Canadian Prime Minister Minister's Conservative party is facing the second straight year of accusations on religious profiling for his New Years greeting cards to Jewish voters, a practice that opponents say violates privacy.
Several voters asked how the Prime Minister knows they are Jewish. Another voter said she was not offended by the card but noted that she is not even Jewish. Karla Kaminsky told Montreal's CTV, "My reaction when I first got this was, 'He's a little late for New Years,' and then when I realized he meant Jewish New Year, I thought, 'Oh, he thinks I'm Jewish."
Sonia Zylberberg, a native of Montreal, complained that she is not even a member of the Conservative party. "I looked at it, and then I was offended and I sort of wanted to throw it out," she told CTV.
The Conservative party also sends out cards for Christian holidays and the Chinese New Year.
Conservative spokesman Ryan Sparrow said the party does not use any prepared lists and has not purchased any from the Internet. Canada's Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said that her investigation of the practice did not show that any privacy rules were broken.
The Toronto Globe & Mail suggested that the list of apparently Jewish voters was based on door-to-door surveyors who noted whether a mezuzah was on the doorpost of homes, in accordance with Jewish law. Other methods included using information based on statements of parlor party groups and noting names that sound like they are Jewish.
The newspaper noted the case of 30-year-old Ben Arkin, who is Jewish but has no affiliation with any Jewish group and is not a member of any political party but still received a New Year's greeting card.
"My religious beliefs are personal and I share them only with family and friends," he told the Globe & Mail. "What is more troubling is that there is no way