MONTREAL — The lights were low, the music throbbing, the bar open, the young patrons chic.
Justin Trudeau, member of Parliament for Papineau, second from left, gets up close with CJPAC activists Jason Zuckerman, left, Avi Krispine and Jessica Win.
It could have been a scene from a large downtown club, but this was an unusual political meet-and-greet, bringing together about 300 members of the Jewish community between approximately age 25 and 40 and politicians at all levels and from a range of parties.
Twenty-three people holding public office, from suburban mayors to federal cabinet ministers, accepted the invitation of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) to an “Action Party” in the Belvedere Hall of the Montreal Science Centre at the Old Port, which offers a stunning vista of the river and skyline.
This was the first such event held in Montreal by CJPAC, following a formula that has proven to be popular in Toronto, where last year’s party drew about 600 people, and the next one in April is expected to be attended by 800, said CJPAC executive director Josh Cooper.
CJPAC’s goal, on the one hand, is to overcome the apathy it believes many younger Jews have for politics and, on the other, to maintain good relations between the Jewish community and politicians of every stripe, especially who are considered friends.
CJPAC, which was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Toronto and now has a Montreal office, is a non-partisan, membership-based organization with the purpose of getting Jews of all ages involved in the political process, beyond simply voting.
By working within the political system, such as becoming party members or volunteering during campaigns, CJPAC believes Jews can have an impact on issues of concern to the community, including the welfare of Israel. This may be by affecting policy or getting favourable candidates elected.
From the federal government were Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney of Calgary; Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs, of Toronto; and former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier.
Among the federal Liberals were two stars, who probably had their photos taken the most often: Justin Trudeau and Toronto-area member of Parliament Ken Dryden, who was using crutches. Deputy house leader Marlene Jennings and Irwin Cotler rounded out the field.
Outremont MP Thomas Mulcair represented the New Democratic Party. No Bloc Québécois MPs or officials were there, but three Parti Québécois MNAs were, including former cabinet minister Sylvain Simard.
From the provincial cabinet were Immigration and Cultural Communities Minister Yolande James, International Relations Minister Pierre Arcand, Tony Tomassi, minister of families, as well as Lawrence Bergman, chair of the government caucus.
The leaderless Action Démocratique sent two former MNAs, Simon-Pierre Diamond and Christian Lévesque.
Many political staffers and insiders from Ottawa and Quebec City also mingled with the crowd.
Among the municipal leaders were Montreal official Opposition leader Benoît Labonté and Michael Applebaum, mayor of the Côte des Neige- Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and member of the city’s executive committee.
Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was scheduled to have a Shabbat dinner at Hillel House last Friday night to discuss Canada-Israel relations, joined by Cotler, Jennings and another Montreal Liberal MP, Marc Garneau.
The proceedings were informal with no speeches and guests able to mingle with the politicians or not, as they chose.
The event was co-chaired by Robert Stein, Avi Krispine and Cheryl Stein, who, noting that it coincided with Israeli Apartheid Week, said it was gratifying that so many politicians had come out.
Neil Uditsky, 37, who works in the apparel industry, said his political involvement to date has been limited to casting ballots. He had been a political science major at university, and says he still has the instinct for political issues, but not much time to do more between work and raising three children.
Nevertheless, he thinks the Jewish community should demonstrate its interest in politics.
“I think it’s important that we make a little bit of noise here and there, about the community’s goals and needs, so we don’t get trampled on like [Jews are] in Europe and the Middle East,” he said.
Lawyer Neil Hazan, 33, also believes it is important for the Jewish community to get its message across to politicians and to “show support” for MPs and other politicians who make the effort to come out to such an event.
“It’s a good atmosphere – funky but relaxed,” he said.
Jason Pinsky, 31, who works for a large securities firm, said he follows Canadian and American politics, but is not that interested in being directly involved in the process. He came to the party more for the opportunity of professional networking.
Charter accountant Richard Schnurbach, 27, said he came mostly to see who else from the community would be there, and to whether he would go to another CJPAC activity.
