View larger image The card featured this image of Stephen Harper sitting with his daughter Rachel, son Ben, and wife Laureen. (Office of the Prime Minister)

Tories under fire for Jewish New Year cards

Updated Wed. Sep. 10 2008 7:05 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Conservative Party is facing questions about religious profiling after Jewish Canadians received cards from Stephen Harper wishing them a happy New Year.

This is the second year in a row the cards have been sent out, and critics also say the cards raise serious concerns over voter privacy.

While the Conservatives have said most Jews don't mind getting the cards, Montreal native Sonia Zylberberg said she was "stunned" when she received one in the mail.

"I looked at it, and then I was offended and I sort of wanted to throw it out," she told

CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie on Wednesday, adding she isn't sure how Harper knows she's Jewish.

Zylberberg said she doesn't vote Conservative and isn't a member of any Jewish organizations.

"I thought, 'This is so awful.' I felt like this was a real invasion."

In Wednesday's Globe and Mail, Conservative spokesman Ryan Sparrow said the party doesn't use any prepared lists and hasn't purchased any from the Internet. He also wasn't sure how many cards were sent out this year.

But for Zylberberg, any list based on ethnicity or religion is "a scary thought."

Canada's Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart received complaints from people who had received unsolicited Rosh Hashanah greeting cards in 2007, but determined that the issue fell outside her jurisdiction. The federal Privacy Act does not apply to political parties.

Stoddart's office is currently researching the issue of political parties and federal privacy rules. The research is expected to be complete later this fall.

Along with cards for Rosh Hashanah, which is three weeks away, the Conservative party also sends out cards for Christmas and Chinese New Year.

While Karla Kaminsky, who lives in Montreal, wasn't offended by the Rosh Hashanah card she recently got in the mail, she was a little surprised -- after all, she's not even Jewish.

"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 though 'Oh, he thinks I'm Jewish."

With a report by CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie

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