Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to mark the passing of Dr. Victor Goldbloom, a remarkable community leader.
Dr. Goldbloom started his career as a politician. He was elected to the Quebec National Assembly from the riding of D'Arcy McGee in 1966 and became Quebec's first Jewish cabinet minister. During his tenure in politics, he served in a number of functions, including minister of municipal affairs and Quebec's first minister of the environment.
After leaving politics, he was CEO of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and then Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages. His excellent work on interfaith dialogue between Jews and Christians earned him recognition from the Vatican.
Victor Goldbloom spent his career supporting the vitality of Quebec's Jewish community and English-speaking community, but he will be sadly missed by a much larger community as all of Quebec and all of Canada mourn the passing of a wonderful human being.
Please join me in offering condolences to Dr. Goldbloom's wife, Sheila, his children Susan, Michael, and Jonathan, and the entire family.