Bernie M. Farber, the past CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress and founding chair emeritus of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, contributes this tribute…
He was a barrel of a man—funny, savvy, adventurous—and like the storytellers of old, he knew how to spin a yarn.
David Attis, who died April 12 at age 84, held all of these virtues and more.
He shared a 50-year marriage with his beloved wife, Margaret, and was the devoted father of four daughters and grandfather to seven children he adored.
David loved the East Coast. Born and raised in Moncton, N.B., he spent his later years soaking in the beauty of Ontario’s Northumberland County—but you simply couldn’t take the Atlantic out of this boy.
He was deeply dedicated to his family and believed in the rule of law, justice, and, above all, fairness. I spent a lot of time with him during my years as national director of community relations for Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). Alongside his many roles—kosher wine supplier to the Maritimes, carnival barker, gaming business owner, real estate and ice cream salesman—he remained, always, a proud Jew. His love of Yiddishkeit guided his life.
In the Maritimes, David held many community posts. He was president of Moncton’s Jewish congregation and burial society, a past-president of the Atlantic Jewish Council, and a national officer with CJC. He was fiercely proud of being Jewish in a small community.
David didn’t suffer fools gladly. His sense of justice was unwavering—and it’s what led him to become, in my view, a Canadian Jewish hero.
In the late 1980s, David’s eldest daughter, Yona, was a high school student in New Brunswick’s District 15. At the same time, Moncton was home to a notorious Holocaust denier and antisemite: Malcolm Ross, a teacher at Magnetic Hill High School. Though Ross kept his hate out of the classroom, his books, interviews, and articles made him a darling of Canada’s far-right.
David wasn’t going to stand for it. Ross touched every nerve in his body. No child in District 15, David believed, should be subjected to a teacher spreading that kind of hate.
It was a complicated case—Yona didn’t attend the school where Ross taught—but David argued that teachers must be held to a higher standard. They’re not just teaching facts; they’re modeling values.
David, with lawyer Joel Weir, filed a human rights complaint. Their argument: the school board’s refusal to act created a poisoned environment for Jewish students throughout the district. Yona gave evidence that she felt intimidated when attending interscholastic events.
Ross, for his part, retained Doug Christie, the lawyer known for defending antisemites like James Keegstra and Ernst Zündel. At David’s urging, Joel Richler of the CJC joined the case and was granted party status to represent Maritime Jewry.
The complaint to the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission was a success. The Board of Inquiry ordered Ross removed from the classroom and reassigned to a non-teaching role—as a librarian. He could only keep the job if he stopped publishing antisemitic and Holocaust-denying materials.
Ross appealed. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned the decision, ruling that it violated his freedoms of religion and expression. It was a blow—felt deeply across the Canadian Jewish community.
But David didn’t back down. “It’s time to ‘mensch up,’” he told us. Under the continued legal guidance of the two Joels (Weir and Richler), the case went to the Supreme Court of Canada.
And there, everything changed.
The Supreme Court ruled in David’s favour. Yes, removing Ross infringed on his freedoms—but it was a reasonable limit. Teachers, the court held, must meet a higher standard. That had been David’s position all along.
Looking back, Joel Richler said, “As a leader of our community in Moncton, David was instrumental in having Malcolm Ross removed as a public school teacher. He was a formidable force all the way to the Supreme Court. Throughout, he was good-humoured, strong, and focused—especially in facing the very aggressive Doug Christie.”
David and Yona were pioneers in the fight against antisemitism in Canada. Yona, still a teenager at the time, faced enormous pressure. But David’s clarity, courage, and commitment to justice carried them through. The case has since been cited across Canada in efforts to address teacher misconduct.
David upheld Jewish honour. He was a true hero.
May his memory be for a blessing.
