That’s the question Betel, 47, is asking after receiving a card from Conservative MP Costas Menegakis this week, which reads, “Wishing you a Happy Chanukah.”
“I called his office and I asked, ‘What makes you think I’m Jewish?’” Betel said Tuesday.
“They said they got a list from Elections Canada and they went through it manually and just guessed. I find it a little hard to believe. My riding has 15,000 to 20,000 people and they went through by hand? It’s a waste of taxpayer money.”
The sky-blue coloured card depicts a lit-up menorah and dreidel on the front cover and a picture of Menegakis on the inside with the inscription, “Wishing you and your family a joyous celebration during this Festival of Lights.”
Menegakis’ spokesman Jackie Cousins said Wednesday the office gathers contact information for its mailing list from “public sources and directories” and uses the list of registered voters provided by Elections Canada.
However, Elections Canada said that shouldn’t be the case.
“By law, electoral registered political parties each year — as well as candidates during an election — receive a copy of list of electors for their riding,” which provide the names and addresses only, explained Elections Canada spokesman Diane Benson.
“There’s no information that comes from this list from Elections Canada that would in any way indicate any other personal information.”
Statistics Canada also said it “is not the source of the personal information in question,” because under the Statistics Act, all information provided to them is confidential and not released for privacy reasons without consent.
Betel said his father also received a similar card from Conservative MP Peter Kent in Thornhill recently without any previous mention of his Jewish background.
The federal environment minister’s office confirmed it had sent out both Hanukkah and Christmas cards to its Thornhill constituents.
“The cards are a personal greeting from the minister, who proudly represents the constituency of Thornhill,” Kent’s spokesman Adam Sweet said in an e-mail.
“The mailing list for both have been developed over the past four years Minister Kent has been the MP for Thornhill, and they include volunteers, supporters, individuals who have contacted our office, individuals the minister knows in the community, etc.”
Neither Sweet nor Cousins were forthcoming Wednesday evening in how households were selected to receive Hanukkah and Christmas cards.
“It is normal practice for an MP’s office to reach out to residents and get to know them,” Cousins said in an e-mail. “We are always looking at different ways to do this, and every outreach effort is evaluated after the fact for its effectiveness. The holiday celebration card is no different.”
It’s unclear whether all Conservative MPs sent out such cards. A spokesman for the Conservative Party of Canada could not be reached Wednesday night.
Original Article
Source: winnipeg sun
Author: Jenny Yuen
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