Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to join those of my colleagues who have had the pleasure of speaking to Bill S-232. My regards to the member for York Centre, who is sponsoring this bill in the House seconded by my colleague from Thornhill.
The bill designates a Canadian Jewish heritage month, and what a rich heritage it is. When asked if I was interested in speaking to Bill S-232, I said yes right away. Then I realized I would have to read up extensively on that heritage.
Unfortunately, I have only 10 minutes to speak in favour of this bill, even though there is so much to say about all of the good things the Jewish community has done since arriving in Canada.
I will try to focus on what happened in Quebec and the Jewish community's contribution to that province. I think there is a lot to say, and I plan to say a lot.
I was both proud and impressed as I read about their fascinating history. I hope this bill will give all Canadians and Quebeckers a chance to learn more about Jewish history in Canada.
Before I begin, I want to quote something that Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said before the Senate regarding the creation of a Canadian Jewish heritage month. When I read what he said, I thought to myself, this is exactly what the bill seeks to achieve. I cannot say it any better than he did:
The concept of heritage months offer a proactive approach to peeling back the ignorance that really serves as the engine or driver of the kind of intolerance that all of us would wish to see diminish and eradicated. It is in this context that I think they play an important role in helping other Canadians appreciate the shared values of specific communities....They bring down that sense of suspicion and hostility that is born from a sense of ignorance about other faith communities.
I think that what he said perfectly encapsulates why Bill S-232 has my full support.
Canada is not the first country to create a Jewish heritage month. In 2006, President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress passed a resolution proclaiming the month of May as the time to celebrate the contributions of the American Jewish community. In Ontario, Jewish heritage month was established in 2012.
Let's talk about Quebec. I have read quite a bit, and there is one book in particular that caught my attention. The book, edited by Pierre Anctil and Simon Jacobs, is entitled Les Juifs de Québec: Quatre cents ans d'histoire, or 400 years of Jewish history in Quebec City. I will read a few passages from the book because Jewish history in Quebec is the Jewish history in Canada, and hon. members will see why:
In 1738, a young woman by the name of Esther Brandeau arrived in Quebec City. She was officially the first person of Jewish descent to set foot in Canada. She arrived ashore [believe it or not] disguised as a young man and was [quickly] exposed and handed over by the authorities to a religious group, with the clear intention of [having her convert].
She stood her ground and may have been the first person to be deported from Canada as a result. According to our research, she was in fact the first Jewish woman to settle in Quebec City.
I will read another excerpt:
In 1761, Aaron Hart settled in Trois-Rivières and over the next few years convinced members of his own family to join him, or to lay down roots in other small towns along the St. Lawrence. Aaron Hart's son, Ezekiel, decided to run in an election to represent Trois-Rivières in the Parliament of Lower Canada. Hart was elected twice, in 1807 and 1809, but was barred from the House of Assembly because he was Jewish.
To think that a Jewish man would allow others to control his destiny is to underestimate the Jewish people. Ezekiel took legal action. Members of the community took legal action. They continued to fight. In the end, their efforts paid off.
In 1832, the Parliament of Lower Canada enacted legislation granting Jews the same rights and freedoms as the rest of the country's citizens, including the right to sit as a member of the legislative assembly. When the law was enacted in 1832, there were only about 20 Jews in Quebec and fewer than 100 in all of Canada. This goes to show that they were very influential and very determined to carve out a place for themselves here in Canada.
I could go on at length because the book is full of examples. I recommend that all my colleagues put this book at the top of their reading list for the first Canadian Jewish heritage month. The books is Les Juifs de Québec: quatre cents ans d'histoire, edited by Pierre Anctil and Simon Jacobs.
Montreal's Jewish population grew in the early part of the century and again later. At 90,000, it is now the second-largest Jewish community in Canada and the fifteenth-largest in North America.
In the 1930s, the government did not have a comprehensive social welfare system. Religious communities were responsible for managing institutions such as hospitals and orphanages. The Jewish community took charge of its own affairs and developed its own support network that included schools, hospitals, and community support clinics. The Jewish General Hospital is known to all Montrealers and Quebeckers. Over 70% of the patients treated there are not Jewish; they are Quebeckers. They are people like us, ordinary citizens who benefit from an institution created by our fellow citizens of Jewish origin.
The Jewish community actively and proudly participated in the development of Quebec and Canada. I am going to read out some names, and I know I will forget some because there are so many. My colleagues will immediately realize that these members of the Jewish community had a major impact on Quebec: Leonard Cohen, who is a household name; Sonia Benezra, a television host; Alan B. Gold, the first Jew to be appointed chief justice of the Court of Quebec in 1970 and chief justice of the Superior Court in 1983; Dr. Victor Boldbloom, the first Jew to be appointed to a cabinet position; Maurice Pollack, every Quebecker of a certain age knows Pollack's department store, an institution in Quebec City; Marcel Adam, from Quebec City, a pioneer in the shopping centre world; Sam Steinberg, the businessman who headed up the Steinberg food empire; and the Reitman family, owners of the largest women's clothing chain in Canada, to name a few. Of course there are others I could name, and I apologize to all those I did not mention. There is also the first MP, as my colleague noted. There are so many, that the first 10 minutes I have for my speech would not be sufficient to name them all.
I will conclude with another quote, this time from Michael Mostyn, the chief executive officer of B'nai Brith Canada:
This act is most welcome. It will recognize the many achievements of Canada's Jewish community, the members of which faced many hurdles from the outset of Canada's original existence as a colony and yet were able to greatly contribute to the fabric of Canadian society. Despite facing systematic racism, our community has never seen ourselves as victims, viewing roadblocks as opportunities rather than obstacles. It is because of our perseverance and our willingness to stand up to adversity and better ourselves that the Jewish community was able to help build this country up, despite our small numbers.
In light of the Jewish community's significant contribution to the development of our country, it is crucial that we emphasize how important the Jewish community's heritage has been to Canadian society by designating May as Canadian Jewish heritage month. I join my colleagues in supporting Bill S-232.
I hope that the House will come to an exceptional consensus so that we do not need to wait until May 2019 for our first Canadian Jewish heritage month. I hope that we can proceed as quickly as possible to make May 2018 the first Canadian Jewish heritage month.
