Victor Goldbloom

Victor Goldbloom
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for D'Arcy-McGee
In office
1966–1979
Succeeded by Herbert Marx
Minister of Municipal Affairs
and the Environment
In office
1973–1976
Personal details
Born Victor Charles Goldbloom
(1923-07-31)July 31, 1923
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died February 15, 2016(2016-02-15) (aged 92)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Sheila Barshay-Rothstein

Victor Charles Goldbloom, CC OQ (July 31, 1923 – February 15, 2016) was a Canadian pediatrician, lecturer, and politician.

Life and career

He was born in Montreal, the son of Alton Goldbloom and Annie Ballon. He studied at Selwyn House and Lower Canada College. He studied at McGill University receiving his BSc in 1944, his MD in 1945, his DipEd in 1950 and his DLitt in 1992. Dr. Goldbloom was assistant resident at the Babies' Hospital of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, in New York.[1]

He was elected in 1966 as the MNA for the Montreal riding of D'Arcy-McGee. He was re-elected in 1970, 1973, and 1976. While Robert Bourassa was Premier of Quebec, Goldbloom was Minister of State responsible for Quality of Environment (1970–73). In 1973, he was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs as well as Quebec's first Minister of the Environment, serving in both positions until the Liberal government's defeat in 1976.[2] Goldbloom was in charge of the Olympic Installations Board for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal .[1][3]

He was the first member of the Jewish community to become a cabinet minister in the Quebec government. He kept his seat in the 1976 provincial election that defeated the Liberal government and sat on the Opposition benches until he resigned his seat on October 16, 1979 after Claude Ryan became Liberal leader.

Subsequently, from 1980 to 1987, he was CEO of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. From 1991 until 1999, he was Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages.

In June, 1948, he married Sheila (born Barshay-Rothstein), of New York and Peekskill, . His sons are Michael Goldbloom, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Bishop's University and former publisher of the Toronto Star and the Montreal Gazette,[4] and Jonathan Goldbloom, founder and president of Jonathan Goldbloom & Associates. His daughter, Susan Restler, lives in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2009, he expressed concerns on the state of Catholic-Jewish relations after the lifting of the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X.[5] Goldbloom died of a heart attack at Montreal in February 2016.[6][7]

Honours

Shelia and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award

In June 2009, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) established the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award in their honor.

In September 2009, the first awards were presented to lawyer and longtime promoter of quality and English rights Casper Bloom, Eastern Townships-based health-care advocate Marjorie Goodfellow, and researcher Jack Jedwab, who has contributed to the knowledge and understanding of English-speaking Quebec.

Electoral record (partial)

Quebec general election, 1966: D'Arcy-McGee
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalVictor Goldbloom 24,709 90.57
Union NationaleBoris Garmaise 1,548 5.67
     RIN Louise Belzile 895 3.28
     Ralliement national Gilles Côté 129 0.47
Total valid votes 27,281 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 699
Turnout 27,980 60.88
Electors on the lists 45,962
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

References

Government offices
Preceded by
D'Iberville Fortier
Commissioner of Official Languages
1991–1999
Succeeded by
Dyane Adam
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.