Page 12-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, December 17, 1987
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Ottawa Citizen editor tells EB League.'
Include other groups in fight for Soviet Jewry
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DAVID LAZARUS
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-The B'nai B'rith League for Human Rights in Canada should "broaden" its Soviet Jewry initiatives to include other minorities denied basic rights in the Soviet Union. Ottawa Citizen editor Keith Spicer urged at the League's 13th annual Media Human RigliLs Awards ceremony,
Spicer, the commissioner of official languages in Canada under the Liberal government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, praised the League's efforts against the forces of bigotry, prejudice and in-. tolerance.
But he added that it would be harder for the USSR to dismiss Jewish rights advocates as a " lobby group" if the League also inclLided discriminated groups 1 ike Jehovah's Witnesses, Criniean Tar-tai^, and Volga Germans in its human rights cam-' ■■ paigns.
."Tactically,'' he said, this is an approach that ^   would enable the League to , . become a  ' 'vanguard".
mcxlel. instead of being /. seen as a bothersome "tribe" by Soviet officials.
Spicer's remarks in' a-lengthy key note.address at the National Museum of Natural Sciences .touched . on many issues,-including an.honest and self-critical appraisal of the media's Own treatment of minority groups.
He said the media "has a long way to go before it's at ea.se with.'all cultural . groups," "We tend to dig in..our heels and not talk , . about it;" Despite its good . intentions,.Spicer said the \ media is not exempt from, religious or ethnic bias, and : ''can with the greatest :   goodwill make mistakes." The B'nai B'rith League, he said, has served to "ask the right questions" on human rights, is.sues, "You have served to give honor to the central issue of defining.a civilized society.''-The awards "bar-niitzvah'' ceremony, held for the first time in Otta-wa^ was attended by 250 guests, politicians, journalists, minority group representatives, and B'nai B'rith and Jewish community leadership. A dinner for invited guests preceded the awards presentation.
A top award and an honorable iTientiOn went to . . media coyerage of anti-semitism. Pockets of Prejudice, a CBC Alberta production about the Jim Kieegstra affair and smoldering anti-semitism in \yestem. Canada; won in the television category. CBC Ottawa journalist David Mobray accepted the. award on behalf of producer Sat Kumar, who .   could not attend.
Don Hoyt, a columnist for The Telegraph-Journal
. in St. John's, NB,-earned : an honorable mention for
. his series dealing with Malcolm Ross, °a Moncton teacher and distributor of Holocaust revisionist propaganda. Hoyt also sent
regrets for not being able to attend!
CBC producer Don Mowat accepted both the top award and the honorable mention in the radio category for his two Vancouver productions. The first, the Way We Fought the War. addressed the mistreatment of Japanese Canadians during. World War II. The honorable mention was for Struggle for an Empty Land, a depiction of alleged injustice toward British Columbia's Gitskan native people.
In the print category, journalist Gary Curtis accepted the top award for the Hamilton Spectator's coverage of Central American refugees in Canada in a 6-part series.
The honopabjt," mention in the television category went to Montreal CBC reporter and producer Julian Sher for his report dn housing discrimination against visible minorities presented on the 6 o'clock Newswatch broadcast.
The League received a record number of submissions this year, according to B'nai B'rith leadership, reflecting a rise in cons-^ ciousness in the media about human rights issues, as well as the prestige with which the awards are regarded.
League national chairman Harry Bick promised that education would continue to be the primary weapon against prejudice, "to f ght the virus of racism . . .: at its roots, be--
Displaying their plaques at the B'nai B'rith League for Human Rights media awards ceremony are The Hamilton Spectator's Gary Curtis (left) and CBC Radio producer Don Mowat (fourth from left). The others in the photo (from left) are keynote speaker Keith Spicer, B'nai B'rith Canada president Ralph Snow, and national BB League for Human Rights chairman Harry Bick. [Howard Kay photo]
fore it grows."
The media's role is "critical" in this regard, he said, to "impart information" to the uninformed. "It can and must break down the barriers."
B'nai B'rith Canada president Ralph Snow said the League awards, traditionally held at the beginning of December to coincide roughly with international Human Rights Day. took on added meaning this year as many reli-gioils groups begin celebrations using light as a symbol of hope and en-
lightenment. The media's tradition as "a beacon of light" underscored that symbolism, he said.
Jewish Community " Council president Stephen Victor and awards chairman Eli Rabi noted the significance in .selecting for the first time the nation's capital as the site of the bar-mitzvah ceremonies. It underlines the importance of the federal government in promoting human rights issues as"part of the national agenda." Victor said.  ■ :■ .
The. League media
awards were inaugurated in 1975 to recognize their contribution in heightening awareness and depicting human rights issues and abuses. Winners were chosen by a selection com-mittee composed of members of the League's national board and by
' representatives of human rights agencies and journalism schools.
Parliamentary representatives at the presentation
" included Ontario Liberal MPP Gilles Morin. presenting greetings on behalf
of Premier David Peterson. Felicitations from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Liberal leader John Turner and New Democratic Party Leader Ed Broadbent were delivered respectively by Members of Parliament David Daubney, chairman of the Canada-Israel Friendship Group. David Berger and Audrey . Mclaughlin.
The guest list also included Max Yalden, newly appointed chairman of the Canadian Human Rights Commission; Joel
Elroy, the mayor of Netanya, Israel; Judge Maxwell Cohen, former dean of McGill University Law School; Tony Nabata, president of the Ottawa Japanese Community Asso-ciation Incorporated.
Mark Berlin, senior policy advisor.in the justice
■ depanment; Prof. S. Vince Wilson, representing the Harammbi Federation, an
, association for Blacks in Canada; and Earl Crowe, director of the National
. Museum of Natural Sci-ences.
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