FSWC ispleased to announce the Spiritof Hope 2018 panel of speakers!

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Former Prime Minister of Canada

Stephen Joseph Harper, PC, is Canada's longest-serving Conservative prime minister since Sir John A. Macdonald. After helping to found the Reform Party, and serving as head of the National Citizens Coalition and leader of the Canadian Alliance Party, he transformed the country's political landscape by uniting the previously divided and moribund right into the Conservative Party of Canada. He led the CPC to three consecutive election wins before being defeated, and subsequently resigning as party leader, in 2015. Harper's adherence to a brand of ideologically-pure conservatism resulted in what the Globe and Mail called "Canada's first ever truly Conservative government."

In foreign policy, Harper took a staunchly pro-Israel position in the Middle East that included aggressive criticism of some of its most vociferous opponents. In 2006, Harper cut Canada's aid to Palestine to protest the victory of Hamas, the elected and sometimes militantly anti-Israel representative of Palestine.

Combatting crime and terrorism became watchwords of the Harper government, which toughened the Criminal Code - notably by imposing higher and mandatory minimum sentences on various crimes - and increased funding for the federal prison system, nearly doubling it during his first five years in office.

Harper established a reputation as a sound economic manager by running two balanced budgets and a small deficit his first three years in office. After the worldwide financial crisis in 2008 sparked a global recession, he called an early election, circumventing Parliament's 2007 law that established fixed election dates. He argued that the severity of the crisis and the need for strong economic leadership justified that measure. In the ensuing campaign, his government was returned to power with more seats (143), but still a minority.

The Harper government continued its support of Israel by suspending diplomatic relations with Iran in September 2012 and officially recognizing it as a state sponsor of terrorism. In November 2012, Canada was one of only nine countries to vote against a United Nations resolution giving Palestine "symbolic" statehood. In other foreign policy affairs, Harper was a vocal critic of Russia's aggression towards Ukraine, and committed Canada to a limited air role in military efforts against the Islamic State terrorist group.

On crime and security, Harper's government vigorously opposed the return of convicted child-terrorist Omar Khadr to Canada from the US prison in Guantamano Bay, and, following the shootings at Parliament Hill by an Islamic State supporter on 22 October 2014, gave new surveillance and detention powers to police and intelligence agencies under Bill C-51.

Harper also used his majority mandate to further shrink government reach and expenditure by eliminating the long-form census and federal allowances to registered political parties. His government also abolished the long gun registry, sold the Canadian Wheat Board and reduced MPs' pensions, including his own.

Harper avoided the constitutional quagmire that had ensnared several of his predecessors and instead took a more conciliatory approach to issues of national unity. He officially apologized to Chinese Canadians for Canada's head tax and the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants between 1885 and 1923. He also officially recognized the Québécois as a "nation" within Canada and offered an emotional apology to Aboriginal people for the federal government's role in residential schools.

Harper is married to wife Laureen, an Alberta native with a background in graphic arts and photography, and a history of community engagement with humane societies and child-based initiatives. They have two children, Benjamin and Rachel.

‍

Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Former Prime Minister of Israel

Ehud Barak is one of the most recognizable names in Israeli politics, a man "who over a half-century career became Israel's most decorated soldier and held the nation's trifecta of top positions," according to The New York Times.

Mr. Barak has served Israel as Prime Minister, Chief of General Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces and most recently as Minister of Defense, a position he took on in 2007.

In 2012 he was bestowed the United States Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award by U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who praised Barak for his dedication to public service: "Through his distinguished military career, and the political career that followed, few people have such far-reaching and positive impacts on Israeli security and prosperity and, I have to say, on the U.S.-Israeli relationship."

A global statesman, Mr. Barak played a pivotal role in various Middle Eastern peace efforts. In 2012, Foreign Policy magazine named him 13th among its 100 Global Thinkers. The Wall Street Journal declared him "one of Israel's towering military figures for much of the past two decades. He is seen as the architect of Israel's air-power-heavy modern deterrence doctrine ... Mr. Barak ended Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, and his peace proposals at the 2000 Camp David negotiations with the Palestinians remain a blueprint for ending the conflict."

As Israel's 10th Prime Minister, Ehud Barak led the country out of prolonged recession and into an economic boom, with 5.9% annual growth, record foreign investments, near zero inflation, a halved deficit and significantly decreased external debt.

However, the core of Prime Minister Barak's government's effort was devoted to the peace process: in May 2000 Prime Minister Barak ordered the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from South Lebanon, ending 18 tragic and bloody years of Israel's presence there. He led far-reaching efforts to negotiate peace agreements, first with Syria and later with the Palestinian authority, with the active participation of President Bill Clinton and his administration. Regrettably, these negotiations did not result in the breakthroughs necessary to conclude final agreements.

Before being elected Prime Minister, Mr. Barak completed an illustrious 36-year career in the Israeli Defense Forces as the most decorated soldier in its history. He was a key architect of the June 1976 Entebbe Operation for the rescue of passengers on the Air France aircraft hijacked by terrorists and forced to land at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda.

Additionally, he served as Chief of the General Staff of the IDF where he was involved in the negotiation and implementation of the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan - an especially meaningful event for Barak in light of his warm relationship with King Hussein.

Prime Minister Barak also previously served his country as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Barak received his Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and his M.SC in Economic Engineering Systems at Stanford University in California.

‍

Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain

José María Aznar was born in Madrid in 1953. He became Prime Minister of Spain in 1996, following the electoral victory of the Partido Popular. With the party's subsequent electoral victory in the year 2000, this time with an absolute majority, he led the country again for a new term. His time as Prime Minister lasted until the elections of 2004, when he voluntarily chose not to run for office again.

In 2010, Aznar founded the Friends of Israel Initiative, with the stated goal to "counter the attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel and its right to live in peace within safe and defensible borders." Throughout his two terms as Prime Minister of the Government he led an important process of economic and social reform.

Thanks to various liberalisation processes and the introduction of measures to promote competition, along with budgetary controls, rationalised public spending and tax reductions, almost 5 million jobs were created in Spain. The Spanish GDP figure grew each year by more than 2%, at an average of 3.4% in fact, featuring an aggregate increase of 64% over eight years. Throughout this period, Spain's average income increased from 78% to 87% of the average income of the European Union. The public deficit decreased from an alarming 6% of GDP to a balanced budget. Furthermore, the first two reductions on the income tax that democratic Spain has ever known took place during his two terms in office. One of Aznar's most serious concerns is the battle against terrorism. He advocates a firm policy, one that is against any kind of political concession, combined with close international cooperation between democratic countries. He is a strong supporter of the Atlantic Relationship and the European Union's commitment to freedoms and economic reform.

He is the Honorary Chairman of the Partido Popular, a party he chaired between 1990 and 2004. Until the year 2006 he was the Chairman of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) and Vice-Chairman of the International Democrat Union (IDU), the two international organisations that bring together the parties of the Centre, along with Liberals, Christian Democrats and Conservatives throughout the world.

José María Aznar began his political career in the political party known as Alianza Popular, in 1979. In 1982 he was elected a Member of  Parliament for Ávila. He then went on to become the Regional Chairman of Alianza Popular in Castile-Leon and the Head of the Regional Government of Castile-Leon between 1987 and 1989. In 1989, following the re-founding of the Partido Popular, he was chosen as the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the general elections of 1989.

The following year he was elected Chairman of the Party. He led the Partido Popular in the elections of 1993, 1996 and the year 2000. Throughout these four terms, he served as a Member of Parliament for Madrid. Between 1989 and 1996 he was the Leader of the Opposition.

He is married to Ana Botella, with whom he has three children and five grandchildren.

Mark Your Calendars!

Spirit  of Hope will be taking place on May 30, 2018 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre's South Building. 

Stay tuned for additional event details in the coming weeks.

About: The  Spirit of Hope is the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for HolocaustStudies' annual fundraising dinner. It brings together over 2,000 business  leaders, philanthropists, patrons and Canadian leaders to honour and  celebrate Simon Wiesenthal's values. FSWC is a Canadian registered charitable organization that invests millions of dollars on education and social actionin Canada.

Contact  Tracey Steyn at tsteyn@fswc.ca for information and  registration.