Marc Gold, lawyer, business executive, academic and Jewish community leader, has been nominated to the Senate. He is one of six new senators from Quebec recommended for appointment by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the governor general on Nov. 2. They will sit as independents.
Gold, 66, is a past president of Montreal’s Federation CJA and of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA.
Son of the late Alan B. Gold, who was chief justice of Quebec Superior Court, the younger Gold taught at York University’s Osgoode Hall for 12 years and is considered an expert in constitutional law. He is currently an adjunct professor of law at McGill University.
After returning to his native Montreal almost 25 years ago, Gold became vice-president of Maxwell Cummings and Sons, a family-owned real estate and investment firm, and assumed a high profile in Jewish community affairs, locally, nationally and internationally.
He also served for 10 years as chair of the not-for-profit organization Ensemble pour le respect de la diversité (formerly the Tolerance Foundation), which provides education against discrimination in schools in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.
Gold served on the board of directors and was chair of the tenure and promotions committee of the Université de Montréal for 16 years. At the end of his mandate in June, he was named administrateur émérite in recognition of his service to the university.
He currently serves as a part-time member of the Parole Board of Canada and on the executive committees of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Centraide of Greater Montreal.
He received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University in 2012 and the Samuel Bronfman Medal, Federation CJA’s highest citation, last year.
Gold’s first love is music, and his youthful ambition was to be a rock star. He has continued to play guitar and sing in different local bands over the years.
The six nominees were chosen using the Trudeau government’s new “merit-based” process, in which any Canadian could apply to be a senator. Over 2,700 applications from across the country were received.
“Once appointed, these six exceptional candidates from Quebec, together with the other recent nominees, will be able to contribute to a Senate, which is reflective of our great country,” Trudeau stated.