prominent Spanish rabbi famed for his knowledge of astronomy and astrology.
The action begins when she has a casual interaction with a former Spanish soldier, Diego. When the forces of the Inquisition approach, she flees with the soldier – who is also her love interest – and who helps her to escape. They turn for help to a childhood friend of Catalina’s – Roberta, a nun, who helps them on their perilous journey to Tangier – a journey that includes being captured by pirates, surviving a shipwreck, being separated for a long period of time and, of course, finding each other again and realizing the success of their joint quest.
In his writing, the author paints vivid word pictures of the different characters and beautifully invokes the colour, sights, sounds and scents of the time and the places.
What I found truly remarkable about the writing of “The Chronos of Andalucia” is that English is not Merom Toledano’s first language. The Israeli-born author – he grew up near Haifa – came to Winnipeg with his young family just eight years ago.
“I have had this book in mind for several years now,” says the satellite engineer whose working career takes him to many different parts of the world.
He notes that he has always felt a connection to Spain, Spanish music and literature – a reflection of his family’s modern origins in that country. His great-grandparents, he relates, lived in Toledo – hence the family name, Toledano. His parents lived in Meknes in Morocco while his father attended university in Tangier before making aliyah.
Toledano just published “The Chronos of Andalucia” in April on Amazon. He reports that the book – which is available here at McNally Robinson – has been selling well –close to 100 copies – with orders coming from a bookstore chain in England, a bookstore in Denmark, and one in Italy.
“I have had between 30 and 40 positive reviews so far,” he reports.
Toledano adds that he envisages “The Chronos of Andalucia” to be the first in a series – a la the writer Danielle Steele. He is already working on a sequel – which is hinted at the end of “The Chronos” and, he reports, he is establishing his own independent publishing operation.