Just 24 hours into Canada’s federal election campaign, The CJN has put Jewish issues on the agenda. On Monday morning of Mar. 24, in a hotel near the Toronto airport, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre met with about 40 journalists from significant diaspora communities as part of a media roundtable reserved for “ethnic” news outlets—one of the first media opportunities since the federal election was called over the weekend. Poilievre fielded questions from outlets publishing in Mandarin, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Arabic and Vietnamese—and The Canadian Jewish News was there, too. While the focus was on Poilievre’s general platform—including why he would be better to handle Canada’s trade war with the U.S. than newly elected Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney—he also explained how he plans to tackle hate crimes against Canada’s Jewish community and address the Liberals’ recently announced $100 million in aid for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Hear what he has to say, on today’s episode of _The CJN Daily _with host Ellin Bessner.

What we talked about:

Why the families of the Oct. 7 victims are suing the Canadian government for funding UNWRA, as is the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, in The CJN.
How Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre spent the spring of 2024 courting Canada’s Jewish community, on The CJN Daily.
In 2023, Canada committed $100 million over four years in funding for UNWRA, 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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We asked Pierre Poilievre about federal funding for UNRWA. Here’s what he said