When Louis Rasminsky was appointed to be governor of the Bank of Canada in 1961, he became the first Jew to hold such a high office in the history the Canadian civil service—even though he’d previously been passed over for the job due to antisemitism, and wasn’t even allowed to join Ottawa’s exclusive Rideau Club at the time, since it didn’t accept Jews.

Canada’s civil service today is, of course, much more accepting of diversity. But there is still work to do. Antisemitic jokes are still made among colleagues in some departments, while Jews are not always invited to government-run anti-racism initiatives, such as one held by the Department of National Defence last fall.

These are the issues that preoccupy the Jewish Public Servants’ Network, which recently held its first annual meeting on Zoom. The group boasts around 300 members, including Jonathon Greenberg of the CRTC; Kayla Estrin, a 30-year employee with Health Canada; and Artur Wilczynski, a former ambassador who now works at the Communications Security Establishment.

All three join The CJN Daily podcast to discuss their initiative and the intersection between Judaism and the public service. Listen and subscribe above.

What we talked about:

• Email the Jewish Public Servants’ Network at [email protected]
• Read “A former Timmins Catholic school teacher’s licence was revoked due to his Holocaust denial and antisemitic lessons” at thecjn.ca
• Watch the #We Remember video on YouTube.

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.