Dispute over Montreal pro-Israel rally raises questions about group's charitable status
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather has accused the organizer of wanting it to be “a Conservative event,” but organizer Amos Sochaczevski says that’s “completely erroneous.”
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Montreal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says the organizer intended for Montreal’s annual Israeli Independence Day rally to be “a Conservative event,” inviting only Conservative national politicians and excluding Liberal voices.
Organizer Amos Sochaczevski refutes this, calling it “a completely erroneous statement and nothing more than a shameful tactic … to try and politicize the event” on the part of Housefather.
Both Housefather and Sochaczevski are prominent members of Montreal’s Jewish community.
Housefather’s version of events raises questions about the charitable status of Jewish Unity Partnership, founded by Sochaczevski, which hosts an event billed as Canada’s largest celebration of Israel’s independence.
The group raises funds to help finance the rally, providing tax receipts to donors thanks to its status as a registered charity.
Under the Income Tax Act, charitable groups can engage in “public policy dialogue and development activities,” including advocating for changes in laws or government stances.
However, a charity is not allowed to devote “any part of its resources to the direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office.”
The term “partisan” is “sometimes used to describe this requirement, which in its everyday use tends to mean a demonstrated bias towards one political party or candidate,” Aaron Martin of the Canada Revenue Agency said.
“Any activity that supports or opposes a political party or candidate is not considered a public policy dialogue and development activity, and a charity cannot carry on such an activity to any degree.”
Martin said if the CRA becomes aware of non-compliance, it has several options, “from education letters and compliance agreements to sanctions and revocation” of charitable designation.
The CRA cannot confirm or deny if it has received a complaint about a registered charity or if one is under audit, he said.
But the federal agency has neither suspended nor penalized Jewish Unity Partnership nor revoked or annulled its registration as the result of an audit.
An Elections Canada spokesperson, Matthew McKenna, said the Elections Act contains strict rules on the engagement of third parties in partisan activities, but they generally only apply during election and legislated pre-election periods.
That would not apply in this case, since Canada’s next election is scheduled for October 2025.
The May 14 Israel rally attracted thousands of people, with 60 buses shuttling participants from around the region to the event.
In a speech, Israel’s representative in Montreal, consul general Paul Hirschson, paid tribute to Housefather, whom he described as “Israel’s best friend in the Canadian Parliament.”
But Housefather, who represents Mount Royal riding, a Liberal stronghold with a large Jewish population, did not speak to those assembled.
In a Facebook post two days later, the MP disclosed that unlike in previous years, he was barred from delivering remarks and organizers did not show a video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Housefather stated that “the organizer” of the rally had informed a community leader that it was intended to be “a Conservative event,” without naming specific individuals.
“This cannot reoccur in the future as the celebration of Israel must be a non-partisan event,” Housefather said.
He told The Gazette he has “not asked the CRA to do anything nor do I plan to do so.”
Federal Conservatives addressed the crowd.
Toronto Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman criticized the Trudeau Liberals’ stance on Israel and Palestinians, saying Canada is “on the wrong side of history.”
“I’m proud to be a part of the team that’s going to fix things, that’s going to put this relationship at the top of our list,” she said.
In a recorded message, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said “common-sense Conservatives stand with the Jewish people in this fight and we unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself, to bring home the hostages, and to defeat Hamas and all of Iran’s proxies.”
Sochaczevski, a businessperson whose family owns the Suburban, a weekly community newspaper, founded Jewish Unity Partnership around 2003.
“I did not tell you nor anyone else that this event was a conservative event,” he told The Gazette in an email Tuesday. “It was always non-political and will always remain so.”
In a statement last week, Sochaczevski defended the guest list, stating the Liberals’ Middle East positions disqualified the party.
He said organizers “could not at this time, in good conscience, invite any representatives of political parties that stopped shipment of arms to Canada’s closest ally in the Middle East during wartime and (sent) Canadian taxpayer money to UNRWA, knowing those funds will end up in the hands of Hamas, financing further terrorist attacks and more Israeli deaths.”
UNRWA is the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel alleges some UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Sochaczevski said organizers “do not invite any representative of any party or organization that does not unabashedly support the state of Israel.”
The Jewish Unity Partnership has been registered as a charity since 2009. In 2022-23, it raised $58,198 from donors, CRA records show. The organization has two administrators: Amos Sochaczevski and Aviezer Sochaczevski.
