The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) has protested against the scheduling of 17 federal by-elections on Oct. 16, coinciding with the Succoth holiday. In a telegram to Premier Pierre Elliott Trudeau, David Satok, Rose, executive vice president of the CJC, said the action by the federal government was “insensitive to the political and religious rights of the Jewish community” and urged “that consideration be given to a different date.”
The telegram noted that the CJC had provided the Prime Minister’s Office with advance notice of all Jewish holidays in 1978. It said that the scheduling of by -elections on a Jewish religious holiday would “impose civil disability on that they will be unable to participate in the election process on voting day. This disability is a denial of a basic right,” the message said.
By-elections will be held in at least two districts with large Jewish populations–Westmount in Montreal and Erlinton-Lawrence in Toronto.
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