April 2023

Addressing antisemitism through education is a long-term investment. Contemporary antisemitism, like all forms of intolerance and discrimination, has a profound impact on the whole of society, but especially on young students. CHES continues to address antisemitism in Ottawa schools through various channels; the first three months of 2023 were our busiest ever. The quality and breadth of our educational events and programs increased significantly during this period as did the demands for teachers’ workshops, presentations, and the CHES Speakers’ Bureau.

Since November, CHES has been engaged in hours of meetings and planning, developing unique new workshops and presentations intended to instruct educators and provide them with tools to deal with sensitive concerns and issues affecting their schools and students. Workshops were designed to ensure that young people are learning the correct message regarding incidents of hate, antisemitism, and discrimination, and the meaning of Nazi symbols that are linked to hatred, antisemitism, and discrimination that show up in the schools and on social media.

We have been busy coordinating numerous requests for visits to various schools, much more than in past years. We thank our dedicated survivors who have generously taken this heavy responsibility and have risen to the needs in our Ottawa schools. These include Kati Morrison, Tibor Evergari, Judy Young, Tova Clark, and Raoul Korngold. As the number of survivors who are able to share their experiences declines, an urgent goal is to train sufficient descendants to join the Speakers’ Bureau. See Through Their Eyes

CHES feels that our recent work has triggered significant change and, importantly, a new understanding. We recognize and commend the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) for the tremendous steps they took towards recognizing the existence of antisemitism in their schools and for seriously working on developing an approach to dealing with it. An important development at the OCDSB was the agreement to appoint a Jewish Equity Coach, and we are looking forward to seeing the appointment materialize.

The insight we gained during our two-year engagement with the school boards confirms the need for a thoughtful, well-researched strategic approach with a clear plan involving not just boards of education, but the wider community. This approach that addresses not only modern antisemitism, but who we are as Jewish people.

We are reviewing the OCDSB and OCSB strategic documents to ensure that combatting antisemitism and all forms of racism and discrimination are integrated into the overall strategic plan of both boards.

With respect to our ongoing work with the Ministry of Education, CHES was invited to review the proposed new Grade Six Holocaust curriculum document. As well, the OCDSB asked CHES for help in the curriculum’s implementation.

I am pleased to share that as part of pursuing our goal of cooperating with other organizations, CHES has been working with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa (JFO). Thanks to Artur Wilczynski and David Sachs for their effort, commitment, excellent work, and inspiring presentations.

We are committed to continuing to provide presentations for Ottawa educational institutions. Our goal is to develop effective educational tools to combat antisemitism that reflect Ottawa experiences. We renewed our partnership with the National Arts Centre and Temple Israel and forged new partnerships with the education faculties at the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College. CHES will contribute a presentation for Liberation 75’s special program for students across Ontario scheduled for Yom Hashoah 2023. The program will feature the lesson plan, It’s Never Okay!, which will be presented by Kenra Mroz to Grade Seven to Twelve students across Ontario.

CHES commends the Government of Canada for including in its federal budget, released on March 28^th, $0.6 million ongoing to support Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy to fight all forms of racism, including antisemitism, and $1.5 million over two years to create a new Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Secretariat to develop federal government policies.

Wishing our Jewish friends a Happy Passover and to all who celebrate Easter, a Happy Easter.