North Star with Ellin Bessner Meet the man who digs for dirt on anti-Zionists and antisemites running for public office in Ontario
With more than 6,000 candidates running for a council seat in 400 villages, cities and towns, plus 37 school boards, there’s a lot to keep tabs on with Ontario’s upcoming municipal election. But the challenge doesn’t daunt Michael Teper.
Teper calls himself an an enemy of antisemitism and a fan of open government. In his private life, he’s a tax expert with a big Toronto accounting firm. But in his spare time, he seeks out anti-Zionists and antisemites running for public office. He files numerous freedom of information requests to uncover what officials are writing in their emails and on social media, and when the story seems big enough, he goes public with it.
Teper sat down with The CJN Daily to explain why he does what he does, how Israel and Palestine figure into Ontario's school boards, and what happened during some of the higher-profile antisemitic incidents that inspired him to act.
What we talked about:
- Follow Michael Teper on Twitter @michaelteper1
- Read B'nai Brith's election primer for Toronto
- Read The CJN's coverage of a former Timmins Catholic school teacher whose licence was revoked over Holocaust denial
- Read Josh Lieblein's column featuring Michael Teper
- Read how Ukrainian Jews celebrated Sukkot in Montreal this year
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.