New reality show Oh My God! features Jewish atheist trying to reconnect

When Hampstead-born actor/comedian/producer TevyaHeller talks about being an atheist, he sounds almost apologetic. However, with his new reality television called Oh My  God! about to premiere on ichannel Mondays, beginning December 5 (8:30 p.m.) and more than 10 markets around the world set to air the show within six months, he won’t be able to keep this a secret.

Raised in a devout Jewish household, Heller says he lost his religious faith as a teenager.

Produced for ichannel by Toronto-based Stornoway Productions  Oh My God! follows Heller on a quest to reconnect with his own vanished faith by learning to see the world through the eyes of believers by embedding himself in the lives of young people from different Canadian faith communities – from Hindus to Muslims, Christians to Wiccans – and discovering firsthand how they experience God.

Asked why he chose ichannel, Canada’s political and social issues network, to air the show Heller told me that he had significant interest from much larger networks “but ichannel was the one which allowed me to proceed with the series exactly the way I want. In any case I believe this show is going to explode internationally.”

Here is a preview: 

Heller grew up in  Hampstead. “All of my family is Jewish,” he said, “and so were all of my friends growing up. I went to Jewish summer camp, had a year a half of bar mitzvah lessons and went to Hebrew School. I was raised in a very traditional home. Not only did my family believe in god, but they believed god was Jewish. I simply did not have exposure to any other view. The closest I got to Jewish was the caretaker at my high school.”

During his teen years Heller kept hearing his family’s wishes that he become a lawyer, doctor “or if I really wanted to push it, an engineer with an MBA. But I wanted to be a producer on the Jerry Springer Show. Needless to say, my parents were mortified that I wanted a career in show business. Well I followed a different path.”

Heller’s road to atheism was paved when he moved away from home. “I became exposed to a million different points of view,” he says. “It really kind of blew my mind and I then realized that I did not believe in any Jewish teachings.  That being said, I mean no disrespect to the religion. I remain proud of my Jewish heritage. I am a proud Jewish atheist.”

In 2007, Heller established his production company called Go to Heller TV, creating and producing a number of TV and film projects. This included the Los Angeles real estate series Real Estate Stalker, where he snooped through the homes of super rich celebrities currently on the market for sale. In 2009, he developed Famewhore: The Tevya Heller Project , which chased him around the world causing havoc.

Heller  has high hopes for Oh My God!  While this is an atheist’s eye-view of faith, he takes pains to distance himself from the militant, religion-bashing school of atheism championed by the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.

“I’m an atheist who wants God to exist,” says Heller.  “I think belief is a gift, and that people of faith are lucky. There’s such loneliness in being an atheist, because you’re not part of a community. So this show is really about an atheist’s search for a God he can believe in. It takes us deep inside communities that most of us wouldn’t otherwise have access to, and offers a pretty cool glimpse into worlds that viewers don’t often get to see.”

One of the episodes of Oh My God! has Heller embedded with an orthodox Jewish family. “They even made a bar mitzvah for me,” he says. “When I finally told the rabbi that I was an atheist, his heart was broken. This particular episode was taped eight months ago and I still get an email from him every day with an invitation to  dinner. He has not given up.”

Heller describes the show as The Simple Life meets Touched by An Angel.

For more information log on to www. ichannel .ca.

Sneak Peek of the upcoming Jerusalem IMAX movie

In this week's Suburban Newspaper I wrote a feature story on filmmaker Jake Eberts. You can access it here and by going to page 9.

Below is a sneak peek of his upcoming IMAX movie Jerusalem, which won't hit screens until 2013.

Why would Irwin Cotler step down now?

Over the years I have often shared rumours in my Suburban Newspaper column that Mount Royal Liberal Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler might step down. He has been in office for 12 years, having taken a sabbatical from the McGill Faculty of Law to run in a by-election to replace Sheila Finestone. At the start many people figured he’d be a one or two term MP. In fact,  I remember very clearly meeting him at the Cavendish Mall very early in his mandate, at which time he seemed unhappy with the constant back and forth to Ottawa.

Nonetheless, something happened to Cotler as the years went by. He really liked being an MP. A world renowned human rights activist, he saw that with a calling card as a representative from the Canadian government, even more doors opened for him. Of course his proudest moment came in 2003 when then Prime Minister Paul Martin named him Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

When  Stephen Harper and  the  Tories came to power in 2006, the rumours that Cotler would retire intensified again. He had fulfilled a dream of being in the federal cabinet. Why would he stay on as an opposition backbencher? Well, Cotler did not go anywhere. He continued to do his work and enjoyed very friendly relations with the governing Tories. In 2008 and 2011 he was back as a candidate. Even though the Liberals were reduced  to third party status last June, Cotler continues to enjoy a high profile. This past week, though, media coverage focused yet again on his future.

 On Friday  I attended a news conference at Cotler’s riding office in Côte des Neiges at which time he called into question the polling being conducted in Mount Royal by a firm tied to the ruling Conservative Party all the more confusing.

Cotler addresses riding news conference.

This firm, Campaign Research, has been identified as having representatives call constituents of Cotler to see whether they would  support the Tories in  a “pending by-election.” 

Cotler declared that he has no intention of stepping down while confirming  with me that this will be his last term in office.  That being said, the next election is not for another four years. He called the polling a potential breach of his parliamentary privilege  which “inhibits and impedes the exercise of my parliamentary functions, or indeed of any member of Parliament so targeted. For example, beyond the phone calls, emails and requests for meetings as a result of these calls, which themselves are an encumbrance, it causes confusion among the electorate. It impedes me in the discharge of my functions.”  

Cotler says he is most bothered  by the calls coming into his office from constituents asking when  a   by-election will occur. “Such questions cause damage to my reputation and credibility and would do so to any member of the House,” he said. “The insinuation, therefore, that I am abandoning my MP role here is at variance with the truth. I am saying this at the risk of sounding self-serving just to put the facts on the record, but I may have more motions on the order paper than any other member of this place. I seek to take my responsibilities as a parliamentarian very seriously, be it in committee, where now before the justice and legal affairs committee I have some 50 amendments with respect to the proposed omnibus crime bill, or in parliamentary debate, where like many other members in the House I remain an active member in take note debates, or just to use today as a case study, like other members in the House, I posed a question in question period and earlier made a statement.

“How can one correct the confusion and prejudicial damage that has been done in the minds of those who may think I am no longer their representative in Parliament or no longer discharging my duties? In short, telling my constituents that I am resigning and that there is a by-election imminently occurring is not only patently false but the clear and important point here is that it violates my privileges as a member and should be regarded by all members in this House as an unacceptable practice for this institution and its members. The particularly relevant part is that while this occurred in my riding of Mount Royal, nothing is to stop this from occurring in another riding and this practice ends up being an affront to all who serve in this place.

Cotler has asked the Speaker of the House of Commons to rule that this is a prima facie breach of privilege. He would like to see an investigation done to get to the bottom of this matter and recommend appropriate sanctions in the circumstances where appropriate.

Cotler confers with chief of staff Howard Liebman.

The by-election rumours were not, in fact, the intended focus of the news conference. Cotler regularly meets with the local community media to update them on his agenda. In this case he knocked the  Conservative government for shutting down Justice Committee work on omnibus crime bill (C-10).  He has moved 50 amendments , including those of the Quebec government. Meanwhile, he has been  retained as international legal counsel to detained and convicted Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil,  88 days into a hunger strike at the time of the news conference. A day earlier he spearheaded an all-party MP press conference in Ottawa   for Nabil and introduced a unanimously adopted resolution at the Subcommittee for International human rights.  He also pressed the government to act urgently on Iran in the wake of the UN’s IAEA report: listing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity; sanctioning the Iranian Central bank and regime officials.

Mount Royal has been a Liberal stronghold for decades and last May the Tories, with former Montreal city councillor Saulie Zajdel as their candidate, came close to an upset. Cotler earned 41.4 percent of the vote, with Zajdel grabbing 35.6 percent. Most observers agreed that if not for Cotler’s personal star power, the Grits would have lost. Zajdel recently landed a job with the federal government reporting on regional concerns for Heritage Minister James Moore. It is widely considered that in the event Cotler does step down before his term ends in four years, Zajdel would be a favourite to take the riding.

 The media turnout for the news conference extended beyond the usual community press, as local radio and television reporters came. Some of them even apologetically asked more questions about the rumours than any of the human rights matters.

If the Tories were behind this in any way, it was very poor strategy. Why do so a mere six months into the new mandate. Even if Cotler were contemplating retirement – and it was abundantly clear from our talk today he is not –at least wait a full year!  The end result of this entire exercise just makes him dig his heals in more.

With chief  of staff Howard Liebman running the show, Cotler’s office in Ottawa and here in Montreal have never been  busier. Hardly the sign of someone looking to walk off into the sunset.

Here is Cotler at his last campaign launch:

Investment advisor expands on why we should Occupy the Bell Centre

When I picked up a copy of La Presse recently and saw Montreal investment dealer David Ipperciel’s proposal to “Occupy the Bell Centre” I was really intrigued.  I have found the salaries being paid to professional athletes revolting for some time. In the case of the Canadiens, I was shocked to see former GM Bob Gainey trade for  past his prime $7.3 million a year  forward Scott Gomez and then give Mike Cammalari ($6 milllion) and Brian  Gionta ($5 million) annual contracts beyond their worth. Yes, as my good friend Abe Hefter from CJAD always reminds me, “Gainey got Gomez in order to attract free agents like Cammalari and Gionta.”

David Ipperciel

Even if Gomez scored 30 goals, I’d have a problem with the salary he is making. Pierre Gauthier, Gainey’s successor and the man most likely truly responsible for us being saddled with Gomez, gave defenceman André Markov a three year $17 million contract last summer when there was no clear indication if his bad knee could  hold out. As of today, he has yet to play a game all season.

True, this is owner Geoff Molson’s money.  He spent $500 million to buy the Habs. It is a business. Nobody is forced to  buy tickets or souvenirs or watch the team play on television. Professional sports is entertainment. People do not complain about Daniel Radcliffe or Julia Roberts making $20 million per movie.

Here is a translation Ipperciel sent me of his piece in La Presse:

I work in the financial sector in Montreal and feel that much attention is directed towards our industry following the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Being of a generous nature, I would like to share this attention with others.

I propose a new movement: Occupy Bell Centre. People complain about the high level of salaries in the financial sector, far above the average pay.  However, the income of professional athletes is clearly higher than those of my peers.  How dare they extract such compensation!  After all, they only play a game, often in an unruly way...  Worse yet, half the teams perform below the median of their league!  How can they justify their astronomical salaries in those conditions?

Many will quickly point out than the financial sector of Wall Street had to be bailed out (not in Canada, but who’s noticing).  To those, I must recall that every penny paid out by the US government to the financial sector through the TARP program was reimbursed.  At the end, the program did not take away money from the American taxpayer.

On the other hand, professional sport teams are able to build arenas with the help of public funds, and often benefit from tax rebates or exemptions.  In contrast, the financial sector is one of the biggest contributors to government tax receipts, through corporate or personal tax, topped by a special payroll tax targeted specifically to them.

We can also expect to see new financial regulations implemented soon (Bâle, Volkner Rule).  In the hockey world, the legitimacy of violence is still being debated.  In this context, Occupy Bell Center is probably not a bad idea. 

Or why not Occupy Capitol Hill?  The governments have been important contributors of the financial crisis.  In the US, minimal targets for low income families were imposed by Congress to Fannie Mae and other agencies, in order to boost home ownership.  This helped develop the subprime market which led to the debacle.  The Chinese government manipulated the yuan’s exchange rate, which encouraged over-consumption all over the world, and launched the risk-seeking frenzy that followed because of the lower rates that it generated.  The Federal Reserve contributed by keeping rates too low for too long.  And more important, European governments exacerbated the crisis with their unrestrained accumulation of debt, threatening our social democracy.  Let us join in this popular indignation by occupying all these places!

I spoke to Ipperciel some more about his article. He agreed his tongue was planted firmly in cheek.

“No, I don’t think an Occupy Bell Centre would work,” he conceded.  “The whole ‘Occupy’  movement attracts sympathy because of its vagueness, so that everybody can relate.  An Occupy   Bell  Centre would have a more specific demand ( such as lower salaries which would bring a more polarized debate.  In any case, I was being facetious.  People are quick to denounce the big salaries of financiers.  If the salaries are too big, then why not criticize anybody else with a huge salary, like professional athletes?

“I really have no problem in principal against the high salaries of professional athletes.  I say in principal, because in practice, professional teams have become experts in blackmailing governments for handouts, whether for building a new amphitheater, or tax credits.  I’m sure you can come up with examples in hockey or Formula One. Would the salaries of these professionals be as high without government aid?  Probably not.  What they attract  -or extract- from their talent or the perceived attractiveness of their product, they entirely deserve.  They are not putting a gun to anyone’s head to buy their tickets or watch them on TV.  They deserve what they get from fans. 

"I just have a problem with what they get from government.  From what I understand, the Montreal Canadiens have paid for the Bell Centre without government aid, and they pay full taxes every year on it.  So whatever salary they pay to their team is their business, as they must remain competitive.  As for Scott Gomez, they made a bet, and do not seem to have gotten a good return on their investment.  As a citizen, I have no problem.  As a fan, I can’t be too happy.  But that  is the nature of the game.  Regarding the whole pro hockey scene, we should all be outraged as long as there is government involvement, using our tax money to make millionaires even richer? Come on!  The funny thing is that the Americans - supposedly capitalists - seem more prone to this than Canadians - supposedly socialists. Go figure."

Bravo David!   

Here is a look at Occupy Wallstreet Montreal.

Fantastic TNT G!ee High School Showdown in Montreal

The team from Bialik High School in Côte Saint-Luc, with a superb Michael Jackson Medley, took first place on November 13 at the second annual TNT JFK G!ee High School Showdown. It took place before a capacity crowd of 750 at the Eric MacLean S. J. Centre for the Performing Arts of Loyola High School in N.D.G.,   bringing in $102,000 for  The “Just For Kids” Foundation. The latter raises funds to purchase new, high-priority equipment for The Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH).

Bialik in action (photos by Rob Taussig of The Suburban).

The Bialik team of Michaela Elhadad, Samantha Leibgott, Jacky Shiff, Jordana Singer, Alizee Znaty, Levana Znaty,  Rachel Korman, Brandon Schwartz,  Sarah Shtern and Niki Sochaczevski performed an original arrangement by recording artist Kurt Schneider.  Team coordinators Diane Dupuis Kallos (affectionately known as DDK) and Samantha Druzin were assisted by John Dodge on vocals and Andree Aiza Styles with the choreography. Dodge shortened the song and recorded the music track.



The St. George's Glee team.



 Defending champions St. George’s School of Montreal came in second, with their version of Van Halen’s Jump. Team members Zac Bensoussan, Sara Diamond, Rachel Kirstein, Michaela Kovic, Polly Mendel, Alex Cohen, Andrea Kaplin, Olivia Kostin-Cohen, Matthew McPherson and Patrick Park were expertly guided by drama and theatre teacher Candace Grynol. Despite the fact she is on maternity leave this year, Ms. Grynol has been on campus and will continue to be all year to operate the highly successful St. George’s Glee Club. Since its creation two years ago, the club has held much anticipated multi-sellouts shows each May. Work is already well underway for the May 2012 presentation.  Staffers Aaron Stamboulieh (resident computer boss) and Stephanie Blum (science teacher) lent Ms. Grynol helpful hands.

Royal Vale High School of N.D.G. finished third  after an energetic performance to the tunes of Freedom- All Stars,  Price Tag by Jessie J and Everything is Everything by Lauryn Hill. Team members Kaya Benskin, Katara Dopwell, Ranee-Inez Henegan-Comeau, Ryan Vottero, Keamar Browne, Thayda Grey, Kanika McKenzie and Janessa Williams were guided by Bariyah Wright, Jodie Thompson and Selana Lobo.

Kuper Academy in  Kirkland, Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire, LaurenHill Academy in St. Laurent, Selwyn House  and The Study in Westmount and Trafalgar School for Girls in Montreal were the other school competing. Each school was required to raise at least $1,000. Bialik brought in $,7,340.  Dupuis Kallos was recognized with an outstanding leadership and fundraising achievement award. She personally raised $1,300

Royal Vale celebrates.

 “Thanks to the astounding popularity of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning television show Glee, teens throughout North America are embracing the Glee phenomenon by performing their own Glee music/ dance routines” said Ali Greenberg, chairperson of  the TNT JFK G!EE High School Showdown. “So we decided to create a platform for the kids to have their own glee-like competition.

 JFK is comprised of approximately 200 volunteers across four chapters throughout the island of Montreal, each one hosting an exciting fundraising event within the community each year. Now in its milestone 25th year, JFK has purchased over $7.5 million worth of equipment that the MCH might not have otherwise been able to procure within its own budget limits.

This was a highly entertaining afternoon, hosted by Virgin Radio hosts Cousin Vinny and Tony Stark. Andrea Collins, another on-air personality, was one of the judges.

Total Entertainment coordinated  the music while  drummer-vocalist Paul Lizzi kept everyone hopping in between school performances,   The Royal Vale Bollywood Troupe, a group of Grade 3 elementary students, brought the house down while the Pack Boys showed the audience why they won silver at the 2011 Canadian Hip Hop championships.

Cousin Vinny and Stark proved to be excellent auctioneers, starting the bidding at $100 and getting $1,000 for a signed and framed script by the actual Glee TV show cast.

Lisa Steinberg, the president of the executive of Just For Kids, stated that monies raised will go to the hospital’s “Rest Assured” campaign, benefiting the Anesthesia Service. Steinberg sent a very important message at the start of the event when she asked everyone to rise who ever had a child as a patient at the hospital or ever visited the hospital for any reason. Few people remained in their seats at this point.

Congrats to Greenberg, Steinberg and other stellar volunteers who made this event happen: Jill Aberman, Amanda Chicoine, Steven Eisenberg, Fran Goffman, Barbara Kurtzman Phillips, Sandra D’Elesio Lanno, Lynda Lubin, Tina Maniastis Troulis, Randi Milstein Cohen, Jill Morganstein Kimmel, Marla Oringer, Eden Polansky Flomen, Bridget Sachs, Jo-Ann Toulch, Ying Wang and Jillian Zrihen.  At the JDF office,  managing director Debbie Shapiro is the glue that keeps the operation rolling.

Will CRTC approve English talk radio application for Montreal?

The Canadian Radio-telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is expected to rule on a number of applications for two vacant dials on the Montreal AM band, 690 and 940, by the beginning of December. There were plenty of interveners at the hearings held recently. Industry insiders believe that TSN 990 will move to 690 and benefit from a stronger signal; Cogeco Media’s proposed all-traffic station will get 940 and  Radio Fierté, a French-language music and talk station targeted towards Montreal's gay community  will land on 990.

That being said, those who attended the CRTC hearings do believe that a talk radio proposal being steered by Paul Tietolman, Rajiv Pancholy, Nicolas Tetrault, Steve Kowch and Jim Connell could end up being  a surprise choice over all-traffic. Tietolman et al want a companion French talk station and word has it the CRTC might even be willing to open up a new dial that was not even in the mix to begin with.

Eighty per cent of anglophones and allophones surveyed by Leger Marketing say they want a second  English language news and talk  radio station to listen to on the AM dial,  the  Tietolman group maintains. “Montreal  English language radio listeners have been suffering from the lack of choice and diversity in  English news/talk radio for two and a half years,” he said. Currently, there is only one station providing news/talk programming. There is actually more choice in markets smaller than Montreal's English language market.”

Nicolas Tetrault and Paul Tietolman

Added Pancholy, another managing partner: “A new English news/talk voice will create employment opportunities for many established, creative broadcast talent as well as "new emerging talent" who currently have been deprived of working on radio because of a lack of opportunity.  By approving our request to launch both 690 AM and 940 AM, Montreal will have more choice, new employment opportunities will be created, and Montreal will finally have an  English radio station that will broadcast news and talk programming live 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.

The Tietolman group had assistance in its presentation from Leger Marketing,  one of the most reputable market research companies in North America.  According to Christian Bourque,

• 80 per cent of Montreal anglophones are interested and even very interested in the type of talk radio project Tietolman et al are  proposing.
•    65 per cent are very interested to listen to a new radio station that would present on air head to head debates with strong public personalities from politics to economics and important issues of the day.
•  60 per cent of anglophones in Montreal expressed a clear interest and intention to listen to Talk 940 for controversial and provocative debates on air.
•   62 per cent of anglophones clearly state that they would listen outspoken personalities with strong honest opinions.
• 81 per cent of anglophone and allophone Montrealers have clearly stated their intentions to listen to a new talk information radio station on 940AM.

There is no question that the presence of Kowch and Connell on their team adds credibility. Kowch ran two of the largest news talk radio stations in the country for 14 years CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal. 

“The  English community needs more than just one voice on the AM dial to inform and stimulate opinions about the issues of the day,” Kowch says. “It isn’t that the other station isn’t doing a good job, no one is questioning their integrity and reputation. But the lack of competition breeds complacency .  English talk radio in Montreal, well, it is what it is; and there is no reason to change or to be better when you’re the only game in town. What they do or say on air goes unchallenged.  Of course,  there is the CBC;  but their local Montreal based programming is limited to morning and afternoon drive. We don’t believe the status quo is good for Montreal’s  English community. We believe the addition of 940talk will win back listeners to AM radio.”

To be successful, the 940 Talk format would  create stimulating fresh programming, hosted by new emerging talent to bring back the audience and attract new listeners to the AM band.

Steve Kowch

“We will be fearless in our approach to covering the news; providing investigative reports to shine the light on corruption and scandals to protect the rights of all Montrealers no matter their age, cultural heritage, language,  religion, sexual orientation or politics,” promises Kowch. “Our talk shows will provide a platform to debate and express opinions on all the major issues of the day. And we will be there for our listeners live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help them during major emergency situations like civic unrest, serious traffic situations and severe weather. We will cover these events in real time. Providing people with the information they need to stay out of harm's way.”

Connell refers back to 1998, when the ice storm paralyzed parts of Quebec for days and even weeks, toppling CJAD’s transmitter towers. “The  English community had a safety net,” he says.  “At the time there was a second  English news talk radio voice, the former CFCF renamed CIQC. But this summer, when the tail end of  Hurricane Irene passed through the Montreal area one weekend there was no safety net. Currently there is a serious problem in Montreal! Nobody in the local population was served adequately by radio during Hurricane Irene. Let us never forget  Hurricane  Irene wasn't a surprise visit. Environment Canada issued warnings she was heading to Montreal. Both the English and French stations had plenty of time for contingency plans to replace the music and taped shows with live storm coverage.  The lack of competition, the lack of choice and the lack of diversity of radio voices resulted in a very stressful and nervous time for hundreds of thousands of Montrealers.”

Tietolman believes  that stations in both official languages, communicating with each other, will allow, for example, the French language news and talk station to provide the French point of view to anglo and allophone listeners, and vice versa. “Anglophones, allophones and francophones in Montreal don’t live in a vacuum,” Kowch says.  “They are neighbours and as such care about what goes on in each other’s communities. We will help them share their thoughts with one another. 940talk will dig beneath the headlines. Shine a light on corruption, wrong doing and scandals through regular special investigative reports and programs.

Connell says the station  will also support and develop the future generation of broadcasters and broadcast journalists. They pledged to allocate a program block once a week with content managed and produced and delivered on air by radio and broadcast journalism students from Montreal area CEGEPS,  colleges and universities. “Talk 940 believes future stars of talk radio will also be found on the internet;  bloggers with huge followings and people hosting podcasts,” Kowch said. “We just need to search them out and put them on the radio.   

To attract younger and new listeners, Talk 940  would have a prominent  presence on  the platforms where these younger demos get their information  and share it with followers on social media. “We believe that to develop new listeners and encourage them to listen to AM radio, Talk 940 must give on air exposure to the on line bloggers, podcasters and print journalists who don’t  currently have access to the Montreal airwaves,” Kowch says.