Articles


Canada needs to be more supportive of Israel: Eggleton

Posted On 09/28/04
By: Marshall Shapiro

Jewish leaders unite to honour “a friend of the community”

When the U.S. determined Al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11, “I sent the troops,” said former Minister of Defence, the Honourable Art Eggleton, who had dispensed Canadian forces in Afghanistan. Yet when Israel sent the IDF into Arab territory following terror attacks, “we were critical.”
This double standard has to stop, said Eggleton, speaking at a reception celebrating his contributions to Canada and the Jewish community. After more than 30 years in politics the former Toronto alderman, mayor, MP and cabinet minister, Eggleton has stepped out of politics but, he hinted, not out of public life and community service.
Eggleton’s evening of appreciation, which was hosted by B’nai Brith Canada, featured speeches by members of every level of government. Special guest, Moshe Ronen represented Canadian Jewish Congress, and referred to Eggleton as a “partner” of the Jewish community, praising his work as a founder of Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel. Ken Dryden, the newly elected Minister of Social Development, spoke of Eggleton’s service to York Centre, the constituency, with the second largest Jewish population in Canada, which Eggleton represented in Parliament and which Dryden now represents.
Praise also came from Monty Kwinter, Ontario’s Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, B’nai Brith’s Ann Freeman, Robert Kaplan, Toronto Deputy Mayor Mike Feldman, B’nai Brith Executive Vice President Frank Dimant and other dignitaries.
There was a warmth and feeling of affection during the event, rare in honouring most politicians. Ann Freeman, Chair of the B’nai Brith Centre for Community Action, said: “He championed our causes; he spoke out on behalf of our Jewish community, and voiced his strong and unwavering support for our beloved State of Israel. A founding and pioneering member of the Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel, Art along with fellow MPs and Senators sometimes challenged even his own party, in an effort to push for what in his mind he knew must be a fairer and more principled pro-Israel stance by our governing party. “
The longest-serving mayor of Toronto, Eggleton first sat as a Toronto City Councillor in 1969 and during his 22 years on council, spent seven as the city’s budget chief and as a member of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission. In 1980, he was elected Mayor of Toronto, serving until 1991.
“My life goes in eleven year cycles,” he quipped.
His next foray into elected office was as MP for York Centre.
As trade minister, he signed the free trade agreement – the only one Canada has outside of the western hemisphere – with Israel.
“I was quite amazed,” he revealed, “by who I was signing the agreement with. The counterpart from Israel was Natan Sharansky. I had read his book,” said Eggleton. He told how, as Mayor of Toronto, he had joined the effort and had signed petitions to help get Sharansky released from custody in the Soviet Union.
Eggleton pointed with pride to the Industrial Exchange Agreement he had signed, as Minister of Defense, with Israel over the objections of the foreign affairs ministry.
“Our foreign affairs department was not in favour of our dealing with the military or the defense establishment of Israel,” he said. “I felt that we could learn a lot from each other – after all, Israel was a fellow democracy – the only one in the Middle East and dealing with terrorism. We should have our industrial defense industry in contact with theirs.”
The agreement involved the sharing of secrets and opened the door to working cooperative on security issues, he said.
He spoke of his co-founding of Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel.
“Canada needs to be more supportive of Israel,” he declared.
He also pointed with pride to new all-party legislation, in which he participated, that was passed unanimously through the House of Commons and the Senate.
“It establishes by law an annual remembrance of the Holocaust. This will be done according to the Jewish calendar each year and will be proclaimed, officially, by the Canadian government in Parliament.
“Whatever I do in the future, I have public service and public policy in my bones. I’m sure I’m going to still be involved in some way with many of these issues,” he said. “I still want to continue to support the community and be involved in the kinds of things that are of concern to the Jews.”