It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Dr. Victor Goldbloom. Our deepest sympathies go out to the Goldbloom family.
Dr. Goldbloom was born in Montreal in 1923 he worked in New York at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre before returning to Canada and joining politics in the 1960s.
Dr. Goldbloom was first elected in 1966 as the MNA for D’Arcy McGee, and became the first Jewish cabinet minister, serving Premier Robert Bourassa as Minister for the Environment. He was later Municipal Affairs Minister, and the Minister responsible for ensuring the 1976 Olympics began on time. He resigned from provincial politics in 1979, when Claude Ryan became leader of the Liberal party, and from 1991 until 1999 was Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages.
Dr. Goldbloom received multiple awards for his citizenship and his efforts to build connections between Jews and Christians. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the National Order of Quebec, and received honorary degrees from several universities.
The Quebec Community Groups Network established an award in the name of Goldbloom and his wife Sheila for those who contribute to understanding English-speaking Quebec.
He is survived by his wife Sheila, their sons Michael, the principal of Bishop’s University and former publisher of the Montreal Gazette, Jonathan, president of the communications firm Jonathan Goldbloom and Associates, and daughter Susan, co-founder of Knowledge in the Public Interest, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his brother Dr. Richard Goldbloom.