...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Tough call: According to Ron Csillag on the JTA site (anyone know if he’s still writing for the Canadian Jewish News?), Canadian Jews are having a tough time deciding who to vote for:

…There's no hard data on Canadian Jews'  voting trends. But one informal study showed that during the 1970s, the years of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, they voted Liberal at a rate 20 percent higher than the national average.

"There's lots of talk in both Montreal and Toronto about Jews considering supporting the Conservatives," said McGill University sociologist Morton Weinfeld, one of Canada's foremost watchers of Jewish voting trends.

Weinfeld predicted a drop in Jewish votes for the Liberals, but "it may be a modest drop. I think the Jewish liberal tendency will persist but at a reduced margin."

Echoing the phenomenon of increasing numbers of  Jews leaning toward the Republicans in America, he said that some socially minded Jews are torn between Harper's support for Israel and his domestic conservatism.

Some Jews may fear that handed a majority government, the Conservatives could unleash drastic cost-cutting measures in social programs for children, immigrants, the eldery and other vulnerable populations.

B'nai Brith Canada has issued a 19-page guide to "issues of concern and recommendations for action" in this election. The guide does not endorse any party since non-profit organizations are prohibited from doing so.

The group's top domestic priority is hate-related activity in Canada. The guide notes that in 2007, there were 1,042 anti-Semitic incidents in the country -- the highest figure ever recorded by the group's annual audit, and an increase of 11.4 percent from 2006.

On the international front, the group has called for reform at the United Nations and for Ottawa to insist that "the emerging Palestinian state" end incitement to hatred, reject terrorism and move to disarm and outlaw terrorist groups.

The Canadian Jewish Congress has also laid out its issues in an election guide. They include the need to get tougher with Iran, shore up laws governing hate speech on the Internet, and developing a "national poverty strategy."

The Conservatives have also scored points in the Jewish community with a $3-million program to help beef up security at places of worship and ethno-cultural buildings. To date, they have allocated more than $600,000 to 19 synagogues, Jewish schools and communal buildings.

Dion, the Liberal Party candidate, has pledged $75 million to help ethno-cultural centers and houses of worship improve security...

Yeah, it’s a real head-scratcher. Should I vote for the guy who told Durban II organizers to “bite me” (although he may not have used those exact words); or for the guy who was elected leader at convention where Mohamed Elmasry was in attendance, and during which the Canadian Arab Federation endeavoured to scupper Bob Rae's candidacy by passing out flyers full of innuendo about his “Jewish” wife and her supposed associations with the "Zionists".

Let me sit and ponder that for a mo’.

Posted by: scaramouche at 17:36 | link | comments (1)

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