Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
Alan Gold, Montreal Gazette (1960s).
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
Newsclipping of Alan B. Gold in the Montreal Gazette (1960s).
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
1917 - 2005
Justice Alan B. Gold
Alan Gold had a long and prestigious legal career – including serving as Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court (1983-1992) – and was especially notable as an effective mediator in high-profile cases.
Born in Montreal, Gold earned his Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University (1938) and a bachelor’s degree from l’Université de Montréal (1941). During World War II, he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery. He was then called to the Bar of Quebec in 1942.
As an arbitrator, Gold helped avoid a strike by the longshoremen at the Port of Montreal in 1968. In 1990, he negotiated a settlement between the Quebec government and the Mohawk people in the Oka standoff. In 1993, he negotiated a settlement at Nationair, bringing an end to the 16-month lockout of its Flight Attendants. That same year, he represented the government of Saskatchewan in negotiating a settlement in the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard. He also reviewed the out-of-court settlement between former Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, and the federal government, in Mulroney’s anti-defamation suit during the alleged Airbus affair.
Gold served as Chair of the Board of Governors of McGill University, Chancellor of Concordia University and Associate Governor at the Université de Montréal. He was also the Chairman of the Bar of Montreal’s committee on access to justice in the English language in 1995.
Gold was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec (1985), an Office of the Order of Canada (1995), and a member of the Academy of Great Montrealers (1997).
