Memorable Manitobans: Mendel Schnitzer (1949-2017)

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Mendel Schnitzer
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Educator, civil servant, community activist.

Born in Poland in 1949 to Holocaust survivors Malka and Leib Schnitzer, he grew up at Toronto, Ontario. He was a teacher and principal at Easterville and Fisher River Cree Nation. He later worked as a negotiator and policy analyst for Indian and Northern Affairs where he collaborated with indigenous councils to return control of federal schools to the bands on reserves throughout Manitoba.

He retired due to a chronic illness and devoted his time and expertise to the arts, education, Indigenous, LGBT, and patient rights. As a long-time recipient of hemodialysis, he played an integral role in leading the province to successfully implement nocturnal hemodialysis and was the first person in Manitoba to receive this treatment. He organized a successful campaign to have the government to cover the increased water and electricity costs of home hemodialysis for all patients. He was President of the Kidney Foundation’s Manitoba Branch in 2005 and was an advocate for organ donation.

He died at Winnipeg on 26 March 2017.

Sources:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 April 2017.

This page was prepared by Melanie Geraghty.

Page revised: 5 December 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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