BEN CARR RUNS FOR THE LIBERALS IN THE WINNIPEG SOUTH CENTRE BY-ELECTION JUNE 19

Ben Carr, the 36-year-old son of the late Jim Carr and Dr. Ruth Simkin, is running for the Liberal party in the riding of Winnipeg South Centre in the upcoming by-election on June 19. Carr is running in the same riding that his father Jim held for seven years until he died at the young age of 71.

Quite a number of years ago, Carr, wrote several articles in the Winnipeg Jewish Review on Israel related and other issues. He has spoken out against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement for demonizing Israel, and unfairly singling out Israel for condemnation.

Carr recalls a humorous story when when he was 24, and went on a Birthright trip to Israel and had his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall. Carr noted that there were two rules all members of Birthright were supposed to follow, “Always stay with the group and no drinking.” But, one time when the group was in Jerusalem, Carr and his cousin Joel wandered away from the group, and encountered someone who he said “looked like a rabbi” They asked this man whether he was a rabbi and after the man said he was, Carr indicated that he would like to be bar mitzvah’d. The rabbi said to Carr and his cousin, that he would perform Carr’s bar mitzvah at the Western Wall, which is what occurred. But the rabbi just happened to have a bottle of vodka, Carr emphasized, and this caused him and his cousin to break the second Birthright rule !.

On the subject of Israel, Carr says that the Trudeau government has been a “strong friend and ally of Israel” and its “voting record [at the U.N.] confirms that.” He adds, “I’m very comfortable as a member of the Jewish community and a believer in Israel’s right to exist, running under the Liberal banner.”

Carr emphasizes that that there are three issues that make him most proud to be running for election under the Liberal banner.

The first is “the national child care program, which has lifted 450,000 kids out of poverty. ” The second is the government’s position on climate change where, in his view “the government has arrived at good and fair balance;” and the third is the national day care plan.

As Carr states, “ The big thing about the $10- a- day- day care plan is that it’s not just an important social policy, but it’s an important economic one, and what we’ve seen in the last year is the largest increase in women’s participation in the work force which has a direct correlation to this policy.”

Carr also indicates that the government has done things to support seniors, such as reducing the age of eligibility to receive the Old Age Pension from 67 to 65 and increasing the Old Age Supplement.

When asked what has motivated him to want to run for election, ‘I’ve spent my entire life trying to give back to the community which gave me so much.” He adds that public service seems natural for him, especially growing up in a political household.

After graduating from the French Immersion program at Kelvin, Carr became a teacher at Robert H Smith school in River Heights. He then taught at Kelvin High, where "I volunteered my time as head coach of the junior varsity football team.”

"My desire for public service has continued throughout my entire career,” Carr notes. After teaching at Kelvin High, Carr went on to serve as "a senior staffer" for the Minister of Canadian Heritage in Ottawa. After two years in Ottawa, he returned to Winnipeg to serve a principal of Maples Met High School, “ a nationally award winning progressively minded publicly funded educational system.” The school has an innovative program allowing some students to attend school three days a week, and apprentice in a workplace the other two days. Carr then became a divisional principal in the Seven Oaks school division in the board office. "I was in an administrative role in total for just under five years.”

"Being a principal reaffirmed for me that at the foundation of every strong community is quality relationships and that respectful dialogue and a belief in the possibility of progress is essential to a strong education system and a strong society,” Carr states.

After serving as a principal, Carr has been the Vice President of the Indigenous Strategy Alliance, “a Winnipeg based group that focuses on reconciliation and support of indigenous communities. Car notes working in this position has given him a reminder of “how far we have come in regards to making progress in Canada on reconciliation, but also how far we have to go.”

Carr says that when he has been going door knocking, “there has been a lot of support for both my candidacy and initiatives undertaken by the government.”

On a final note, Carr says that he is concerned about what he refers to as “the Americanization of our political culture.” He adds, “ I am concerned about the degradation of our political discourse and the rise of a divisive populist rhetoric that seeks to oversimplify the complex nature of our public policy discussions, and does so by leaning into people’s fears as opposed to seeking common ground.”