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 Canadian Jewish Congress - Definition 

The Canadian Jewish Congress is an umbrella group of Jewish organizations in Canada and constitutes the main lobby group for the Jewish community in the country though it often competes with B'nai Brith Canada in that regard. The CJC was founded at a convention held in Montreal in March 1919. The main decision at that meeting was the founding of the "Jewish Immigrant Aid Society" to assist Jewish settlers and refugees in Canada. Despite this auspicious start, the CJC fell into abeyance and was inactive until 1934 when a rising tide of anti-Semitism internationally provoked Jewish leaders to call the Congress' second plenum which was held in Toronto in January.

The CJC was active before and during World War II in lobbying the government (with limited success) to open the borders to Jewish refugees fleeing Europe. After the war the CJC oragnized relief aid for Holocaust survivors who were being detained in Displaced Persons camps.

The Congress' dominant figure from 1939 to 1962 was its president, Samuel Bronfman.

In recent decades the CJC launched campaigns to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Jewish emigration, to pressure the Canadian government to prosecute Nazi war criminals who had settled in Canada, and to enact and use hate crimes legislation against anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers such as Ernst Zündel. The CJC also works to promote tolerance and understanding between religious and ethnic groups, promotes anti-racist work and other campaigns.

The CJC is the Canadian affiliate of the World Jewish Congress.

In recent years the CJC has occasionally clashed with and been seen as a rival to B'nai Brith Canada. The CJC is officially non-partisan in both Canadian and Israeli politics and is considered centrist while B'nai Brith Canada is generally viewed as a more conservative organization with a more right-wing approach to Zionism. The two groups have rival newspapers, the CJC's Canadian Jewish News and the BBC's Jewish Tribune and increasingly compete to be seen as the "official" voice of Canada's Jewish community.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Canadian Jewish Congress".