Bernie M. Farber (born 1951)[1] is the chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress[2] and a social activist. He is one of only two people designated by Canadian courts as an expert witness on hate crime.[citation needed] Born in Ottawa, Ontario[1], his father was a Polish Jew who lost his first wife, two children and other family members in the Holocaust. Farber cites his father\s experience as a major motivation in his life, saying, \"the pain my father endured during the war is what drove me to fight for social justice today.”[3] Farber received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University[1] in Ottawa where he was involved in many social causes. He was a student leader with Ottawa\s Jewish community and was also involved in the campaign to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Soviet Jews to emigrate. He graduated in 1975 and found a job with the Children’s Aid