Oy vay, Mr. Harper!

In many countries throughout the world, that volatile mixture can — and frequently does — lead to war. But over here we are fortunate; the prevailing sensibility dictates that the two should not become intertwined, except for very specific cases where it cannot be avoided.

Last week the two came together in what many believe to be a most inappropriate way. The Harper government sent Rosh Hashanah greetings to everyone whom they believed to be of the Jewish faith. This is all very well and fine, of course, in fact it is common practice to send out such greetings on religious occasions. We all do it, in fact Christian and Jewish holidays offer not only spiritual but economic sustenance, forming the basis of store promotions, sales and other commercial ventures. Even local newspapers — the Examiner prominently among them — use such occasions to sell advertising, prompting that inevitable annual quip in the sales department: "How's that Rosh Hashanah special coming?" "Shofar, sho good!"

But there are two fundamental faults with this recent government initiative.

First, there is no reliable way of determining who is and who is not Jewish. Having a team of interns rifle through the electoral lists of every riding, noting the addresses of everyone with a “Jewish-sounding” name, means that all the Cohens, Shapiros and Greenbergs will receive greetings in the mail, while anyone named Jones or Tremblay will not. This is wildly inaccurate; you need look no farther than the Examiner staff box at the bottom of this page to see no less than three examples of Jewish people whose names do not necessarily reflect their faith and who did not receive New Year greetings. On the other hand, my friend and former office mate, Dave Goldberg, considers himself so secular that he claims to put the “yum” in Yom Kippur and usually atones on that day by ordering a large pizza with extra bacon.

The second fault with the sending of Rosh Hashanah greetings is that it had never been done before, and not-so-coincidentally was done during an election campaign. Even the dimmest schlemiel among the Prime Minister’s advisors should have caught that one. If it was done annually, like the politically correct “Season’s Greetings” cards we get from our local MPs in the mail each December, it would not be so bad — but initiating such a thing during an election campaign was doomed to be interpreted by many as a cheap and rather tasteless way of soliciting votes from the Jewish community. Does the Prime Minister’s office plan to stick with the commitment and send out New Year greetings to all “Jewish-sounding” Canadians every year from now on?

Just as expected, the ever-sharp Liberals have gleefully leapt on this faux-pas, spinning it into a nice, fat campaign issue. Here in Westmount, which boasts a substantial Jewish community and where a good many of these holiday greetings were received, the initiative was condemned by Liberal candidate Marc Garneau’s office. Communications Director Fabrice Riveault promptly sent out a press release outlining Election Canada’s rules governing such issues, and prominently highlighted the fact that the whole effort would be deemed illegal if the cost of those greetings distributed in the Westmount-Ville Marie riding was not counted in local Conservative candidate Guy Dufort’s campaign expenses.

Never a dull moment around here, folks…. From a media point of view, controversial episodes like this are the very nuts and bolts of any election campaign, and they are what make covering an election so interesting.

And to think we still have a few more weeks to go!