Lawyer.
Born Jacob Morley Chmelnitsky in the North End of Winnipeg on 26 July 1930, he was a son of merchant Benjamin Chmelnitsky (1878-1939) and homemaker Katie Chmelnitsky. His father died when he was nine years old, after which his mother operated a Kosher catering business in Winnipeg and boarding house at Winnipeg Beach during the summer. He was educated at Machray School and St. John’s Technical High School. He graduated from the University of Manitoba Law School in 1953 and Anglicized his name around this time. His law career started in a small office on Main Street, dealing in corporate and criminal law, and he later became a senior partner at the firms of Simkin, Gallagher and Taylor, McCaffrey. He was a Progressive Conservative candidate for the Seven Oaks constituency in the 1962 provincial general election. In the early 1970s, he began practicing labour law, becoming one of Canada’s foremost labour arbitrators. He was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1966. He served as President of the Law Society of Manitoba (1987-1988), President of the Jewish Child and Family Services in the mid-1970s, founding director of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation, and an active member of the Jewish Historical Society. He died at Winnipeg on 23 December 2010.
“These Manitobans will help plan centennial,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 September 1963, page 9.
“14 Manitoba lawyers are appointed QCs,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1966, page 5.
Death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 January 2011.
We thank Arthur Chapman for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 21 January 2018
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