Bernie Farber

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Bernie M. Farber (born 1951)^[1] is the chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress^[2] and a social activist. He is one of only two people designated by Canadian courts as an expert witness on hate crime.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario^[1], his father was a Polish Jew who lost his first wife, two children and other family members in the Holocaust. Farber cites his father's experience as a major motivation in his life, saying, "the pain my father endured during the war is what drove me to fight for social justice today.”^[3]

Farber received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University^[1] in Ottawa where he marched against the War in Vietnam and was also involved in the campaign to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Soviet Jews to emigrate. He graduated in 1975 and found a job with the Children’s Aid Society and the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton.

Farber has been employed by the CJC since 1984. He was appointed chief executive officer in 2005 ^[4] and had previously been executive director of the CJC's Ontario section.

In 1992, he was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Canadian Who's Who entry.
2. ^ The Internet and Hate Promotion: The 21st-Century Dilemma
3. ^ Fighting racism
4. ^ CJC names new officers

[edit] External links

• Alumni profile: Fighting racism by Alex Wooley, Carleton University Magazine, Winter 2004