Bernie M. Farber (born 1951)
[ ] is a writer, commentator, and the former
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human ...
and a
social activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...
. He has testified before the Canadian courts as an
expert witness
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
on
hate crime.
He was appointed CEO of the Mosaic Institute, a Canadian NGO that promotes pluralism, peace and conflict resolution internationally, in August 2015 and retired on October 1, 2017, though he remained on the NGO's advisory board. Farber was previously CEO of the
Paloma Foundation
Paloma may refer to:
Arts and media
* "Paloma", a song by Mika from ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook'' (2019)
* ''Paloma'' (film), a 2022 film by Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes
* ''Paloma'' (novel), by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
* ''Paloma'' (TV s ...
, an NGO which works with homeless youth shelters until his appointment with the Mosaic Institute. He also writes on human and civil rights issues for the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' and ''
NOW Magazine'', as well as various newspapers across Canada, and is frequently interviewed on these topics by the media. He was a weekly columnist for the ''
Canadian Jewish News'' from 2013 until the paper's demise in 2020.
He also serves as the Chair of the
Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
Early life and education
Farber was born in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
His father was a Polish Jew who lost his first wife, two children and other family members in the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Farber cites his father's experience as a major motivation in his life, saying, "the pain my father endured during the war is what drove me to fight for social justice today."
[Alumni profile: Fighting racism]
by Alex Wooley, ''Carleton University Magazine'', Winter 2004
Farber received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...
in Ottawa where he was involved in many social causes. He was a student leader with Ottawa's Jewish community and was also involved in the campaign to pressure the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
to allow
Soviet Jews
The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...
to emigrate. As the director of Ottawa's Jewish Community Centre, Farber also directed its
day camp
Day camps also known as summer camps in some areas, are geared for those who are of school ages 3-7. They offer activities in a social setting, usually in the community and the children return home in the evenings. Day camps can be booked by the ...
in the mid-1970s.
Social work
He graduated in 1975 and found a job with the
Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employees ...
(CAS) and the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton.
[
While working for the Children's Aid Society in the early 1980s, Farber served as president of ]Ontario Public Service Employees Union
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU; french: Syndicat des employés de la fonction publique de l'Ontario EFPOlink=no) is a trade union representing public sector employees in the province of Ontario, Canada. It claims a membership ...
Local 454, representing over 300 social and child-care workers.
Farber currently runs the Canadian Anti-Hate Network with Evan Balgord, a non-profit organization which as its mission statement claims that it: "monitors, researches, and counters hate groups by providing education and information on hate groups to the public, media, researchers, courts, law enforcement, and community groups."
Canadian Jewish Congress
Farber was employed by the Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human ...
(CJC) from 1984 until 2011. He was appointed chief executive officer in 2005 and had previously been executive director of the CJC's Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
section and CJC's National Community Relations Director. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA; ) is a Zionist and Jewish advocacy organization and an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. It was founded in 2004 as the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CCIJA) and headqu ...
absorbed the CJC on July 1, 2011.
Farber was appointed by the Ontario government to serve as a member of the Hate Crimes Community Working Group. He also serves on the city of Vaughan, Ontario
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
's Mayor's Task Force on Community Safety & Security. Farber is also an associate member of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.[
Farber has contributed articles on the Jewish political scene, human rights issues, the Holocaust, hate crime and white supremacy to newspapers including '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', the ''National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'', the ''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', and others. He has expressed his own or the CJC's views in newspapers such as ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' and ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. In 1997, Farber was the editor of and wrote portions of ''From Marches to Modems: A Report on Organized Hate in Metropolitan Toronto'', commissioned by the Access and Equity Centre of the municipality of metro Toronto.
Farber appears in the 1994 educational video ''Who is Peter Iswolsky?'', conducting an anti-racism workshop for high school students. The film was co-sponsored by the CJC and the National Congress of Italian Canadians.
Regarding the proposed beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
, Farber has said it is improper to move the process forward until the Holy See's archives from the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
are fully released.
Mr. Farber advocates the abolition of all public recognition accorded to Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
. He believes that Macdonald's legacy is one of "cruelty, barbarism and even genocide.".
Alleged Heritage Front plot
In December 1994, Canada's Security Intelligence Review Committee
The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC; french: Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement de sécurité) was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the o ...
reported that the white supremacist group Heritage Front had developed a "hit list" targeting 22 Canadians for murder, most of them Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
Jews. One member had allegedly planned an attack on the CJC offices to "take some people out", with Farber believed to be the primary target.
Over the preceding years, Heritage Front had been infiltrated by, and become largely directed by, Grant Bristow
Grant Bristow (born February 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) was an undercover spy, or mole, for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), who co-founded and successfully infiltrated the Heritage Front white supremacist group for six years. S ...
, an undercover agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...
(CSIS). In August 1994, a report by the ''Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'' exposed CSIS domestic spying including Bristow's undercover role in Heritage Front, effectively putting an end to any plot.
Pride controversy
Farber, who is not gay, was mocked by columnist Antonia Zerbisias
Antonia Zerbisias is a Canadian journalist associated with the ''Toronto Star'' from 1989 until she took early retirement from the paper on 31 October 2014. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as wel ...
in 2009 for wearing a "Nobody knows I'm gay" T-shirt (sold as a fundraiser by a Jewish LGBTQ group) while marching in Toronto's Pride parade as a protest against the inclusion of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in the march. The Canadian Jewish Congress filed a complaint with the ''Toronto Star'' against Zerbisias "outing" Farber. The newspaper's public editor
A public editor is a position existing at some news publications; the person holding this position is responsible for supervising the implementation of proper journalism ethics at that publication. These responsibilities include identifying and e ...
ruled that Zerbisias' comments "fell short of the Star's standards of fairness, accuracy and civility," but subsequently modified her assessment and criticized Farber and the CJC since, in their complaint, they did not "think to tell me that arber along with dozens of others who marched with the Kulanu group, had worn a T-shirt that made its own ironic quip. That's context I sure wish I had known" and conceded that Zerbisias' comment "was intended as sarcastic irony, stock in trade for this columnist and blogger."
Electoral record
Farber was on leave from the CJC's successor, the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy during his candidacy as the Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022.
The party espouses the principles of li ...
's nominee in the 2011 Ontario election in the riding of Thornhill. Farber received 40% support but lost to Progressive Conservative Peter Shurman
Peter Shurman (born November 18, 1947) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2013 who represented the riding of Thornhill. Prior to his time in ...
by 2,500 votes.[ ]
Gemini Power Corporation
From 2012 to 2015, Farber was the Senior Vice President for Gemini Power Corporation, working in partnership with First Nations to help develop sustainable business economies.
Awards
In 1992, Farber was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal. The commemorative medal was awarded to 40,000 Canadians for their contributions to community and country.,
Mr Farber has also received the Special Commendation Award from the Venerable Order of St. Johns and is a recipient of Canada's Sovereign Medal https://podcastaddict.com/episode/73407213
Farber also received the Charles "Chuck" Zaionz Award for Jewish Communal Service in December 2012 as well as the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal.Former Congress CEO honoured by Community
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farber, Bernie
1951 births
Living people
Carleton University alumni
Jewish Canadian activists
Writers from Ottawa
Canadian Zionists
Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections
Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent
Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian columnists
Jewish Canadian journalists