An interview with Karina Gould, who wants to be Canada’s first Jewish prime minister

Karina Gould says she is a Zionist; she is raising her kids to know the Jewish traditions, and she is fiercely proud of her Jewish heritage, including the legacy of her grandparents who survived the Holocaust. With just under a month to go before the federal Liberals choose a new leader on Mar. 9, Gould—the only candidate of Jewish heritage—announced she had cleared her party's $225,000 fundraising hurdle before the deadline last Friday. But she will have to come up with an additional $125,000 by Feb. 17 to remain in race. Gould is campaigning against front-runner Mark Carney, formerly governor of the Bank of Canada; former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland; and also former Liberal MPs Ruby Dhalla and Frank Baylis. Gould was first elected in Burlington as part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s majority sweep in 2015. At 29, she became the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history when Trudeau appointed her minister for democratic institutions in 2017. But after nine years in office, Gould says Canadian voters have lost faith in the Liberal party. She also recognizes that traditional support from Jewish Canadian voters has all but evaporated because of her government’s recent wavering stance on Israel and the spike in domestic antisemitism. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, Gould joins host Ellin Bessner to explain how her Jewish identity shaped her and outline her policies on Israel and Jewish issues: why she would continue funding UNRWA, for now; how she wants to see all hostages released unconditionally; how she’d handle the arms embargo on Israel, and why Trump's plan to rebuild Gaza is a hard "No".

Related links

• Read a 2021 profile of Karina Gould when she was Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, in The CJN.
• Learn more about Karine Gould at her campaign website.
• Read what CJN political columnist says about the main candidates in the Liberal leadership race, in The CJN.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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