By Frederick Klein
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On October 7, 2023, the nation of Israel declared war on Hamas, known to be a terrorist group by Canada. Since that time, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal minority government have made several comments that reveal a weak political posture that at times seems ill-considered, uninformed or downright disappointing for a country that has supported Israel since its creation in 1948. Lately, Trudeau’s dumping on Israel has become unbearable and I would like to point out that the work environment in the Government of Canada is far from ideal. Given that and the situation of anti-Semitic violence Justin tolerates in my hometown and cultivates with his own inaction, I will now share my work experience.
After experiencing anti-Semitism at Canada Post head office (as a security guard) and where I felt like a visitor to the Horn of Africa, I left for what I hoped would be greener pastures. With my secret security clearance and Master’s degree in hand, I began work for the Government of Canada December 19, 2006 at the Translation Bureau in Gatineau, Quebec, where 90% of the work is for translation to French. There, you might as well be working for the Government of Quebec as the place is overflowing with racist French-Canadians such as Michelle Toupin, Diane Dore, Diane Lafrance and Christine Fournier, all ready to taunt you in French Catholic code.
My final contract was at the War Museum in Ottawa (no incidents there) and it ended the same day Justin was first sworn in, November 4, 2015. In between, I worked for many agencies, units, tribunals and ministries but always under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper was known for pandering to Jews for example, sending greeting cards to Jewish employees for the high holidays. For better or worse, I never got any card in my life from Stephen Harper. Those Jewish co-workers I knew did not appreciate the idea of being singled out for their Jewishness in the workplace even if it was ostensibly for a friendly reason that likely concealed political reasons.
With few exceptions, I was harassed, vexed or intimidated at almost every government employer’s workplace specifically for being Jewish. Nobody in the government or their numerous complaint procedures ever helped me or offered any relief. I am still suffering for it to this day and I even worked at the agency responsible for settling disputes in the government’s workplace, the PSLRB, where I was harassed notwithstanding the Chairperson at the time, Mr. Casper Bloom also being Jewish!
During my time working at the PSLRB, I became aware of a case where a Jewish employee of the Passport Office had been harassed in the workplace and even received anonymous death threats from one of her colleagues. Although she eventually won her grievance, the perpetrator has never been found and the government could not think of any way to flesh him out. Since he (presumably a man) hates Jews and works for Foreign Affairs, I can think of a way. Instead, the whole matter was swept under the rug and who knows how high that aggressor has risen in the government today, possibly even working for the airhead cabinet minister herself, Mélanie Joly.
Among the other Jew-hating workplaces I experienced in the Government of Canada in addition to the Translation Bureau and the Public Service Labour Relations Board are Department of National Defence, where I worked first for DGAEPM and later for DSCO and faced lines of questioning from management such as 1) what business do Jews like me have to weasel their way into the office Christmas party? and 2) would I walk extra slow when returning from the office Christmas party to cheat my employer out of paid labour? During another social outing to a restaurant with National Defence staff, a male colleague singled me out in the men’s room to tell me “If you don’t get with the program, we’re going to send you to Auschwitz.”
Next, there was Library and Archives Canada’s Annie Wolfe (no Jews allowed at the office Christmas party) and it’s backed up her supervisor Isabelle when their tandem threatened me with illegal policies from the Treasury Board. Ultimately, Annie and Isabelle were backed up by the National Librarian and Archivist of Canada Guy Berthiaume who refused to investigate my original complaint. As if that weren’t enough, there was also the grossly offensive blood libel shamelessly espoused by the Chairperson at the Specific Claims Tribunal who said to me just before Passover 2014
“With Easter just around the corner, are you doing anything special to commemorate the time your people killed Christ?”
The lack of courtesy, couth and diplomacy at each of those agencies was remarkable. When considering which of these was the worst, it boggles the mind. Some of the rude people involved were even judges of the Queen’s (now King’s) bench.
Justin Trudeau, you have done nothing in the ensuing eight years replacing Stephen Harper to solve the problem and thus you have no place to lecture Israel on respect when your own government does not respect the Charter of Rights when it comes to Jews, contract workers nor librarians. As we say in Yiddish, “Echmeer a Prime Minister!”
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