He was chosen as president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in April 1989, succeeding Dorothy Reitman. During his acceptance speech, Scheininger said that his primary goal was to improve Canada's relationship with Israel. He argued that Canada's recent upgrade in relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization had " into jeopardy the possibility of Canada providing a useful role in the Middle East process", and said that Israel would have difficulty accepting Canada as an "honest broker" in the future. He said he would promote anti-hate crime laws, and work to mediate disputes between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform communities within Canada.