SENATOR YOINE GOLDSTEIN
MONTREAL – When Montreal lawyer Yoine Goldstein recently got the call from Prime Minister Paul Martin about his appointment to the Canadian Senate, his reaction was typical of one receiving such an honour, but he didn’t forget about the roots that brought him there.
“I was absolutely delighted when I got the call, and I am anxious to serve in the Senate,” said the newly appointed senator in an interview with the Jewish Tribune. “However, I want to make sure that I will be helpful and useful to the Montreal Jewish community during my time there.”
Goldstein’s appointment to the Senate became official on Aug. 29. He succeeds Leo Kolber, who retired from the Senate last year. Goldstein admits that following in the footsteps of such a distinguished political figure is going to be quite a challenge. “Those are pretty big shoes to fill and that can be scary,” he said. “But Leo has been a great mentor to me. We recently sat down for a two-hour meeting in which he taught me the inner workings of the Senate. In fact, it was almost like an initiation.”
Goldstein’s official swearing-in and introduction to the Senate chamber in Ottawa will take place Sept. 28, when he will be escorted to his seat by the Speaker of the House and the Liberal Party member who sponsored his appointment.
His road to the Senate began several months ago, after he returned from a mission to Uzbekistan, when he received a call from B’nai Brith Canada Quebec Region Executive Committee member Eric Bissell, who told him that B’nai Brith Canada had proposed him as a candidate to fill the Senate vacancy left by Kolber.
“They forwarded my name without my knowledge and I thought it would be a good thing,” he said. “And then it started getting serious, and evolved into a major letter-writing campaign, because they thought I would well serve and represent the Jewish community there. Months later, I got a call from the prime minister, who told me that he planned to appoint me to the Senate.”
Born and raised in Montreal, Goldstein got his law degree from McGill University in 1958 and his doctorate in law from the University of Lyon, France, in 1960 and was admitted to the Quebec Bar a year later. A partner with the Montreal-based law firm Goldstein, Flanz and Fishman, and a specialist in bankruptcy and insolvency law, he also lectured for nearly 30 years at various law faculties. He is also a longtime supporter and financial contributor to the federal Liberal Party.
Goldstein has previous experience with the Senate. In 2003, he served as a special adviser to the Senate’s Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, where he helped put together a white paper on bankruptcy and insolvency, which has become Bill C-55, an amendment to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
Goldstein also has a distinguished record of service as a senior leader to the Montreal Jewish community. He was president of Federation CJA in Montreal, president of UIA Federations Canada, and is currently a member of the executive and board of governors of the Joint Distribution Committee, as well as incoming president of the Jewish Community Foundation of Canada. In 1998, he was the recipient of the Samuel Bronfman Medal, the highest honour a member of the Montreal Jewish community can receive for community service leadership on the volunteer level.
Despite his wealth of CJA and UIA experience, he received no support from those organizations for his Senate seat.
According to sources, Stanley Plotnick, president of UIA Federations Canada, was the Federations first – and only – choice.
“Plotnick was the federation’s original candidate and they didn’t want to compromise their original choice,” said Amos Sochaczevski, chair of B’nai Brith Canada’s Institute for international Affairs and its national treasurer. “We thought Goldstein was the right choice for senator.”
Although his term in the Senate will last only three and a half years (he is 71, and the mandatory retirement age for senators is 75), Goldstein hopes to use his experience and knowledge in community service and bankruptcy law as part of his agenda during his short time there.
“I would like to serve on the Senate’s banking and commerce committee or maybe its foreign relations/foreign affairs committee, but those appointments depend on the Leader of the Senate,” he said. “I would also like to be useful to my constituents by informing cabinet ministers and upper-level civil servants in Ottawa more about the needs and concerns of the Jewish community.”
Index | Letters to the Editor | Main Page | Op Ed | Photos
Send Letters To The Editor:
editor@jewishtribune.ca
This site hosted by:
vex.net
