Thank you both for being here today. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to jump right into it.
My parents emigrated from Morocco to Montreal, where I was born and raised. I left Montreal years and years ago, and I moved to a little town, Maple Ridge, with a handful of Jewish people. I've owned a business there for the last six years. I didn't really have any connections to the Jewish community whatsoever. We don't have a Jewish community there.
One thing that happened after I was elected was that a gentleman had come in with an issue, and as he was leaving, he turned and said to me, “Why were you hiding the fact that you're Jewish?”
I said, “Excuse me?”
He said, “What do you think the newspaper would say if I called them up right now and told them you're a Jew?”
For me, that was the very first time that I'd ever encountered something to that extent, and having a month like this.... I mean, honestly, you don't go around shouting, “Hey everybody, I'm Jewish.” I mean, you live in the community that you live in.
Do you see Jewish heritage month as an opportunity to perhaps, for some of us folks, be able to shout out to our community, “Hey, look”? I'd like your thoughts on that.