[lg policy] Canada: Public servant Victor Goldbloom remembered as a unifying force

[Harold Schiffman]

 Public servant Victor Goldbloom remembered as a unifying force

Ingrid Peritz <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/ingrid-peritz>

MONTREAL — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 8:12PM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 8:12PM EST

In 1992, during a time of turmoil over official bilingualism in the West, a
calm-spoken pediatrician from Montreal flew to Edmonton to address the
Rotary Club. Only three weeks earlier, Alberta premier Don Getty had used
the same podium to attack Canada’s “forced” language policy.

Victor Goldbloom entered the lion’s den in downtown Edmonton and began his
speech. As Canada’s official languages commissioner, he had his work cut
out. So he spoke about bilingualism as the glue of Canada. He gave a lesson
about the nation’s French fact. He reached back into history and the 1066
Battle of Hastings.

At the end of the talk, the once-hostile Western crowd had a single
response. It rose in unison and gave Dr. Goldbloom a standing ovation.

Dr. Goldbloom, who died in Montreal on Monday at age 92, was doing what he
did best. Throughout a lifetime committed to public service, he worked
tirelessly to bring opposing sides together, finding common ground among
those with differing visions. A former provincial MNA and Quebec’s first
environment minister, he remained active until his final days in the
service of diversity and bridge-building.

Dr. Goldbloom was gracious and articulate in both official languages, and
his training as a pediatrician seemed to be an asset in his public career.

“The skills he brought to public life were the skills he must have
developed as a pediatrician – patience, calm, the ability to listen
carefully and to respect the concerns of others, whether it’s a screaming
baby or a worried mother,” Graham Fraser, Canada’s current Official
Languages Commissioner, said in an interview. “He was always a voice of
moderation, lowering the temperature.”

Dr. Goldbloom, the son of a pioneering Quebec pediatrician, was first
elected to Quebec’s National Assembly in 1966, and re-elected three times.
Liberal premier Robert Bourassa named him environment minister in 1970,
making him the first member of Quebec’s Jewish community to enter cabinet.
Later, as municipal affairs minister, he played a crucial role in getting
the 1976 Montreal Olympics ready on time after Quebec took control of the
Games away from city hall. In the process, he faced down a formidable foe
in mayor Jean Drapeau.

After leaving politics, Dr. Goldbloom dedicated himself to interfaith
relations, and his work in building dialogue between Christians and Jews
earned him the medal of the Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester from Pope
Benedict XVI. He was the first non-Christian in the history of the Montreal
Archdiocese to earn the papal honour.

Dr. Goldbloom was official languages commissioner from 1991 to 1999.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre saluted Dr. Goldbloom on Tuesday as a unifying
force and master of compromise. “He devoted the greater part of his life to
reconciling the Jewish and Christian communities, as well as francophones
and anglophones, and to advocating tolerance and respect. He will remain an
exemplary model for anyone who wants to go into politics,” Mr. Coderre said.

Dr. Goldbloom, a tenor who liked to sing opera in his spare time, became a
kind of elder statesman of community engagement, and he never slowed down.
In recent years, he spoke out against the proposed Quebec charter of
values, was active in public-health administration, and was preparing to
address Quebec parliamentary hearings on reorganized Quebec school boards.
Last year, he published his memoirs, *Building Bridges* (translating them
himself into a French version). As recently as Friday night at a private
gathering, he talked about enlarging interfaith dialogue to include other
religious groups.

“My watchword has been *une politique de présence* – being present wherever
and whenever possible,” he wrote in the final lines of the book. “It has
been quite an odyssey.”

Dr. Goldbloom leaves his wife of 67 years, Sheila Goldbloom; children Susan
Restler, Michael Goldbloom and Jonathan Goldbloom; four grandchildren; two
great grandchildren; and his brother Richard Goldbloom.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/public-servant-victor-goldbloom-remembered-as-a-unifying-force/article28776715/


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