Karen Leibovici<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\nIn Winnipeg South Centre, Liberal Jim Carr is facing incumbent Tory MP Joyce Bateman. Carr was a Liberal MLA from 1988 to 1991 and has also been a newspaper columnist and president of the Manitoba Business Council. At a Winnipeg Friends of Israel event earlier this month, he spoke strongly for Israel and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s support for the Jewish State.<\/p>\n
In Hamilton Centre, Tory Yonatan Rozenszajn, a 31-year-old lawyer who came to Canada in 1999 from Israel, faces former MPP and provincial cabinet minister Dave Christopherson, who\u2019s held the seat since 2004 and is expected to win again.<\/p>\n
In Thornhill, the riding with the highest proportion of Jews in the country, the NDP hopeful is Lorne Cherry. He\u2019ll be in for a tough fight against former broadcaster Peter Kent, who first won in 2008 on the strength of the Tories\u2019 vocal support for Israel.<\/p>\n
In the mid-town Toronto riding of St. Paul\u2019s, author Noah Richler, son of late novelist Mordecai Richler, is running for the NDP. He\u2019ll battle with Liberal cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett, who has held the seat since 1997.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Toronto, palliative care doctor Hal Berman is the NDP flag-bearer in York Centre, facing fellow Jews Michael Levitt (Liberal) and MP Mark Adler (Tory), while Dan Stein is running in Davenport for the Greens.<\/p>\n
North of Montreal, Sephardi ex-broadcaster Pascal Dery is the Conservative nominee in Drummond, a riding currently held by the New Democrats. She became the Tory candidate after losing the Mount Royal nomination to English rights activist and former MNA Robert Libman.<\/p>\n
Finally, Montreal lawyer Rachel Bendayan is running for the Liberals in her party\u2019s former stronghold of Outremont. She\u2019ll have a tough fight against NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair.<\/p>\n
Some of these Jewish candidates have great chances, while others have virtually no hope. But one way or another, all have stepped up, and given the dearth of high-profile names in all the parties, who knows? A few could even turn out to be cabinet material, if the chips fall the right way.<\/p>\n
This wRant first appeared as a CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK column<\/a> in the Aug. 20\u00a0Canadian Jewish News.<\/em>