For decades, the Canadian government has held more than a million pages of war-criminal investigation files secret, citing privacy laws and international agreements with foreign countries. Many Canadian organizations, including Jewish ones, have lobbied—unsuccessfully—for the government to release the names, which include many suspected Nazis. It turns out, the names were already public. Jared McBride, a history professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, recently led his students on a class project that discovered more than a thousand pages of historic Royal Canadian Mounted Police war crimes files—all freely available online. These typed and handwritten files from the 1980s show suspects' names, locations, case numbers, alleged crimes, and the results of the Mounties' investigations, including collaboration with Israel, Germany and Soviet authorities. They appear to match the still-secret parts of Canada's official 1986 Deschênes Commission of Inquiry's records on alleged or actual Nazi war criminals who got into the country. Not knowing about these publicly available documents, Jewish groups and some media outlets still have lawsuits pending to force Library and Archives Canada to release its war crimes holdings. But, as the UCLA students found out, the archives already released the RCMP documents five years ago. And nobody did anything with them—until now. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, Jared McBride joins to to unpack what, and how, he and his students uncovered in this breakthrough moment for national justice. Related links Hear B’nai Brith Canada’s former legal director, and a former war crimes investigator turned historian both weigh in on the importance of Canada releasing the names of suspected Nazi war criminals who entered the country, on The CJN Daily. Why Canada was reluctant to prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals who entered the country, in The CJN. Get the secret RCMP war crimes files officially released by Canada in Jan. 2020, after an Access to Information request. The files are all hosted now on the Canadian-based Investigative Journalism Foundation’s public database collection. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Marc Weisblott (editorial director) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

When Elliot Gluck recently tried to figure out how to vote in the upcoming Canadian election from abroad in Israel, he was left scratching his head. The 23-year-old Vancouver native, currently interning at a green tech company in Tel Aviv, knew there had to be a better way to help his fellow Canadians exercise their democratic rights. So the political science graduate spent a few days last week creating a new website, IsraelVotes.ca, which is already live. His goal is to make it easier for those eligible voters among the estimated 40,000 Canadians currently living in Israel to receive their ballots and cast their votes in what he's calling "one of the most consequential elections in recent memory," scheduled for April 28. Gluck's website is non-partisan and completely free, and facilitates ballot delivery, including to and from the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv. He joins Ellin Bessner on The CJN Daily to explain his motivations, the nasty antisemitic comments he's received online, and why it matters that Jewish Canadians make their voices heard this month. Related links Check out IsraelVotes.ca to learn more about how to vote from Israel in the April 28, 2025 Canadian federal election. Elections Canada’s website also explains about how to vote in Canadian elections if you are Canadian abroad, no matter how long you’ve lived outside of Canada. When Canada originally barred citizens living in Israel from voting from abroad, in The CJN, from 2015. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Andrea Varsany (producer), Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Canadians have been bracing for a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump for months—and this week, it might actually kick into high gear. Washington has already imposed 25-percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, and is expected to add auto parts to the list as early as April 3. These acts are having devastating effects on Canada’s economy—especially Canadian entrepreneurs. Many domestic business owners are pivoting. Some are focusing more on the Canadian market. Others are looking to expand in Europe and Australia. At least one Jewish business owner in Quebec moved his product assembly to Vermont, helping him keep his Canadian factory open. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we check in with two Canadian Jewish business owners, who give us their perspective on the trade war. Noah Tepperman is the co-owner of Tepperman’s, a furniture and appliance retail chain headquarted in Windsor, Ont., celebrating its centennial this month; and Michael Wiesel joins from Knowlton, Quebec to explain how he’s trying to save his DIY craft kit business, Kiss Naturals, which relies on U.S. customers for 80 percent of its business. Related Links Hear how this Vancouver kosher grocer prepared to handle expected tariffs on imported U.S. Passover foodstuffs (which have since been exempted) on The CJN Daily. Why tariffs might send more Jewish poor to food banks, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

In 1942, while Nazis were forcing the Jews of Krosno, Poland to move into the local ghetto, they missed at least one: an eight-month-old Jewish infant, left in a ditch by her frantic mother, wrapped only in a blanket, with just a birthdate and false first name pinned to the wool. A passing Polish couple found the child, brought her home and raised her as a Christian. She never knew her real name or identity, despite—she told people years later—always feeling that she was Jewish. It wasn’t until 2017 that a band of keen Jewish genealogy researchers, including the late Stanley Diamondof Montreal, managed to crack the mystery and confirm that Maria Vasitinskaya was really Rivka Silber. And despite her parents and two older siblings being murdered in the Holocaust, Diamond was able to reconnect the child survivor, then 78, with her extended family, including approximately 100 relatives in Israel and around the world. In April 2025, this remarkable true story is being published as a new non-fiction book, One in Six Million, by Amy Fish, a Canadian author. Fish joins The CJN Daily to explain how the tale fell into her lap—and how an unexpected genetic twist made telling it literally part of her own DNA. Related links Learn more about the book One in Six Million here. Read about the late Stanley Diamond’s passion for reuniting Holocaust survivors, in The CJN. Hear Stanley Diamond profiled on our newest Honourable Menschen podcast. Learn more about free DNA tests for Holocaust survivors. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

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 Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

About 2,000 anti-Israel protesters turned up in downtown Toronto on March 23 for the annual Al-Quds Day march in support of a free Palestine. Ahead of the event, calls to ban these events in cities across Canada were especially loud this year. The rallies—which happen globally—have seen protesters dressed up as suicide bombers, explicit calls for the destruction of Israel, Holocaust distortion, and flags for nationally-banned terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Samidoun and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. While Toronto police had vowed, days earlier, to beef up their presence at the event and look out for hateful activity, their response has been called a “Band-Aid” approach to address spiking antisemitism in the country. Police did ensure that roughly 25 pro-Israel counter-protesters stood peacefully across the street from the main activity, playing “O Canada” loudly, on repeat, while waving Israeli and Canadian flags. The CJN Daily‘s host Ellin Bessner went to cover the event and clearly heard antisemitic chants of “Go Back to Europe” aimed at the tiny but loud group of Jews. She saw anti-Israel Jews calling Zionism Satanism. And she herself was followed, harassed and chased out of a public city sidewalk and street by anti-Israel protesters when they discovered she worked for a Jewish news organization. Related links Why Jewish groups and some politicians feel the annual Al-Quds marches in Canada need to be banned as hate fests, in The CJN. Why is Canada doing nothing about terror-banned group Samidoun leaders travelling to Beirut for Hezbollah leader's funeral, in The CJN. How to submit your opinion before May 1, 2025 to Toronto city council about how they should police protests outside places of worship, the so called "bubble legislation." Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

On Monday March 17, Toronto Police Services announced that they arrested and laid 29 charges against a suspect allegedly behind a spree of hate-motivated attacks on Toronto’s Jewish community in 2024—and then, revealed a judge had released him on bail. Amir Arvahi Azar, 32, was arrested on Jan. 11, 2025, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto. He was kept in custody for two months, until this week's release order. Police highlighted the fact that they brought three “very rare” hate-speech charges against the suspect, including advocating genocide against Jews, wilful promotion of genocide and public incitement of hatred. The Ontario attorney general’s office had to agree to lay these charges, but went further than that and tagged the charges as “terrorist activities” under the Criminal Code, opening the door to a life sentence if convicted. There is a publication ban on revealing too many details about the case. All this has led Jewish leaders to ask: why was the suspect released on bail at all? On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we speak to Rivka Campbell, executive director of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, whose premises were hit by arson in April 2024, and also with Guidy Mamann of the Tiferet Israel congregation, where a pro-Israel sign was torched in August. Related links Read more reaction in The CJN from Jewish leaders about the arrest, charging with hate crimes, and then court-ordered release on bail of a suspect alleged to be behind terrorism-related spree of attacks on Toronto Jewish community buildings and people last year. Read the Toronto Police Service's news release announcing the suspect's arrest and bail conditions, March 17. Hear how Toronto's most targeted synagogue, Kehillat Shaarei Torah on Bayview Avenue, became more resilient after each of its eight attacks, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

On the second Honourable Menschen of 2025, we pay tribute to five Canadians from four provinces who left a mark on our community and who passed away in recent months. Dianne Kipnes, an Edmonton clinical psychologist and philanthropist who, together with her husband Irving fought to find and fund better treatment for people with cancer-related conditions. Sandy Keshen, executive director for 41 years of Toronto’s Reena organization, which was created to help her own daughter and other persons with disabilities find facilities and inclusion in the community. Michael Mostyn, the former CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, a Toronto lawyer who revitalized the Jewish advocacy organization to fight antisemitism on a national stage, while also assisting seniors, youth and the poor. Lou Hoffer, a Holocaust survivor from the less well known area of Transnistria in Romania, who became a tireless advocate for the victims of the Nazis murdered in that part of Europe. And Stanley Diamond, a Montreal genealogy expert whose quest to learn more about his family’s genetic blood disease, Beta thalassemia, helped so many Jewish people find their lost European relatives roots after the Holocaust, including Douglas Emhoff, Gwyneth Paltrow and Alan Dershowitz. On this episode of The CJN Daily‘s Honourable Menschen, we’re joined by our obituary writer Heather Ringel and also by Lila Sarick, The CJN’s News Editor, for more insights into the community leaders we have lost.     Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Last week, a senior Israeli official told the media that the country’s goal is to establish full diplomatic relations with Lebanon soon, a move that follows a November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that has kept Northern Israel relatively safe in recent months. In that light, the Israeli government has been urging displaced Israeli families from the region—more than 60,000 people who fled after Hezbollah began firing rockets at them after Oct. 7—to finally come home. But not everyone is convinced. Some fear the ceasefire won’t last. Even the mayor of Metula, where 60 percent of the buildings were damaged—including the Canadian-built hockey and sports complex—has warned residents not to return yet. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we’re joined by Michal and Nir Zamir, a Metula couple with deep Canadian ties. She’s returned to her empty home in northern Israel just recently, while he stays in Edmonton,where some of their children live. Then we’ll hear from Dr. Esther Silver, a former Torontonian who toughed out the war in her home in Kfar Vradim, a small town about an hour to the southwest of Metula in the Upper Galilee. Related links Why Israel's military escalation with Hezbollah impacts Canadians in Northern Israel on The CJN Daily from Jan. 2024. What Esther Silver said after the IIHF banned Israel's national hockey teams (temporarily) in 2024 from international competition, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Some people might argue there’s nothing funny about what’s happening in the Middle East. But try telling that to Eric and Ryan Turkienicz, the Toronto-based brothers who created the Jewish parody news website The Daily Brine after Oct. 7. Some sample headlines: “Hamas’ Work-From-Tunnel Policy Absolutely Ruining Office Culture.” “US Proposes Letting Hamas Rule The Country On Weekends Plus Every Other Thursday.” “Jewish Voice For Peace Excited To Decolonize Shavuot Just As Soon As Someone Explains To Them What Shavuot Is.” The Daily Brine started off as a side gig, an outlet for Eric Turkienicz—a lawyer by day—to leverage the time he spent performing and writing comedy at The Second City. Ryan, who works in real estate, handles the graphic design and social media. Now, with more than 20,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter, the Canada brothers have grown their part-time hustle to the point that the president of Israel invited them for an in-person meeting last week. On today’s The CJN Daily, host Ellin Bessner meets the Turkienicz brothers to discuss the real meaning behind the project: to provide uplifting, biting, and amusing pro-Israel content that punches up at the antisemites and the powers that be. Related links Follow The Daily Brine on their website, or on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter. Learn more about buying their merchandise, including T-shirts. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)