Business Card for Dr. Victor C. Goldbloom (1980s).
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library Archives
News clipping of Dr. Victor Goldbloom in the Canadian Jewish News.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
1923 - 2016
Victor Goldbloom
Victor Goldbloom had a long and successful career as a paediatrician, civil servant, politician and community leader who devoted his life to building bridges between different language and religious communities.
Goldbloom studied at Lower Canada College before receiving his Bachelor of Science from McGill University in 1944. He received his Doctor of Medicine in 1945, and his Diploma of Education in 1950. Soon after, he became an assistant resident at the Babies’ Hospital of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.
In the late 1960s, Goldbloom came back to Montreal, and entered the world of provincial politics. He was elected a Member of the National Assembly for the riding of D’Arcy McGee, in 1966, and continued to be re-elected for the next decade. He became the first Jewish Quebec cabinet minister and Quebec’s first ever Minister of Environment under Roberta Bourassa’s Premiership, a position he would hold until 1976. He later became Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages (1991-1999). Goldbloom also served in many community development role; he was in charge of the 1976 Olympic Installations Board, for instance, and is credited with ensuring that those games began on time.
In 1979, Goldbloom became the President of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, becoming one of the first Jewish leaders in the province to take an active effort in building bridges between the Jewish community and the French Catholic community. Indeed, throughout his life, Goldbloom was committed to promoting diversity and tolerance. Well into his 80s, Goldbloom visited towns across the province in an effort to demystify Judasim in Quebec.
For his “outstanding devotion and his leadership in promoting Jewish-Christian dialogue and understanding,” he was made a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI – a rare honour for someone of a non-Catholic background. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
In 1992, Goldbloom was awarded an honorary degree from McGill in recognition of his years of service to Montreal, Quebec and Canadian society. And in 1999, the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award was established in his memory by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), to recognize individuals who have made major contributions to the vitality and understanding of Quebec’s English-speaking community.
