Saul Cherniack

Saul Mark Cherniack,PCCMOMQC(January 10, 1917 – March 30, 2018) was aCanadianlawyer andpolitician.He was a member of theLegislative Assembly of Manitobafrom 1962 to 1981, and served as acabinet ministerin the government ofEdward Schreyer.He was also a member of thePrivy Council,theOrder of Canadaand theOrder of Manitoba.

The Honourable Saul Cherniack PCCMOMQC
Manitoba Minister of Finance
In office May 2, 1973 – January 8, 1975
Premier	Edward Schreyer
Preceded by	Edward Schreyer
Succeeded by	Edward Schreyer
In office July 17, 1969 – November 13, 1972
Premier	Edward Schreyer
Preceded by	Gurney Evans
Succeeded by	Edward Schreyer
Member of theLegislative Assembly of Manitoba
In office December 14, 1962 – November 17, 1981
Preceded by	David Orlikow
Succeeded by	Donald Malinowski
Constituency	St. Johns
Metro Winnipeg Councillor
In office 1960–1962
Member of theWinnipeg City Council
In office 1959–1960
Personal details
Born	(1917-01-10)January 10, 1917 Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada
Died	March 30, 2018(2018-03-30)(aged 101) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Political party	New Democratic Party
Other political affiliations	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Spouse	Sybil Claire Zeal ​ ​ (m.1938; died 1997)​
Domestic partner	Myra Wolch (ca. 2007–2018)
Relations	David Orlikow(cousin)
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	University of Manitoba
Profession	Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance	Canada
Branch/service	Canadian Army
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Captain

Early life and career

Cherniack's grandfather, who was a dealer ofJudaica,emigrated to Canada fromRussiaand then brought over Cherniack's grandmother, father, and aunt in 1905; Cherniack was politicianDavid Orlikow's first cousin.

Cherniack was born inWinnipeg,Manitoba.His parents, Joseph Alter Cherniackand Fanya Golden,had beenrevolutionaries in Russiaand had been briefly imprisoned before coming to Canada in 1905.Alter Cherniack became a prominent member of Winnipeg's Jewish community and leading supporter of theIndependent Labour PartyandCo-operative Commonwealth Federationin the city's north end.Alter Cherniack was awatchmakerby training but eventually earned his BA and law degree in Canada and became law partners with Malick Spivak whose son,Sidney Spivak,would go on to beLeader of the Oppositionas leader of theProgressive Conservative Party of Manitobain the 1970s while Cherniack was in government.

Cherniack's parents helped found theI.L. Peretz School,the firstYiddishday school inNorth Americaand were also involved withYiddish theatre.

Cherniack himself was involved with a left-wing theatre group in the 1930s.He was educated at theUniversity of Manitoba(receiving a law degree in 1939), and was active in theCooperative Commonwealth Federationand in theJewishcommunity of Winnipeg. He began practising law in 1940. From 1943 to 1946, he served in theRoyal Canadian Artilleryand then in the Intelligence Corps of theCanadian Armyas aJapanese languagespecialist, reaching the rank of captain.

AfterWorld War II,Cherniack resumed his law practice and was one of three lawyers in Canada who worked on behalf ofJapanese Canadianswho had beeninterned during the war yearsin an attempt to have them paid compensation for property seized from them by the government.

He was elected as a trustee on theWinnipeg School Boardin 1950, serving until 1954, and then served as a councillor in the town ofWinnipeg Beachin 1958-59, a Winnipeg alderman in 1959-60, and a councillor on the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg from 1960 to 1962. In 1938, he married Sybil Claire Zeal.

In the late 1950s, he served as president of both the Jewish Welfare Fund of Winnipeg and the western branch of theCanadian Jewish Congress.

Provincial politics

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the1962 provincial election,in the north-end Winnipeg riding ofSt. Johns.He was re-elected in the elections of1966,1969,1973and1977,each time by a significant margin.

In 1968-69, Cherniack was a key figure in the provincial NDP calling forEdward Schreyerto replaceRussell Paulleyas party leader. He initially considered challenging Paulley himself, but declined, reportedly on the advice of NDP research adviserDoug Rowland.Those who supportedSidney Greencontended that Cherniack did not run because of concerns that a Jewish party leader would not have been acceptable to the general public in the late 1960s; they later attributed his lack of support for Green to the same reason. (Russell Doernonce quoted Cherniack as saying "I do not believe that Manitoba is ready for a Jewish Premier" in announcing his decision to others in the party.) Cherniack denied that, saying that his decision not to run himself was based on his lack of ambition for power, and his support of Schreyer was based on Schreyer's leadership qualities.

When Sidney Green challenged Paulley for the party leadership in late 1968, Cherniack and seven other MLAs supported Paulley on condition that he stand down the following year in favour of Schreyer. Paulley was confirmed as leader and resigned the following year, at which time Schreyer defeated Green for the party leadership. The NDP under Schreyer formed aminority governmentfollowing the 1969 election.

Cabinet minister

On July 17, 1969, Cherniack was appointed provincialMinister of Finance.He was also given theUrban Affairsportfolio for a brief period in 1970, and was responsible for amalgamating the suburbs and inner city of Winnipeg into one large municipality, the first such unification inNorth America.He remained one of Schreyer's most trusted confidantes throughout the 1970s.

During his time in office, Cherniack was respected for his intellectual rigour and integrity, and was known as one of the most dignified members of the Manitoba Assembly. He resigned the finance portfolio on November 13, 1972, returned to office on May 2, 1973, and resigned a second time in January 1975.

When Edward Schreyer resigned as party leader in 1979, Cherniack offered to serve as interim leader until a party convention could be held. He set a number of conditions to this offer, however; those who supported Green contended that he was trying to secure the leadership for either himself orWilson Parasiuk.At a caucus vote Green andHoward Pawleycontested Cherniack's interim leadership, and he received only three votes for the position of interim leader. Howard Pawley, the successful candidate, subsequently named him as the party's deputy leader.

Cherniack announced his retirement from political life in October 1980, saying "I am selfish enough to want a little more private life and have for some time [...] There comes a time in a person's life when he has a right to say I want to be relieved of the burden". Cherniack criticized the Manitoba New Democratic Party's recent leadership divisions in making his announcement, arguing that personality questions were obscuring substantive issues.He remained a member of the legislature until the1981 election.

Post-political career

After his retirement from politics, Cherniack became chair ofManitoba Hydro,and served as a member of theSecurity Intelligence Review Committeeoverseeing theCanadian Security Intelligence Servicefrom 1984 to 1992. Accordingly, he was sworn into theQueen's Privy Council for Canadaon November 30, 1984, to enable him access to information restricted under theOfficial Secrets Act.

Cherniack has also served as national vice-president of theCanadian Jewish Congress.He retired from his legal practice in 2000.

In 1963, his son Howard Cherniack was part of the group that founded theReformed Druids of North America.

In the1999 provincial election,his son Lawrie Cherniack ran for the NDP inFort GarryagainstJoy Smith,and lost by only 30 votes.

In 2003, he supportedBill Blaikie's campaign to lead the federalNew Democratic Party.

Cherniack was a member of both theOrder of Canadaand theOrder of Manitoba.

He turned 100 in January 2017and died on March 30, 2018, at the age of 101.

See also

Archives

There is a Saul Mark CherniackfondsatLibrary and Archives Canada.The archival reference number is R2112.

External links

• Order of Canada Citation