Minister of Immigration and Citizenship to speak at book launch of new publication on the Canadian Jewish community

June 19, 2001

For Immediate Release

Toronto, June 19, 2001… The Honourable Elinor Caplan, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, will address a reception in Toronto this evening to launch From Immigration to Integration. The Canadian Jewish Experience: A Millennium Edition, a book that has just been released by B'nai Brith Canada’s Institute for International Affairs.

The book launch will take place in the heart of old Jewish Toronto tonight, Tuesday, June 19, 2001, at 6:00 pm at the Anshei Minsk Synagogue, 10-12 St. Andrew Street. The Anshei Minsk epitomizes an era when the apex of the Jewish community's social, economic and religious activity in Toronto was centered in the Kensington Market neighborhood.

This book was edited by Ruth Klein and Frank Dimant, two experts who have studied the Jewish community within the framework of the wider Canadian picture, and well as in the context of its place amongst the Jewish communities of the world. Together with sixteen of Canada’s preeminent historians, social scientists and legal scholars, they have created a publication that charts the community’s past, describes its contemporary profile and analyzes the challenges its faces in the future.

“The turn of the millennium is an excellent time to take stock, and From Immigration to Integration gives Jewish Canadians the means to link their past and current experiences with future endeavours,” said the Honourable Elinor Caplan, Member of Parliament for Thornhill, on behalf of the Honourable Herb Gray, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for the Government of Canada’s millennium initiative. “The Government of Canada proudly supported this book with a partial financial contribution of up to a maximum of $55,250 through the Canada Millennium Partnership Program.”

Rochelle Wilner, President of B’nai Brith Canada, congratulated the editors and authors for “their creativity and scholarship. This study has not only contributed to a greater understanding of the Canadian Jewish experience, but has also provided an important chapter in the overall history of this country’s ethnic communities. As such, we hope it will be a useful tool for the wider community in shaping a proactive approach to future initiatives that will strengthen the fabric of Canada’s multicultural society.”

The Canada Millennium Partnership Program (CMPP) contributed up to one third of eligible project costs for close to 1,700 projects across the country, while the private sector and other organizations provided the remaining funding. CMPP-supported projects promoted our history, our youth, our arts and culture, our environment and the development of our communities.

B’nai Brith Canada

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B'nai Brith has been active since 1875 as the country's senior advocacy and volunteer agency.

For further comment, please contact:
Jesse Guberman at (416) 633-6224 ext. 140
Marcel Gaumond at (613) 943-3239