The Prime Minister’s Guest

By COLlive reporter

This past Friday Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened Canada’s 41st Parliament with a throne speech delivered by Governor General David Johnston. Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn was invited as a guest of the Prime Minister representing the Canadian Federation of Chabad Lubavitch.

While it was preceded by the normal pomp and circumstance of Throne Speeches – including military gun salutes and uniformed processions – the workmanlike address was largely devoid of flowery passages or stirring phrases, commentators said.

It sketched out a “no surprises” mandate that closely matched the Conservatives’ election promises – and that might be a good thing. At least for Israel.

Since his election in 2006 as the first Conservative in years to hold office in Ottawa, Harper has courageously stood by the State of Israel and its Jewish citizens.

His latest show of underlying support was at the G8 summit in France when he blocked a joint statement calling to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to begin from the 1967 borders which Israel calls “undefensible.”

“I am moved by the principled leadership that our Prime Minister and his government have displayed with regard to their support of Israel,” Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn, Director of Public Affairs of Canadian Federation of Chabad Lubavitch, told COLlive.com.

Mendelsohn, nominated in 2007 as the first rabbi in the Canadian Forces since World War II, attended the parliament opening as a guest of the Prime Minister who annually hosts Chabad rabbis to celebrate Chanukah with lighting a Menorah in his office.

At the parliament, the The Chabad Shliach spoke to dignitaries about the social, educational and cultural activities of Chabad across Canada.

LINK:
+ Why Does Harper Support Israel?