A lawsuit prompted the dramatic overhaul of the Toronto Zionist Council, owners of Camp Shalom

Show notes

Two Toronto community leaders have gone public about a legal fight involving one of Canada’s oldest Zionist organizations, which also runs Camp Shalom, a 75-year-old Jewish summer camp in Ontario. David Matlow, a CJN columnist who also lectures widely about Theodore Herzl, has taken the little-known Toronto Zionist Council to court over allegedly restricting who can be a member, claiming the organization only allows Jews who hold right-wing political views on Israel and Zionism. His legal case also alleges years of financial mismanagement by the organization’s former (and one current) directors, negatively impacting the TZC’s neglected Toronto headquarters at 788 Marlee Avenue, and Camp Shalom, in Gravenhurst, Ont. The lawsuit has been before the courts since August 2022. But while it continues, Matlow’s not-so-quiet pressure campaign has already resulted in a partial victory: the replacement of nearly all the longtime TZC directors at the centre of his allegations. Guidy Mamman, a Toronto immigration lawyer, was named the new president of the TZC board, and says he’s vowing to set things right. He wants to help Camp Shalom grow, fix the office building on Marlee, investigate any financial wrongdoing and even try to retrieve any allegedly missing money.  On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we bring you the full fascinating back story with plaintiff David Matlow and with new TZC president, Guidy Mamman.

What we talked about:

• Read our first part of the investigation into the squalid conditions of The Toronto Zionist Council’s headquarters at 788 Marlee Ave., in The CJN.
• Watch our tour inside 788 Marlee, on The CJN’s YouTube channel.
• See the 1995 letter from Revenue Canada revoking an affiliated charity that illegally sent money to the West Bank.

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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.