[* This story was updated on Oct. 17 to add an interview with Dyanoosh Youssefi.]
There is no shortage of Jewish candidates and issues of concern to the Jewish community in the Oct. 22 municipal elections in Toronto and its suburbs.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said that the city has an important role to play in the fight against anti-Semitism. It is urging the candidates to adopt its three-point plan for combating anti-Semitism at the municipal level.
Among those seeking the top job of mayor of Toronto are two candidates who are known in Jewish circles: Faith Goldy, who has been accused of being a white nationalist, and James Sears, the editor of the openly anti-Jewish publication, Your Ward News.
READ: FAITH GOLDY RUNNING FOR MAYOR OF TORONTO
This election will see 25 larger, more populous new wards, compared to the previous 45-ward system. In some cases, the re-drawing and expansion of boundaries has resulted in incumbents pitted against each other.
That will be the case in the new Ward 6 (York Centre), where James Pasternak, previously of Ward 10, is running against Maria Augimeri, the councillor in neighbouring Ward 9.
Pasternak has been touting his support for Jewish issues, including persuading council to condemn the term “Israel apartheid,” taking action against the annual “hate-filled” Al-Quds Day rally and playing a “leadership role” in Mayor John Tory’s 2016 trade mission to Israel.
He said he’s also worked with traffic enforcement, to ensure leniency in ticketing on religious holidays and stopped garbage pickup fees for religious and charitable groups.
Augimeri points to the Canadian Jewish War Veterans cenotaph in Mount Sinai Memorial Park, which is in her ward. “I think it’s a treasure and an honour to have it nearby,” she said.
When a developer put surveying stakes into cemetery property, flooding some graves, “I took special offence,” she said. Augimeri contacted cemetery officials “and blew the whistle on the bad developers. A huge amount of backlash due to the public coverage forced the bad developers to retreat and apologize.”
Augimeri said she’s “so excited to represent the Jewish-Canadian residents of Ward 6,” if elected.
Two popular Toronto councillors, Josh Matlow and Joe Mihevc, are facing off in Toronto-St. Paul’s (the new Ward 12).
Concerns over anti-Semitism come up occasionally among residents, said Matlow, “when many members of our community see public spaces being used to rally against Israel. It upsets people and they’re demanding it shouldn’t be allowed. I agree with them … hate in any form against any people in unacceptable.”
Mihevc, the son of refugees who fled Slovenia before the Second World War and who did a doctorate that focused on the Holocaust, said he has “a wonderful relationship with the Jewish community in St. Paul’s,” having worked with several synagogues and with Jewish Immigration Aid Services, to help refugee families settle in Toronto.
“All of this is tikun olam in action,” he noted. “I am proud of the diverse Jewish community who are so committed to restoring dignity and hope to those in need of a helping hand.”
Former Liberal MPP Mike Colle is attempting a political comeback by running in Ward 8 (Eglinton-Lawrence). Colle, who co-authored a defeated 2016 provincial bill that called on the province to bar doing business with companies that support the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign, said the spread of BDS in schools and universities “must be stopped.”
He also said that an anti-Semitic blogger running for council “must be defeated” (he didn’t identify the candidate).
Colle lauded Baycrest Health Sciences as “the jewel in our community, for taking care of our elderly and undertaking world-class research into improving brain health.” As councillor, he would continue to ensure that Baycrest gets support from the city.
He faces a challenge from Beth Levy, who has a background in urban planning and volunteering, and previously sat on the North York Committee of Adjustment, which hears some zoning and other related issues.
Levy noted an increase in anti-Semitic vandalism. “We must be vigilant to fight hate in Toronto,” she said.
Apart from issues surround housing and transport, Youssefi, who came to Canada from Iran in 1983, said she’s encountering concerns about the candidacy of Goldy and the rise of nationalism and populism generally.
A volunteer, advocate and former criminal defence lawyer, she believes that given her experience and perspective, she can “bridge gaps and bring people together.”
“I really believe that in Toronto, we can build a wonderful city that is inclusive and vibrant, where we have a place for people of all income levels, and go beyond the basics [to] build communities where people thrive,” she said. “ But I’m also concerned that we are losing some of those opportunities, whether it’s letting infrastructure fall apart or allowing inequality to grow in the city.”
These issues “are really connected to my Jewish values,” she said.
Running against Ward 20 councillor Joe Cressy in the new Ward 10 (Spadina-Fort York) is April Engelberg, who’s focusing on transit issues in the ward.
“I am proud to be Jewish – it’s part of my identity,” she said. “I also love how Toronto is so multicultural – it’s a defining feature of our city. We are one of many incredible cultures in the city.”
Also on the comeback trail is David Caplan, a former Liberal MPP and cabinet minister who’s running in the new Ward 16 (Don Valley East). He’s encountering discussions about the need to take more action against “the rising tide of intolerance and racism, specifically anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.” He also has an interest in ongoing efforts to provide genocide education in schools.
Just north of Ward 20 is the new Ward 17 (Don Valley North). “It’s the same great community I have served, but super-sized,” said incumbent Shelly Carroll, the longtime councillor in Ward 33. “It is a pivotal spot in Toronto and deserves the best representation possible.”
Norm Gardner, a longtime fixture on the local political scene as a former Toronto, metro and North York councillor and one-time chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, is seeking election in Ward 18 (Willowdale) against incumbent John Filion.
Gardner is not seeing any Jewish-specific issues. “The Jewish community is pretty well assimilated,” he said, and “shares the same concerns that we all do: a better quality of lifestyle (and) services for youth and seniors.” He’s also seen a “tremendous increase in violent crime.”
Also running in Ward 18 is David Epstein, whose website describes him as a small business owner and community activist. A priority for the ward, he said, is the expansion of bus services.
What experience does Morley Rosenberg bring to his candidacy in Ward 19 (Beaches-East York)? Thirty-five years of public service, he replied, including six years as mayor of Kitchener (1977-1982), nine years on its council and 20 years serving on the Ontario Municipal Board.
Rosenberg said he’s not aware of issues specific to the Jewish community. He sees housing affordability as the main priority and would like to see the city, province and federal governments go into a room, lock the door “and don’t unlock it until they can come up with some additional funding for the city, until it can stand on its own, rather than always going cap-in-hand to other two levels asking for funding.”
There are several Jewish candidates in the city of Vaughan: Joel Ginsberg, a retired lawyer and developer, is running for local and regional councillor on a platform of affordable housing. It’s not subsidized housing, he stressed, but housing for the middle class – the “missing middle.”
His plan calls for the construction of 50,000 townhouse-like units, each approximately 2,000 sq. ft., to be built throughout York Region and the Greater Toronto Area, and sold for one-third to one-half of today’s market value of new units of the same size, or about $500,000-$600,000.
“My plan will change your lives, the lives of your parents and the lives of your children,” he promises.
Also running for local and regional councillor in Vaughan is Fred Winegust, who’s focused on alleviating traffic and gridlock. A founding member of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation, Winegust noted that regional council is responsible for policing in York Region, “and I will work to improve security for Jewish institutions.”
In Vaughan’s Ward 5, which is about 70 per cent Jewish, incumbent Alan Shefman points to having established a popular Passover garbage depot at Garnet Williams Community Centre. He said he’s been “instrumental” in facilitating four new synagogues in Ward 5 over the years, the latest of which is set to be built as part of the redevelopment of the Associated Hebrew School site on Atkinson Avenue.
Also running in Ward 5 is Alan Goldstein, a lawyer and former president of the Beverley Glen Ratepayers Association, who’s noting increased density and “traffic chaos” in the ward, while residents who have voiced concerns over those issues have been “ignored.”
A bit further north, Susan Korman hopes to become the first Jewish and first female mayor of Richmond Hill. Among her concerns is the rising cost of Jewish day schools, which “are becoming more and more the exclusive domain of the financial elite and low-income families receiving subsidies. Middle-income families are being squeezed out.”
Lawyer Jason Cherniak is running for local and regional councillor in Richmond Hill on a platform of improving commute times and holding down taxes. He said that the issue of anti-Semitism has come up on the hustings, but only “once or twice. We need to remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and hate crimes, but we must also be careful to not overstate the problem.”
