Harper's Shana Tova greeting gets bad reviews

Some Montrealers are upset they received a Rosh Hashanah card from Stephen Harper's constituency office.

The card, which marks the upcoming Jewish New Year, is a signed photo of Harper and his family, wishing the recipient a happy Rosh Hashanah.

Montreal resident Sonia Zilberberg received her card on Monday and was stunned.

She told CBC she has never voted for the Conservatives, doesn't belong to any organized Jewish groups and doesn't understand how the Conservative leader's constituency office got a hold of her address.

"I don't know Stephen Harper; I don't want to know him," she said.

"He's trying to establish an intimacy so that I'll think, 'Oh well, here's a friend of mine who's sending me a nice wish, so I should vote for him."

Montreal resident David Lazar also received a card and said he has never voted for the Tories.

He said he found the greeting a "cheap ploy" to win his vote.

"If Stephen were sending me and I say Stephen, as if we were buddies if he'd been sending me a card every year for the past 10 years, because in some point in time I'd done something with or for the Conservative Party, that's a different story," he said.

A spokesman for the Conservative Party said it collects mailing list names from community organizers and by word of mouth.