The CJN Daily panel’s year in politics: Canada on Israel, predicting Trudeau’s future, the Nazi standing ovation—and what to watch for in 2024

The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner and the political panel review the report card on Canada's political leaders for 2023: panelists Stephen Adler (top right), a senior director with National Public Relations, David Birnbaum (bottom right), former Liberal Member of the Quebec National Assembly, and Emma Cunningham, former Ontario NDP riding president who quit over antisemitism, now a trustee with the Durham District School Board, in Pickering, Ont.

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As 2023 comes to a close, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has sat down for a lot of year-end interviews with major Canadian journalists, and The CJN Daily has been asking for one with him, too–for months. But to no avail (we will keep trying).

Canada’s Jewish community (and The CJN) have a lot of questions to ask about this government’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7, including why it continues funding for UNRWA, why Canada’s initial strong support for Israel has now changed with a recent UN vote calling for a ceasefire, why it took Canada’s foreign affairs minister so long to say she believes Hamas terrorists raped and murdered Israeli women, and why CBC News continues to be permitted not to call Hamas ‘terrorists’.

So we’ll ask the next best thing: our panel of experts to evaluate how well or in many cases how poorly Canada’s elected leaders have handled these big issues, especially from the Jewish community’s perspective. And we’ll get them to make their predictions for the New Year. 

Ellin is joined from Toronto by Stephen Adler, a former Conservative insider now a senior director with National Public Relations; by Emma Cunningham, a former NDP riding president in Pickering, Ont. who quit her provincial party over antisemitism–she is now a trustee with the Durham District School Board but is speaking on a purely personal basis ; and by David Birnbaum, in Montreal, a former Liberal member of the Quebec National Assembly for the riding of D’Arcy McGee, retired in 2022.

What we talked about

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Credits:

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.