By Rick Kardonne
Tribune Correspondent
As the 2006 Canadian federal election gets under way, a new organization called Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) has been formed, which claims its purpose is to advance issues of concern to the Canadian Jewish community by encouraging participation directly in the political process.
But mystery surrounds this group. In a wide-ranging interview with Josh Cooper, executive director of CJPAC, a registered lobby group, there were more questions left unanswered than answered.
Cooper, an unsuccessful Conservative candidate in the last election, was hired by Hershell Ezrin, a one-time liberal bureaucrat and strategist, to sell $18 memberships to the UJA-funded CIJA-PAC.
Cooper, when asked by the Jewish Tribune how CJPAC was formed and by whom, replied that it was started “by advocates from across the country for Jewish causes,” but would give no other names or details.
He said there was no consultation with Ezrin, chair of the nonprofit advocacy group Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA). Cooper directed CIJA’s Public Affairs Committee (CIJA-PAC) until he left last May.
Cooper said there was no notice sent to any of the Jewish advocacy organizations letting them know this new group was starting. Rather, there was an informal meeting during which a board of 12 directors, all of whom are funding this organization, were chosen. Cooper claims CJPAC already has 3,000 members who were recruited through word of mouth.
This informal meeting appointed Lawrence Zimmering, CEO of Resolve Corporation of Toronto, as CJPAC’s chairman. The rest of the board members come from across Canada: Jerry Lamport, British Columbia; David Prasow, Alberta; Neil Duboff, Manitoba; Dennis Bennie, Judy Feld Carr, David Goldstein, Joel Reitman, Lionel Schipper, Mark Waldman, all of Ontario; and Betty Elkaim-Cohen and Elliot Lifson, Quebec.
He would not reveal CJPAC’s business address, only saying that it is in the Avenue Road-Bloor Street area of Toronto, coincidentally within the same vicinity where Ezrin’s CIJA has its offices.
Cooper acknowledged that the CJPAC board pays his salary. Since CJPAC is registered with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) as a registered lobby group, he was asked, in the name of transparency, to reveal who is on staff.
He said that there were three staff CJPAC employees, including himself, but he would neither reveal the names of the two other staffers, nor would he reveal their salaries. Cooper was also unwilling to disclose CJPAC’s budget.
Also, for the sake of transparency, Cooper was asked whether CJPAC donors will be listed or announced so that candidates for political office will know who is behind the program both in terms of financial help and volunteer help. He said, “We have not come up with a policy,” and would not give any other direction.
While allowing that CJPAC members could also belong to other Jewish advocacy organizations, Cooper adamantly emphasized: “CJPAC does not represent the Jewish community. We are totally independent.”
However, in a recent email blasted out to a wide-ranging audience, CIJA-PAC, an arm of CIJA and tied to UJA Federation, directed recipients to CJPAC’s web site “to get involved.” This certainly raises questions if, as Cooper alleges, his organization is indeed independent and that Jewish groups were not fully apprised of his group’s agenda, donors or recipients.
Asked about the similar and confusing names of CIJA-PAC and CJPAC and whether that indicates some connection between the two groups, Cooper would only say, “We feel that these initials accurately reflect what this organization is about.”
According to Cooper, the board of directors will determine which candidates to financially support in each riding, in compliance with campaign laws, adding that “the donations to candidates from CJPAC are already made public,” although he wouldn’t list the individual contributors. In other words, candidates would only know they had received funds from an entity called CJPAC, not the names of individual donors.
In a post-Gomery political climate, candidates will have to ask themselves whether it would be appropriate to accept money from an entity with an undisclosed address, staff, and contributors.
Cooper said that if any political candidate makes an unfriendly statement towards Israel, he and his organization would comment.
However, when a Dec. 1 front page article by Lynne Cohen in the Jewish Tribune was brought to his attention revealing that both Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Demoratic Party leader Jack Layton had both accused Israel of illegally occupying lands in the Middle East at the annual Canadian Arab Federation reception in Ottawa, Cooper said that he had not read this article and could not comment until he had.
When asked whether CJPAC was working, meeting, or consulting with any other Jewish advocacy agencies already doing similar work, he replied: “We will work with all Jewish agencies. Everyone can share information, as long as it meets CCRA guidelines.”
But he constantly emphasized that only his group – a registered lobby group – can actually endorse and financially contribute to candidates in the 2006 federal election that it feels will best serve Jewish interests – the determination of which is just one more apparent mystery.
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