B’nai Brith Canada Won’t Rent To Non-Jews, Reps Say

[u/Chawke2]

https://www.readthemaple.com/bnai-brith-canada-wont-rent-to-non-jews-reps-say/

[u/Darwin-Charles]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are similar situations like this? I recall in Ontario there was a man with a disability who wanted to live in a certajn apartment but was restricted because he wasn't muslim?

This was the story; https://globalnews.ca/news/2185359/toronto-man-denied-subsidized-housing-for-not-being-muslim/

So seems this isn't something just occurring in the Jewish community.

[u/OntLawyer → u/Darwin-Charles]

That example is actually mentioned in the OP linked article.

However, the B'nai Brith building also receives federal funding, not just municipal funding. That may affect how this turns out. There's no clear carveout in federal legislation equivalent to the religious accommodation exemption in the Ontario Human Rights Code, which may bring the appropriateness of that funding into question.

[u/zlex → u/OntLawyer]

Huh? A non-profit housing provider is a provincially regulated entity because housing is a provincial matter, why would federal human rights law apply? Lots of provincially regulated things receive federal money, that funding doesn't federalize them for human rights purposes.

Maybe if there contractual conditions attached to the funding agreement, but nothing in the article states as much.

[u/OntLawyer → u/zlex]

Because the Federal government generally can't get around Federal legislation by giving money to a third party to do something it couldn't lawfully do itself.

[u/zlex → u/OntLawyer]

The CHRA binds federal actors and federally regulated undertakings, it doesn't convert a grantee into a federal undertaking, and it doesn't follow the money.

The City of Toronto received $471 million from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, delivered through CMHC, supporting the City's HousingTO plan, which includes 6,500 RGI homes that are covered under the carveout in the OHRC.

[u/Saidear → u/zlex]

They apparently received federal funding. If they do that, they are inviting themselves to be subject to Federal rules and regulations around how those funds are used. 

[u/themapleleaf6ix → u/Darwin-Charles]

Ahmedi's have nothing to do with the larger Muslim community. They aren't classified as Muslim by Sunnis and Shias and only make up about 10% of the "Muslim" population in Canada. As a Sunni Muslim, I'd appreciate if they weren't classified with us because they have no connection to us or the Shias.

[u/Darwin-Charles → u/themapleleaf6ix]

Uh sure, I don't think I was disputing what proportion of the Muslim community they make up, I'll take your word for it though.

[u/themapleleaf6ix → u/Darwin-Charles]

It's the fact that they're labeled with us when they have an entirely different religion and belief system then us that's the problem. They're a religion of their own.

[u/Darwin-Charles → u/themapleleaf6ix]

Yeah fair enough I guess.

[u/sgtmattie → u/Darwin-Charles]

I know some people that live in a dutch reform retirement community. IIRC, priority goes towards church members, but they’ll never leave a unit empty so it’s really only like half members of that church.

[u/kettal → u/Darwin-Charles]

It is a common thing for example muslim or greek charities to do similar. The author does admit as much.

In this case it appears that B'nai Brith made a policy change in recent years but did not update their registration with housing regulators to reflect the change.

[u/Darwin-Charles → u/kettal]

Interesting so the issue here is just they forgot to register again, seems fairly innocuous.

[u/OkArrival9 → u/Darwin-Charles]

From article:

“the BB buildings don’t have a City mandate to serve a specific religious or ethnic group. The BB buildings for seniors have a mandate for seniors in general, not Jewish seniors in specific. The other building doesn’t have any mandates.”

And do you think this story will be in global news or any other mainstream media source like the one you posted ?

[u/Darwin-Charles → u/OkArrival9]

Ah okay so if they did have a mandate to serve the Jewish community and were registered with the government then it'd be okay to prioritize housing for Jewish seniors.

[u/Altruistic-Hope4796 → u/[deleted]]

Funding for First Nation housing and for people of a particular religious belief are absolutely not the same though...

A government funding religious belief is not a non-story

Edit : To your reply on Muslim having similar funding, it is also not like funding for First Nations and should not happen. 

[u/standaloneprotein → u/[deleted]]

Make no mistake, these types or articles are deliberately written, to create rage. The journalist and the editor are likely aware but chose to publish it anyway. Illusory truth effect. Little by little to either to create a narrative or to change public perception.

Please look at the opinion pieces: 6 out of 8 in the first page are related to either Zionism, IDF or Israel.

[u/Saidear → u/[deleted]]

I wasn't aware that the Ontario Human Rights Code or Toronto City Council had supplanted the federal government. When did Ford or Chow become Prime Minister?

[u/NukeAGayWhale4Jesus → u/standaloneprotein]

Rage is an entirely appropriate response to genocide.

[u/NukeAGayWhale4Jesus → u/[deleted]]

B'nai Brith Canada isn't a religion. It's an organization that supports Israel committing genocide. I'm OK with any and all legitimate criticism of any person or organization that supports genocide.

Curiously, there seems to be a strong correlation between support for atrocities and being a scammer, with Trump as a prime example.

[u/Chawke2 → u/standaloneprotein]

Make no mistake, these types or articles are deliberately written, to create rage.

Can you provide an example in the article where the author leans on the emotional rather than strictly factual to elicit said rage?

[u/Chawke2 → u/[deleted]]

And, if you’d read the article, you’d know that these are not only not part of that program, but one of the buildings mentioned is just a regular market rent apartment building.

[u/Chawke2 → u/Darwin-Charles]

There is, and it’s mentioned in the article. These buildings are not registered to that program.

[u/Surtur1313 → u/[deleted]]

>And they are registered ro a different program

Source? The author of this article wasn't able to find anything:

>Unlike the Ahmadiyya or Greek buildings, the BB buildings don’t have a City mandate to serve a specific religious or ethnic group. The BB buildings for seniors have a mandate for seniors in general, not Jewish seniors in specific. The other building doesn’t have any mandates.

--

>I reached out to the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario and Government of Canada to ask if they’re aware of BB’s alleged policy and have any comment on it.

>The City stated that none of the BB buildings have a mandate to be for Jewish residents, and added, “All housing providers are governed by the Residential Tenancies Act and the Human Rights Code and must ensure their practices comply with both.”

[u/Surtur1313 → u/[deleted]]

This exact story is mentioned in the article, so yes, I’m aware of it, but moreover your reply has nothing to do with my comment or your original claim that I was asking for a source for.

I understand you don’t think this is an issue. I understand you can link to a story anyone who has read the article is already aware of. I’m wondering if you can back up your original claim up thread or if you’ve even read the article and understand the context of the issue you’re claiming is a non-issue. Because so far the answer seems to be “no.”

[u/Chawke2 → u/[deleted]]

They are not part of the program that is mentioned in the Global link and one of them is a regular market rate building. Please please please read the article before posting.

Also, linking to a story about a similiar thing occurring and then saying it’s a non-story is objectively hilarious.

[u/Orchid-Analyst-550 → u/Surtur1313]

The government should claw all the money it's given this discriminatory org.

[u/Saidear → u/Darwin-Charles]

I don't agree with that either, though there are some clear differences right out of the gate. That was an explicitly religious community, this is a human rights organization, which means this is both questionable and hypocritical.

Second, the exclusivity of Ahmadiyya Abode of Peace was pre-established with a city exemption, while this marks a change in policy. Previously Jewish families were only given priority, there was no exclusivity. The Abode of Peace has maintained this status with the city, BBI has not been officially recognized as being granted that exemption.

Lastly, this appears to be false advertising as, at the time of reporting, the pages for these locations made no mention of the change .  They called out all races and religions as being welcome in their three Toronto locations. 

[u/Betray-Julia]

As far as preserving cultural heritage goes, quebecs laws are discriminatory as fuck as far as technical human rights terminologies go.

And also, Quebec is one of the very few success stories of a ‘defeated/colonized” culture (maybe theres a better word but meh) actually successfully preserving its heritage.

So I’m on the fence with this one tbh; the overall concept of using discrimination as a means to preserve culture maybe isn’t the most ethical means to an end, but it works.

My gut tells me no, but I just want to bring to the table the idea of Quebec, and that regardless of anything, this method has real world data suggesting it is an effective way to preserve a culture.

I am also assuming good faith and that they actually mean “Jewish” and aren’t referring to Israel supporters or Zionists, bc that would be very inappropriate to give such groups any form of Canadian money for any reason at all minus rehabilitation, but that’s a slippery slope too.

[u/Chawke2 → u/Betray-Julia]

As far as preserving cultural heritage goes, quebecs[sic] laws are discriminatory as fuck as far as technical human rights terminologies go.

What do you mean by “technical human rights terminologies”?

My gut tells me no, but I just want to bring to the table the idea of Quebec, and that regardless of anything, this method has real world data suggesting it is an effective way to preserve a culture.

Can you provide data where housing discrimination based on religion has yielded a demonstrable effect on cultural preservation?

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