Tory aide Georganne Burke scuttles Hanukkah event, school says.

by Lee Lecu | December 25, 2008 at 12:11 am

1969 views | 21 Recommendations | 12 comments

This is very disturbing; yet the article does not explain if there is some kind of law or statute that limits members of the Canadian political process from attending religious events. If anyone has any other knowledge (i.e: reading between the lines) that could potentially legitimize the actions of Georganne Burke, an aide to Canada' s Minister of Industry, Tony Clement, please comment and explain. If it is true that Ignatieff's appearance at the Jewish Centre in Thornhill would jeopardize federal funding from the Conservative minority government, presently in great turmoil; what does this say for the Conservative Party as a whole...

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On December 26th, Warren Kinsella wrote an interesting piece on his blog: The Curious Case of Georganne Burke. "Dreidelgate 08" seems to answer some questions with regard to this mysterious and intreging behaviour postitulated by the Federal Tory Aide. Nonetheless, it leaves many of us dumbfounded and more confused i will let you evaluate the piece. Please comment and explain should you find anything more to make sense of this.

http://warrenkinsella.com/index.php?entry=entry081226-122607

Other interesting opinion pieces: http://blogs.mississauga.com/blogs/misslib/2008/12/27/georganne-burke%2526%2523039;s-and-conservative%2526%2523039;s-problem-hanukah.

I hope the Tories don't simply just fire her and re- hire her in a month when the smoke settles.

Thanks,

LL.

Tory aide tried to scuttle Hanukah event, school says

Updated Wed. Dec. 24 2008 9:35 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

While the holiday season is traditionally a time of celebration and peace for Jews and Christians, a Tory staffer is facing accusations she launched a partisan battle against the Liberals over a Hanukah ceremony at a school for disabled children.

On Sunday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff attended a menorah lighting ceremony at Toronto's Zareinu Educational Centre, but according to organizers, a Conservative aide tried to shut the event down and block Ignatieff from attending.

Georganne Burke, an aide to Industry Minister Tony Clement, also insinuated that having Ignatieff at the ceremony could endanger the school's federal funding, according to event organizer Gary Gladstone.

"I am advising you that Georganne Burke called me this evening at about 10:30 pm (on Sunday) enraged, advising me for the benefit of the Jewish community the menorah lighting should be cancelled," Gladstone wrote in an email obtained by CTV News.

"(Burke) further went on to say that she felt it would do serious damage to Zareinu to have the event there," he said in the email.

Rabbi Mendy Zirkind, who arranged Iganitieff's appearance, said that Conservative MP Peter Kent was also invited to the event. However, Burke still did everything in her power to try and stop the event from occurring, Zirkind added.

Phone calls to Burke weren't returned, but the Tories are reportedly taking the accusations seriously, CTV Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Wednesday.

Toronto-area Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert said that Burke went over the line by pressuring the organizers.

"Not only should she be fired, but I think the prime minister should call Mr. Clement and ask just what kind of an operation he is running here," Wilfert said.

The incident comes less than a month after the Tories and the opposition parties faced off against each other in Parliament during a heated constitutional battle.

Ignatieff, who recently replaced Stephane Dion as party leader, has appeared to back away from the possibility of pulling down the government with the help the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has also softened his partisan rhetoric against the opposition parties and said that all parties need to work together.

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Uwe Paschen

at 02:23 on December 25th, 2008

I hope this is your own Writing and not a copy and paste. Further could you please name your sources and make clear what is your writing and what is not. We do have a Highlight tool as you know and it is working as well.

Thank you for the post.

polylogue

at 07:48 on December 25th, 2008

There is no law that prevents politicians from attending religious events. They do it all the time. Harper attended a Chanukkah event earlier in the week. Canadian politicians are often prancing around with kippot on their heads.

Lee Lecu

at 11:04 on December 25th, 2008

This is a copy and paste- my highlight tool is not working, either old computer, or something else... My computer troubleshooting skills are lacking; and the site has changed its format. Nonetheless, the source is listed at the byline of the actual copy and pasted article: It is from Canadian Television News\ Globemedia- the publishers of the Globe and Mail Newspaper. The only portion I have written is at the very top and separated by my initials.

I hope this legitimizes the source for you.

Jordan Yerman

at 11:31 on December 25th, 2008

No worries, Lee. I forced the blockquote and PMed you w/ some possible HL fixes... 'tis the season for bug-bashing.

Skinny Dipper (not verified)

at 05:57 on December 27th, 2008

A Harper aide is trying to prorogue Hannukah for a day.

k.k-k (not verified)

at 13:38 on December 28th, 2008

Plot thickens; grasshopper raided ants' storehouse again and threw a lavish party for termites.
It seems to me that Conservative Bloggers bought into this total nonsense that Gary Gladstone professional fundraiser, and Liberal hack on Ontario provincial government payroll working for Trillium Foundation sold to the Liberal hacks at MSM. http://johnnybeee.blogspot.com/2008/12/johnny-b-this-and-that.html Quote: Warren Kinsella's Dreidelgate
Before anyone takes this 'scandal' too seriously, let's review the facts: a) Warren Kinsella is the reigning champion of the "gotcha" game. He is Canada's best at taking a minor slip and exploiting it for partisan purposes. b) There is a tradition in Canada not to fire people during the holiday season. Let me qualify this by saying that I don't have any insider info but I think that the odds are good that Georganne Burke's days in Tony Clement's office are coming to an end real soon. Tony Clement just can't terminate her during the holiday season lest he be labelled Scrooge. c) The Liberals (Kinsella and Wilfert and others) are trying to take advantage of the holiday season to spin the appearance that Tony Clement is doing nothing about Georganne Burke. Give it a few days gentlemen and this matter will be resolved. In the meantime, reflect on the irony that both parties have now used the holiday season for partisan games.
Georganne Burke and Gary Gladstone are both Jewish, and Gary Gladstone who works for Trillium Foundation decided to organise Hanukah event at Zareinu Educational Centre, school for disabled Jewish children because of their high profile and success in Toronto Jewish community. Now take good look at this: http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/aspx/Public/Search/SearchResults.aspx?Search=Zareinu%20Educational%20Centre, Results Search Phrase: Zareinu Educational Centre,
Simcoe-York 2003 - 2004
dance and drama programs. Zareinu Educational Centre of Metropolitan Toronto $89,400 over three years to help this Thornhill organization reduce isolation and stress among families of children with special needs by launching sibling support...
http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/2003_2004_sy.aspx
Simcoe-York 2000-2001
and reduces family stress. Zareinu Educational Centre of Metropolitan Toronto $181,000 over three years to improve service to physically and developmentally disabled children and increase fund-raising capacity by launching a home-visit program,...
http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/2000_2001_sy.aspx ===============================================
If there is scandal it is in the fact that Trillium Foundation dispenses over 100 million dollars a year in charitable funding but the last time they gave money to Zareinu Educational Centre (school for disabled Jewish kids) was when Mike Harris was running provincial government.
===============================================
Considering the fact that Zareinu Educational Centre gets federal funding (grants) from Conservative government and gets no money from Trillium Foundation ever since Ontario Liberals took control of it, and considering the fact that Gary Gladstone who works for Trillium Foundation choose that particular organisation to invite Michael Ignatieff for menorah lighting ceremony Georganne Burke was well justified in her outrage as it was nothing but a blatant political provocation. For more info visit: http://www.bloggingtories.ca/forums/post56560.html#56560

Lee Lecu

at 23:58 on December 28th, 2008

Thank you for the insight; should this help us to better understand this happenstance, everyone following this affair should be grateful.

Politician 101 (not verified)

at 13:14 on December 29th, 2008

you guys should really get over this....this is not news...your all shady people especially that Gary Gladstone character. She will not get fired for this as I am sure this is not entirely true....like all politics.

Mike T (not verified)

at 13:21 on December 29th, 2008

Warren Kinsella is a low life. Anyone who reads his pointless articles is just as stupid as he is. Hey Warren I think an ant from Quebec just got run over by a Torontonian. Go report on that you lowlife. DradleGate 08 !!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH....your a joke !

Sam Tee (not verified)

at 13:33 on January 30th, 2009

Hey Politician 101,

Time to go back to class - you were wrong!! She got axed!

Dave Jones (not verified)

at 12:38 on February 4th, 2009

Picture this...

Imagine Warren Kinsella, author of "the curious case of Georganne Burke" being cast into the spotlight himself for RACIST, IGNORANCE DRIVEN comments about the cuisine choices of Chinese Canadians.

And you all were riding his coat tails.

This guy is pathetic and can't even muster up enough humility to apologize like a man.

Warren, do you really think that all Chinese people eat cat? and further to that do you intend to insinuate that the board of health and safety is to incompetent to tell the difference between cat meat and chicken when they do a review of the establishments in question?

Karma is a real bitch isn't it. Don't speak on others unless you want to be spoken on I guess.

Hey, what ever happened with the Tory that stole Christmas by the way? Oh yeah...nothing, it's a forgotten issue. You know why? Because it was a witchhunt to begin with spurred on by a hard line Liberal bigot who apparently doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut. A memory blowing on the wind along with the Bloc/ Liberal hopes of overthrowing the popularly elected Conservative government.

Just Desserts....enjoy "Dubya".