- Samuel William Jacobs
"For the Australian footballer see
Samuel Jacobs "Samuel William (Sam) Jacobs, K.C., (
May 6 ,1871 -August 21 1938 ) was a Canadian lawyer,Member of Parliament and a leader of the Canadian Jewish community. For many years he was the only Jewish MP in theCanadian House of Commons . He was first elected from theMontreal riding of George-Étienne Cartier (later known as Cartier) in the 1917 federal election as aLaurier Liberal and remained in parliament as a Liberal MP until his death in 1938. [ [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=1267c565-8771-4162-a16e-56bf229c71fa&Language=E&MenuID=Lists.Members.aspx&MenuQuery=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.parl.gc.ca%2FParlinfo%2FLists%2FMembers.aspx%3FParliament%3D%26Riding%3D%26Name%3Dj%26Party%3D%26Province%3D%26Gender%3D%26New%3DFalse%26Current%3DFalse%26Picture%3DFalse PARLINFO - Parliamentarian File - Federal Experience - JACOBS, Samuel William ] ]Jacobs graduated from
McGill University with a law degree in 1893 and went on to earn a Masters of Law fromLaval University Rabbi Wilfred Shuchat, "The Gate of Heaven: the Story of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim of Montreal, 1846-1996", McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2000, ISBN 0773520899, pages 112-116.] In 1897 [ [http://www.huc.edu/libraries/collections/ajpc/ajpc_c_d.php Libraries at Hebrew Union College ] ] Jacobs, Lyon Cohen and several others founded the "Jewish Times "; the first English language Jewish newspaper in Canada.He was called to the Quebec bar in 1894 and became a prominent lawyer active in criminal as well as civil law. In 1895, he co-founded the firm that is now the Montreal office of one of Canada's leading law firms,
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP . He was namedKing's Counsel in 1906.Janine Stingel, "Social Discredit: Anti-Semitism, Social Credit and the Jewish Response", McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2000, ISBN 0773520104]As a lawyer, Jacobs took on several notable
civil rights cases including thePilsner case which dealt with Jewish educational rights and the Plamondon case dealing with the aftermath of an antisemitic speech byJoseph Plamondon in 1910 in Quebec City that resulted in Jewish shopkeepers being attacked. [ [http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC816081 Anti-Semitism] , "Canadian Encyclopedia"] In the 1917 federal election, Jacobs was recruited by the Liberal Party to run in the newly created Cartier riding which had a large Jewish population (though never a majority). He won his first election by more than 5,000 votes and would be re-elected throughout his career with large pluralities. In parliament, Jacobs became a voice not only against anti-Semitism but also in support of other minorities facing discrimination such as theDoukhobors . Jacobs is notable for having successfully introduced as an Opposition MP twoprivate member's bill s that were passed into law. In 1919 his "Act to amend the House of Commons Act" (Bill 9) ended the practice of candidates being able to run in more than one seat simultaneously [ [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/mps_plus.asp?lang=E Members of the House of Commons Who Were Candidates in More Than One Constituency in an Election 1867 to 1919] , Library of Parliament website] and introduced a requirement thatby-election s be called to fill a vacantparliamentary seat within six months of the vacancy occurring. In 1931 his "Act to remove the necessity of the re-election of Members of the House of Commons of Canada on acceptance of office" (Bill 35) ended the practice of newly appointedCabinet minister s being required to resign and recontest their seats in the House of Commons through aby-election . [ [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/HouseOfCommons/legislation/privatememberspublicbills.aspx Private Members' Public Bills Passed by Parliament] , Parliament of Canada website]With the rise of
Adolf Hitler in Europe, growing anti-Semitism and a mounting Jewish refugee crisis, theCanadian Jewish Congress was revived in 1934 after several decades of inactivity. Jacobs was elected the reconvened Congress' first president and remained the CJC's leader until his death four years later. During this period Jacobs along withSam Factor andAbraham Albert Heaps , fought a largely unsuccessful battle to force the Canadian government to lift quotas restricting the entry of Jews, particularlyGerman Jews fleeing the Nazi regime, into Canada. [ [http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=103304&rec_nbr_list=103304 Description Full Display - Search Archives - Library and Archives Canada ] ]succession box
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years=1917 – 1925s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Cartier
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