Former Police Chief Backs Farber

Chief Backs Farber

TORONTO —Former York Region police chief Armand La Barge has endorsed former Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber, who is seeking to win the riding of Thornhill for the Liberals in the Oct. 6 Ontario election. Farber, who was with Congress for 27 years, including six as CEO, hopes to beat incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman, a former radio broadcaster who has held the seat since 2007. Speaking at a campaign kickoff event last month, La Barge said Farber was a key resource for police on hate and antisemitism when he was chief.

Group Defies Baird

MONTREAL — A group calling itself the Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) said last week it will defy Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s May 28 warning against “unauthorized efforts to deliver aid” to Gaza, which he called “provocative” and “unhelpful.” The group said it will send a boat on the second “Freedom Flotilla” this month, adding that Baird was trying “to abdicate the Canadian government’s obligation to ensure the safety of the Canadians who will be on board the flotilla… and to justify, in advance, any crimes Israel may commit against peaceful unarmed civilians.” In May 2010, Israeli forces killed nine Turkish nationals aboard a boat in the Mediterranean that was part of a flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza.