Lawrence Bergman is a Canadian notary and the former Minister of Revenue of Quebec.
Born in Montreal, Bergman graduated from Sir George Williams University and from Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law. He worked as a notary from 1965 until 1994, when he was named Minister of Revenue in the Quebec government. He was first elected to the National Assembly as the Liberal representative for D’Arcy-McGee in 1994. He was re-elected five times, sometimes winning more than 90% of the eligible votes, until his retirement in 2014. In 2003, he was named Minister of Revenue by Premier Jean Charest and served in that capacity for four years. In 2008, he served as the President of the Cabinet Caucus.
The recipient of multiple awards, including the Jerusalem Prize and the décoration du Rayonnement culturel de la Renaissance française, Bergman has also served on the boards of multiple organizations, including several synagogues and a B’nai B’rith Lodge. He is a member of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal and an advisor to the Department of Religious Studies of McGill.
Marc Gold
Marc Gold is a senator, lawyer, academic and community leader.
Son of the late Judge Alan B. Gold, Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court, Gold earned his undergraduate degree at McGill, his LL.B at the University of British Columbia, and his LL.M from Harvard Law School. He is considered an expert in Canadian constitutional law, was one of a handful of academics asked to provide training for federally-appointed judges in constitutional law, and has worked as a law professor at both Osgoode Hall and McGill.
Gold is a former Vice President of Maxwell Cummings and Sons, a position he held for 23 years, and has been an active and integral member of the community of Quebec for many years. Amongst his numerous roles, he is the former chair of the non-profit organization Ensemble pour le respect de la diversité, which provides education against discrimination in schools in Quebec and Canada. He served on the Board of Directors of Université de Montréal for 16 years and was named administrateur émérite in recognition of his service to the university in 2016. He also sits on the executive committees of both the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Centraide of Greater Montreal. Within the Jewish community, he is a former President of both the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA and Federation CJA.
Gold is a part-time member of the Parole Board of Canada. In 2016, he was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Senate as an Independent.
Yoine Goldstein
Lifelong Montrealer Yoine J. Goldstein is an internationally-respected lawyer, academic and former Senator, especially known for his work dealing with issues of insolvency.
He earned a BA (1955) and a BCL with honours (1957) from McGill. In 1960, he received a LLD from Université de Lyon, and he was called to the Quebec Bar in 1961. He went on to become the senior and managing partner of the Montreal law firm, Goldstein, Flanz & Fishman.
In 2005, Goldstein was appointed to the Senate as a member of the Liberal caucus. He served as the Vice-Chairman of the Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee and was appointed special counsel to the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. He is the Founding Director and member of the National Executive Committee of the Insolvency Institute of Canada, as well as the Founder and Quebec Chairman of the Quebec Section on Bankruptcy (Canadian Bar Association). In addition to his legal and political positions, Goldstein has served the Jewish community in numerous leadership positions, including as President of Federation CJA (1995-1997). He currently works with McMillan LLP in Montreal as a Senior Counsel Member on the Advisory Board.
Goldstein has been honoured with the Lord Reading Law Society Human Rights Award (1992), the Lord Reading Law Society Service Award (1998), the Bar of Quebec’s Order of Merit (2001), The Bar of Quebec’s Advocatus Emeritus (2007) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
Anthony Housefather
Montreal-born Anthony Housefather worked in municipal politics for several years before becoming a Member of Parliament for Mount-Royal.
Housefather became Vice President of the Liberal Party of Canada and then councillor for Hampstead. In 2000, he served as President of Alliance Quebec for one year before being elected as councillor for Cote-St-Luc-Hampstead-Montreal West. In 2005, he became mayor of Cote St-Luc. In 2015, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Mount Royal, replacing the retiring Irwin Cotler. He has since been named Chair of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Leo Kolber
Leo Kolber has had a long, diverse career, culminating in being appointed Senator for Victoria, Quebec between 1983 and 2004.
After receiving his law degree from McGill University in 1952, he became involved in Bronfman family ventures, including as President of a family holding company for Samuel Bronfman’s children, as well as the Seagram’s purchase of a stake in DuPont. In fact, Kolber has been referred to in books and articles as the “non-Bronfman Bronfman.” In 1987, Kolber founded the Cadillac Fairview Corporation, one of the world’s leading real estate developers – responsible for the Eaton Centre, among other projects. Since then, Kolber has gone on to hold a number of positions, including on the boards of TD Bank and MGM, and was President of the Jewish General Hospital.
He entered the political world when he became the chief fundraiser for the Liberal Party of Canada, and eventually was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1983. He has also held the position of Chair of the Advisory Council on National Security.
In 2007, Kolber was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Kolber has also been an important philanthropic figure in Montreal and Canada, and has been significantly involved with Federation CJA.
Lionel Perez
Lionel Perez is a Montreal lawyer, businessman and municipal politician.
Perez holds law degrees from Université de Montréal and Osgoode Hall and also has a BA in political science. His legal documenting service, which he developed before entering politics, is highly respected. He was first elected in 2009 and has remained an elected member of the borough ever since, including a one-year stint as mayor of Cote-des-Neiges-NDG. As an Orthodox Jew, he was outspoken against Quebec’s attempt to regulate face veils.
Lazarus Phillips
Lazarus Phillips was a Canadian lawyer and senator.
After serving in World War I, Phillips graduated with a law degree from McGill. He was senior partner at Phillips and Vineberg. In 1943, he lost his bid to be elected federal member of Parliament for the riding of Cartier, to Fred Rose, Canada’s only communist MP, although he performed better than the CCF’s David Lewis. He has served as President of United Talmud Torahs, as well as Director of the Royal Bank of Canada. He was named to the Senate in 1968 and retired two years later.
Mindy Pollak
Mindy Pollak is the first Hasidic female city councillor in Montreal’s history.
Born and educated in Montreal, Pollak co-founded Friends of Hutchison in 2011 to facilitate encounters and discussion among Hasidim and their neighbours in Outremont. She entered municipal politics at the tender age of 24 in her home borough to continue her work on communal relations. Fluently bilingual, she was elected as the Borough Councillor for the Claude Ryan district in 2013. In response to a reporter’s question about the image of Hasidic women as docile and shy, Pollak asked, “Do I seem meek to you?”
Jacques Saada
Jacques Saada is a Canadian teacher, businessman and politician.
Born in Tunis, Saada spent his adolescence in Paris and arrived in Montreal in 1969. He was a linguistics and translation teacher prior to his entrance into politics as school commissioner. He became President of the Liberal Party, and was elected to Parliament for the riding of Brossard-la Prairie in 1997. In 2003, then Prime Minister Paul Martin assigned Saada a cabinet position and made him responsible for the House of Commons, democratic reform, economic development Canada and la Francophonie. He retired from public life and was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Quebec Aerospace Association until he stepped down in 2011.
