Claims made by Jewish Canadian Armed Forces members in $150M racism class action rejected: report

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces march in Calgary on July 8, 2016. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

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More than two dozen Jewish members of the Canadian Armed Forces who made claims in a $150-million racial discrimination settlement against the military were told they did not meet the racial identity criteria, according to the Canadian Jewish News.

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He alleges that Deloitte, the accounting firm in charge of processing the claims, is not applying the terms of the final settlement agreement and is denying access to funds for claimants “who squarely meet the class definition,” according to court documents obtained by CJN.

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Jewish CAF members told CJN they were harassed and discriminated against during their time serving in the military due to their identity. One member, who said they served for eight years, gave 14 examples of antisemitism in a claim application.

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“You people really are tight with money,” they were once told. The same member was accused of cheating because they could not take an exam on Shabbat, they said.

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“The fact that we are just rejected once again from this lawsuit about discrimination is at the height of irony, and really the height of pain for the Jewish soldiers in the army,” the member said.

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Another Jewish member who made a claim that was rejected said they “were forced to attend church on Sundays” and “comments about them having a big nose (were) published in the Royal Military College yearbook,” the CJN reported.

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That same member said a swastika was drawn on their helmet by a colleague.

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They filed a complaint with the military after they were called a “f—ing” Jewish “c—t” and told they couldn’t take a training course. Despite the complaint, “nothing was done,” they said.

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Another Jewish CAF member said “it’s gotten harder to be Jewish in the military, just like every other public institution.”

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“But I kind of knew, or I shouldn’t say I knew, I had a feeling going into it that we would be left in the cold, we being Jews,” they said. After October 7 — when Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people in Israel, sparking a war in the Middle East country — “things took a turn.”

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A Zoom meeting that was dedicated to “Talking About Race” was set up for CAF members to join, but they said it “very quickly devolved into Israel-bashing and peddling false narratives about Israel and about Zionism.”

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They said their claim was considered “ineligible” by Deloitte.

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In a response from the firm, the member was told: “While an individual may have experienced discrimination and/or harassment based on other personal characteristics such as gender, sexuality, disability, religion, culture, or language, claims that are not based on racial discrimination and/or racial harassment are outside the scope and intent of this class action.”

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The racial discrimination settlement stems from a 2016 lawsuit. Three army veterans — who identified as Indigenous and Black, including one person of Haitian descent — alleged they were discriminated against based on race.