An essay contest for high school students honouring the memory of Victor Goldbloom has been created by the National Assembly.
D’Arcy McGee MNA David Birnbaum said the Victor Goldbloom Vivre Ensemble contest will “perpetuate Victor’s tremendous legacy by inviting young people in the riding he represented to explore the principles of openness, compassion and understanding that so marked his life.”
Goldbloom, who died in February at age 92, was the first MNA for the newly created D’Arcy McGee in 1966, a seat he held until 1979. He was the first Jewish cabinet minister in Quebec and first minister of the environment.
He also served as Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages.
READ: VICTOR GOLDBLOOM, PUBLIC SERVANT, COMMUNITY LEADER, DIES
All grade 10 and 11 students studying within the riding are eligible to enter. Their submissions on the general theme of “Vivre ensemble” must be no more than 700 words. They are free to choose the specific subject.
Entries can be in English or French, and must include a single-paragraph summary in the second language.
The deadline is June 3, 2016 at 4 p.m. at [email protected]
A single winner, to be presented with a National Assembly medal, will be selected by a jury composed of Birnbaum, D’Arcy McGee Liberal Association president Orna Hilberger, retired professor and association member Dorothy Zalcman-Howard,
and Michael Goldbloom, Victor’s son and principal of Bishop’s University.
“My father would have been very pleased to have his name given to this wonderful initiative,” Goldbloom said. “He wrote beautifully in both English and French, and he loved his interactions with students.
“From his first career as a pediatrician and throughout his public life, my Dad always sought to broaden understanding, bridge differences and help to make a better world. This essay contest is a thoughtful way of inviting young people to share that goal.”
