The Jewish Federation of Ottawa has launched a new initiative aimed at combatting antisemitism by harnessing the collective influence of Ottawa’s business community. Chaired by Ian Sherman, past Chair of the Board, the Federation’s Community Engagement Advisory Committee (CEAC) brings together Jewish business leaders, doctors, property developers, lawyers, and academics to identify and educate allies across sectors. The goal: to empower community influencers to actively counter antisemitism and promote a safer, more inclusive society.

After seeing the support that the letter Hate Has No Place, initiated by MPP Lisa MacLeod, received from a wide range of individuals in Ottawa, and the support from the Christian leadership’s, Ottawa Letter of Concern, it became clear that there were a plethora of individuals who were ready and willing to support the Jewish community. The goal of the committee is to mobilize them into action.

“October 7 changed lives, and not just for Canadian Jews, as many Canadians of all faiths deplored Hamas’ unspeakable atrocities. As a result, October 7 provides us with an opportunity to redouble our efforts to strike decisive blows against hate in Canada, and to act upon the willful promotion of discrimination, incitement to hatred, criminal intimidation, and unlawful assemblies accompanied by harassment and mischief,” says Sherman.

“CEAC is an opportunity for the Jewish community to engage our allies to act, whether through respectful individual conversations or through small working groups, and for these allies to help our Jewish community amplify our voices. In addition, the committee has access to resources and coaching to support their confidence at these meetings,” he explains. “As Canadians, we have a duty to speak out about antisemitism in our workplaces, in our family, and in our social circles, and to challenge the disinformation that fuels conspiracy theories and hateful tropes. We need many more allies to support our efforts.”

Working in conjunction to Federation’s Communications and Community Relations Committee (CCRC), chaired by Marci Surkes, CEAC aims to enhance and support the work of the CCRC and the advocacy staff of the Federation. 

Each CEAC member is a leader within their field and understands of the nuanced thinking within each industry. From there they will utilize their personal connections to relay information about the Jewish community of Ottawa as well as their personal stories of antisemitism in our city. Outspoken allies will then partner with the Jewish community and begin the challenging task of identifying and calling out antisemitism when they see it. 

The committee has started the work of identifying a “seed group” of non-Jewish leaders who they believe can be engaged to help spread the work of CEAC to other leaders and grow the pool of allies. Through a list of 50 community leaders, who the members feel will be easy to bring on board, the committee will provide these leaders with the language, statistics, and personal stories to allow the non-Jewish leaders to help us grow the network.

Currently the CEAC consists of entirely Jewish industry leaders, but the hope is to add non-Jewish leaders as they are identified. 

“In an editorial published by three political leaders earlier this month, it was stated that this fight to stand against antisemitism is not just for the Jewish community. Rather, it is a duty for all Canadians in a battle for the soul of our country. It is a call to all Canadians to take a hard look at our own actions - and inactions - which have enabled the rise of antisemitism. Otherwise, antisemitism represents a direct threat to both the Jewish community and to the values of democracy, diversity, equality, and human rights that we Canadians cherish,” explains Sherman.

“CEAC’s immediate call to action is for our Jewish community to help us identify those allies so that we can do our work or help support you in your efforts to have these critical conversations. We need to complete this work ‘one by one and two by two’ so that we can multiply our efforts to actively engage these allies. We will not be silent bystanders to antisemitism nor to any form of hatred, insidious acts of violence, or intolerance. It is not simply about our Jewish values, it’s about our Canadian values.”

The committee has been meeting for several months to plan and will mobilizing after the High Holy day season concludes.

If you know of non-Jewish community leaders who may be interested in supporting our efforts, please contact Jodi Green at jgreen@JewishOttawa.com or 613-798-4696 ext. 228.