Skate Park in Alberta defaced with a giant swastika

As tweeted by @CJPAC (Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee) and reported by Pamela Roth for Canoe.ca, a swastika was carved into Castle Downs Park's Edmonton Hill.


A mother and her two young boys came across the disturbing symbol on Wednesday while playing on the playground in the park. The night before a group of young males had been seen jumping the temporary fence.

Constable Patrick Ruzage of the city police said while it is not uncommon to see graffiti around town especially in the summer months while school is out, the size of the swastika carved is rare.

Councilor Amrjeet Sohi, leader of the Racism Free Edmonton initiative, hopes the vandalism was merely a thoughtless act, rather than a co-ordinated effort to make a racist statement. In a statement made by Sohi, the councilor said, "This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable. This does not reflect what Edmonton is all about."

City crews have since removed the swastika and will likely have to seed the ground again as it continues to renew the look of the park.

In related news former Christian Dior designer John Galliano was found guilty of antisemitic remarks and racist behaviour. Full story on Heebonics.ca

Canada Votes 2011 - CJPACers Blog (Part II)

The hardworking team over at the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) continue to provide terrific insight into the minds of young, Jewish, Canadian federal party volunteers as they campaign towards the May 2 vote.

The following are four more blogs from the CJPAC members – Julien Newman, Sarah Kitai, Zach Paikin and Aaron Silver – each reveal more about their experiences with their chosen parties this election. Read on and enjoy. Oh, and don't forget to go to the polls on May 2. 

Your vote counts. 

- The Shmooze Team.

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Julien Newman – My first time:

The first time I volunteered in a large-scale political campaign was to elect Ed Broadbent in 2004. Mr Broadbent was a former leader of the NDP. He had delivered the party’s most successful electoral results and he was returning to federal politics to support of our promising new leader – Jack Layton. We had thousands of volunteers throughout the campaign and we managed to win the seat from the Liberals.

Read more at Julien's www.itsup2you.ca  blog

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Sarah Kitai – Lessons Learned:

Sometimes, it’s the unpleasant experiences in life that teach us the best lessons.

This was certainly true of my early encounters with political organizations. As a high school student, concerned about environmental issues and eager to get involved, I naively decided to volunteer with a certain left-wing environmental advocacy group which shall henceforth remain unnamed.

Read more at Sarah's www.itsup2you.ca blog

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Zach Paikin – My First Political Campaign:

This week’s topic is about our very first political campaign and what we wished we had known at that age.

My first political campaign was when I was 13 years old, and funnily enough it was working for John Tory in his race to become leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in 2004. (I have only been a partisan since 2008, when I decided to join the Liberal Party.)

Read more at Zach's www.itsup2you.ca blog

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Aaron Silver – My First Time:

Thinking about when I was first involved in a campaign takes me back to September 2008.  I was a junior CJPAC fellow and hungry to get involved in politics.  I lived in Toronto at that time, in the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence and wanted to get involved in a Conservative campaign.  My desire to work on a campaign led me to the nomination campaign of Joe Oliver.

Read more at Aaron's www.itsup2you.ca blog

Canada Votes 2011 - CJPACers blog their party allegiances!

In case you hadn't noticed, Canada is smack-dab in the middle of an election campaign.

And what better way to honour our democratic system than to give voice to Jewish community youth taking an active part in shaping our country's next political landscape.

The Shmooze is proud to present four takes from volunteers working with the major Canadian political parties, telling you to get out and vote.

The Canadian Jewish Shmooze wishes to thank Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) for its kind permission in reprinting and posting these four blogs from their members: Aaron Silver, Zach Paikin, Sarah Kitai and Julien Newman. We're sure you'll figure out where their party allegiances are as you read their posts.

- The Shmooze Team 

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By Aaron Silver

My vote doesn’t matter. What can one person possibly change? Elections are just hype and spin, nothing changes. My life won’t change one way or another.

Ever felt like this? Keep reading.

Read more...                 

http://www.itsup2you.ca/en/2011/03/aaron-silver-introduction/



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By Zach Paikin

Hi everyone! Zach Paikin here. I’m a student at McGill University pursuing a B.A. in Middle East Studies with a minor in Political Science, and am a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Read more...

http://www.itsup2you.ca/en/2011/03/zach-paikin-introduction/

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By Sarah Kitai

I’ll let you in on a little secret… I’m really not cut out for politics. I can’t regurgitate talking points, I hate spin, and I find every issue so incredibly nuanced that I tend to question my own opinions at least five times a day. Yet, here I am volunteering on a Green Party campaign (yes, you heard that right) when I should probably be focused on my upcoming exams.

Read more...                 

http://www.itsup2you.ca/en/2011/03/sarah-kitai-go-green/

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By Julien Newman

I have been an active member of the NDP since the ripe age of 14 and I worked in many campaigns in my home ridding of Hull-Aylmer. Like everywhere else in Quebec at the time, the NDP didn’t have very bright electoral prospects. Over the years our results gradually improved and after Thomas Mulcair was elected in Montreal it became extremely exciting to be involved.            

Read more...

http://www.itsup2you.ca/en/2011/03/election-2011-making-gains/

 

See and hear the Toronto mayoral candidates debate for Jewish seniors

Last week, the Top 5 Toronto mayoral candidates took the stage at Shaarei Shomayim synagogue to answer questions of interest to the city's Jewish seniors. As at most debates, things got a little heated, a little off track but also very enlightening as to who the candidates are and what they represent.

The Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) and the Association of Jewish Seniors (AJS) co-hosted the event. CJPAC kindly offered The Shmooze the video of the debate. So click below to watch, hear and absorb what they all had to say and decide for yourselves who you like best or least. Below are the candidates' answers to the first question of the debate. For the rest of the debate videos, please click CJPAC's Youtube channel here.