Nova Scotia New Democratic Party and Michael Melchior: Difference between pages

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{{MKs
{{refimprove|date=December 2007}}
| Image = [[Image:Rabbi Michael Melchior.jpg|150px]]

| Date of birth = {{Birth date and age|1954|1|31|df=y}}
{{Infobox_Canada_Political_Party |
| Year of Aliyah =1986
party_name = New Democratic Party of Nova Scotia|
| Date of death =
status = active |
| Knesset(s) = [[Israeli legislative election, 1999|15th]], [[Israeli legislative election, 2003|16th]], [[Israeli legislative election, 2006|17th (current)]]
class = prov |
| Party = [[Meimad]]<br>(in alliance with [[Labor (Israel)|Labour]])
party_wikicolourid = NDP |
| Former parties =
party_logo = [[Image:NSNDP.JPG]]
| Gov't roles = [[Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism Minister of Israel|Minister of Social &]]<br><center>[[Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism Minister of Israel|Diaspora Affairs]]|
|
leader = [[Darrell Dexter]] |
president = John Arthur Murphy |
foundation = 1961|
dissolution = |
ideology = [[Social Democracy]] / <br>[[Democratic Socialism]]|
headquarters = 1660 Hollis Street <br>[[Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia|Halifax, Nova Scotia]]<br> B3J 1V7|
int_alignment= [[Socialist International]]|
colours = [[Orange (colour)|Orange]] & [[Blue]]|
seats_house = 20|
website = [http://www.ns.ndp.ca http://www.ns.ndp.ca]
}}
}}


Rabbi '''Michael Melchior''' ({{lang-he|מיכאל מלכיאור}}, born [[31 January]] [[1954]]) is a Danish-Norwegian rabbi, an [[Israel]]i [[politician]] and leader of the left-wing religious party [[Meimad]], which he represents in the [[Knesset]].
The '''Nova Scotia New Democratic Party''' are a bunch of faggots who like t suck stephen harper and george bush's dick at a party in [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]. It is aligned with the federal [[New Democratic Party]]. Originally founded as the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) in 1932, it became the NDP in 1961. It is currently the official opposition and is considered to be the most successful New Democratic Party in the Atlantic Provinces. Much of the party's success is based in the urban areas of the provincial capital, the [[Halifax Regional Municipality]].


==Background==
==Co-operative Commonwealth Federation 1933-1961==
Since shortly after [[Canadian confederation|confederation]], Nova Scotia has had a two-party system in which power alternated between the [[Liberal Party (Nova Scotia)|Liberals]] and [[Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia|Conservatives]]. In the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1920|1920 provincial election]] the left had a breakthrough with the [[United Farmers#Nova_Scotia|United Farmers]] winning six seats and the [[Labour candidates and parties in Canada#In_Nova_Scotia|Independent Labour Party]] winning 5. The two forces joined together to form an 11 member [[official opposition]] under [[Daniel G. Mackenzie]], but the group was undermined by the Liberals (who tarnished the image of the opposition MLAs by offering them payments) and the United Farmers/Labour grouping was wiped out in 1925.


{{Wikify|date=October 2008}}
Though the CCF/NDP has a long history in Nova Scotia, it was unable to break the [[two-party system]] and win more than a handful of seats (if any) in the Nova Scotia [[Nova Scotia House of Assembly|House of Assembly]] until the 1990s.


Rabbi Michael Melchior comes from Denmark where for seven generations his family members have served as Chief Rabbis. He studied at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and in 1980 received rabbinic ordination after which he returned to Scandinavia to serve as Chief Rabbi of the Norwegian Jewish Community.
The [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] was formed in 1932 and ran its first candidates in the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1933|1933 Nova Scotia election]] but was shut out. The party did not contest the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1937|1937 general election]].


In 1986, Rabbi Melchior moved to Israel where amongst other activities, he served as International Relations Director for the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Nine years later, when Israel's Prime-minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a religious extremist, Rabbi Melchior decided to extend his drive for high ethical standards from the synagogue to national politics. In 1996, he was selected as Chairman of Meimad's Executive Committee and three years later, he was elected to the Knesset as Meimad's representative on Ehud Barak's "One Israel" list. In July 1999, he was appointed Minister for Israeli Society and the World Jewish Community.He resumed these responsibilities during the first Sharon government, while serving as Deputy foreign Minister. In the second Sharon government,Rabbi Melchior served as a Deputy Minister for Education, and later as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's office, in charge of Jewish diaspora and Israeli society affairs. Rabbi Melchior returned to being an opposition member MK when the labour resigned the government. On the 17th Knesset, May 2006, He was elected as Chairman of the Knesset committee for Education, Culture and Sports.
In the 1939 [[Cape Breton Centre]] [[by-election]] [[Douglas MacDonald]] won the CCF's first seat in the legislature.


Rabbi Melchior has been actively involved in besmirching campaigns against groups and organisations that don't see eye to eye with him in many of the questionable activities he has instigated creating rifts in local communities, hiding behind his titles and very liberal views.
In 1941, the future [[Canadian Labour Congress]] (CLC) president [[Donald MacDonald, O.C., LL.D.|Donald MacDonald]] was elected from the [[Cape Breton South]] and [[Douglas Neil Brodie]] was elected in [[Cape Breton East]] bringing the CCF up to a total of 3 MLAs. Donald MacDonald was the party's leader in the Assembly until 1945.<ref name="archives"> {{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Donald MacDonald
| work =
| publisher = Government of Canada
| date =
| url = http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=101747&rec_nbr_list=101747,183292,183286,2889586,2861304,2861231
| format = HTML
| doi =
| accessdate = 2007-02-11}} </ref> He lost a close campaign in the 1945 election, but the party still retained two seats on [[Cape Breton Island]]<ref> {{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Elections Returns, 1945
| work =
| publisher = Elections Nova Scotia
| date =
| url = http://electionsnovascotia.ns.ca/electionsstatistics.asp
| format = PDF
| doi =
| accessdate = 2007-02-11}} </ref>
. MacDonald then transitioned into working full-time with the Canadian Congress of Labour, a predecessor of the CLC.<ref name="archives"/>
A lot of the early organization of the CCF in Nova Scotia was done by Maritime Organizer [[Fred Young]]. Young would go on to continue his work in Ontario and eventually sit as an MPP in the Ontario legislature, however, his early work laid the ground work for any future advancements the party would make during this period.<ref>[[Donald C. MacDonald|MacDonald, Donald C.]], "The Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs," Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1988: 38-48.</ref> This was evident in [[Nova Scotia general election, 1945|1945]] when the two CCF members elected from Cape Breton<ref>Elections Returns, 1945: Both Cape Breton ridings were won with massive majorities: Russell Cunningham with a 2613 majority and 58.9% of the vote, in [[Cape Breton East]]; and Michael McDonald with a 1,134 majority in [[Cape Breton Centre]] with 55.7% of the vote. </ref>


==Areas of activity==
[[Russell Cunningham (Canadian politician)|Russell Cunningham]] was the first and only CCF leader to serve as [[Leader of the Opposition (Nova Scotia)|Leader of the Opposition]] after the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1945|1945 provincial election]] in which Premier [[Angus L. Macdonald]]'s Liberal Party swept 28 of the 30 seats and the Tories were wiped out. CCFers Cunningham and fellow Cape Bretoner [[Michael James MacDonald]] were the only opposition MHAs elected. Cunningham and MacDonald were re-elected in [[Nova Scotia general election, 1949|1949]] but were reduced to third party status behind the [[Robert Stanfield]]-led Progressive Conservatives.


Rabbi Melchior takes particular interest in the social fabric of Israeli Society which he believes must be built on the basis of tolerance, equal rights and equal opportunities. To this end, Rabbi Melchior actively guides the Committee for Education, Culture and Sports; previously chaired the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child during the 16th session of the Knesset.
MacDonald led the CCF from 1953 to 1963 and was the party's sole MHA in that period despite the fact that he led the CCF to an 8.9% popular vote in [[Nova Scotia general election, 1960|1960]].
Recognizing that religious extremism and the tensions between religious and secular Jews are deeply damaging to Israeli Society, Rabbi Melchior launched Moe'tzet Yachad; a forum which promotes dialogue and understanding between different strands in Israeli society. He has also established 'Meitarim' a network of Orthodox Jewish schools whose open, democratic ethos enables religious and secular students to study their heritage together.
Rabbi Melchior does not restrict his activities to the Jewish population of Israel. He passionately believes that building bridges with the local Israeli-Arab and Palestinian populations is central to the preservation of our Jewish values and essential to our shared future in the Middle East. Rabbi Melchior, therefore, serves as Co-Chair of the Knesset Caucus for Jewish-Arab relations and he established Citizen's Accord Forum between Jews and Arabs in Israel which campaigns for coexistence between the two peoples and the correction of injustices against Israel's Arab minority. Recognizing that much of the tension between Jews and Muslims has its roots in religious prejudice and ignorance, Rabbi Melchior with the support of world religious leaders initiated the Alexandria Declaration in which the religious leaders of all the major communities in the Holy Land agreed to work towards peaceful resolution of conflicts. Rabbi Melchior is heavily involved in the realization of this vision and has forged partnerships with leading religious and political figures in the Muslim community to establish the Mosaica Center for interfaith dialogue in Israel.


Through his career in the rabbinate, his leading role in the campaign for Soviet Jewry and his ongoing connection to the global Jewish people, Rabbi Melchior has gained enormous insight into the concerns and workings of Diaspora Jewish communities. It was therefore natural for him to be invited to take up the portfolio of Diaspora affairs in three successive governments. This places him in the forefront of the international fight against anti-Semitism, the restitution of the property of Holocaust victims and the campaign to maintain close relations between the Diaspora and the State of Israel. His love of Israel and his deep connection to the world Jewish community led him to be amongst the pioneers of the concept of the Birthright Trips to Israel and from their inception, he has chaired the Birthright steering committee. This organization has over the last five years brought tens of thousands of young unaffiliated Jews to explore their heritage in Israel, causing many of them to revaluate their Jewish identity and take up leading positions within the Jewish community.
==The New Party==


Rabbi Melchior brings his religious leadership and political influence to bear on many other issues including his work as chair of the Knesset caucus on the environment, activity on behalf of Agunot and efforts to resolve the problems of conversion which effect Jewish communities around the world. Rabbi Melchior recently coalesced all of his interests in the establishment of Tenufa; a mass movement for social change in Israel whose launch was attended by 5,000 people.
Following the creation of the [[New Democratic Party]] federally and provincially, MacDonald stepped down as leader and the locus of authority in the party moved to Halifax under the leadership of Professor [[James H. Aitchison]]. MacDonald lost his seat in the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1963|1963 provincial election]] and the NDP would not win another until [[Jeremy Akerman]] became party leader and won the riding of [[Cape Breton East]] in the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1970|1970 election]]. NDP representation in the House of Assembly grew slowly in throughout the 1970s, but never rose above four seats. The CCF had only been able to win seats on [[Cape Breton Island]] and the NDP did not win seats outside of Cape Breton until 1981. With the election of the 26-year-old Akerman as party leader in 1968, and his subsequent election to the legislature two years later, the party regained and developed its strong base in industrial Cape Breton, ultimately winning four seats in the election of [[Nova Scotia general election, 1978|1978]]. However, the party failed to win any seats on the mainland, and this exacerbated tensions between the Akerman-dominated Cape Breton wing of the party and the university-based party establishment in Halifax.<ref name=akerman>Canadian Press, "Void facing N.S. New Democrats...", ''Globe and Mail'', May 19, 1980</ref> Following increasingly bloody internal battles Akerman resigned and the NDP lost all four Cape Breton seats in the following election.<ref name=akerman/>


Rabbi Melchior is a recipient of Norway's Prize for Tolerance and Bridge-Building win the Nobel Institute, the Church of England's Coventry Peace Prize for his contribution to world peace, and 'The Marc and Henia Liebhaber Prize for the Promotion of Religious Tolerance and Cultural Pluralism in Israel' for the year 2007. Alongside his ministerial responsibilities, he also serves as the Rabbi of a young and active Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem and is actively involved in the Norwegian Jewish Community where he still holds the honorary position of Chief Rabbi.
===Alexa McDonough===


Rabbi Melchior by his own admission was the only one aware 24 hours in advance that there was going to be a kidnapping of an Israeli soldier (Rabbi Melchior was notified by his good friend a sheikh from Gaza) and did not notify any authorities and thus facilitated the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
In 1980, Haligonian [[Alexa McDonough]] became leader of the Nova Scotia NDP,<ref>"Woman elected to lead NDP in Nova Scotia," ''Globe and Mail'', November 17, 1980</ref> the first female leader of a major party in Canada. While she was the only NDP member of the legislature elected in [[Nova Scotia general election, 1981|1981]],<ref name=harris/> and had at most a [[caucus]] of three [[Member of the Legislative Assembly|Members of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLAs), she raised the party's profile and become a well known advocate for the poor and disadvantaged. In a reversal of earlier times it was under McDonough's leadership that either the CCF or the NDP was able to win seats on the mainland for the first time. At the same time the NDP lost all its Cape Breton seats in the 1981 election<ref name=harris>Harris, Michael, "Official party status lost N.S. NDP leader faces lonely road," ''Globe and Mail'', October 20, 1981</ref> and was unable to regain any of them under McDonough's leadership. She resigned as Nova Scotia NDP leader in 1994 and went on to be elected leader of the federal NDP in 1995.
Rabbi Melchior is married to Hanna, an occupational therapist and is the father to five children.


==Political career==
===Chisholm Years: Breakthrough===
Melchior became involved in the politics when the [[Meimad]] party was formed shortly before the [[Israeli legislative election, 1999|1999 elections]] from the movement founded by [[Yehuda Amital]] in 1988. The party joined [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour]] (with which it was friendly, Amital having served as a non-parliamentary minister under [[Shimon Peres]] in the early 1990s) and [[Gesher (political party)|Gesher]] in forming an alliance called [[One Israel]].


The alliance won 26 seats, with Melchior taking the one reserved for Meimad. He was appointed [[Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Antisemitism Minister of Israel|Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs]] in [[Ehud Barak]]'s government. After Barak lost a [[Israeli prime ministerial election, 2001|special election for Prime Minister]] to [[Ariel Sharon]] in 2001, Melchior lost his post, but was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, though he lost his new job in November 2002 when Labour pulled out of the [[national government|national unity government]] Sharon had formed.
Under [[Robert Chisholm (Canadian politician)|Robert Chisholm]]'s leadership, in [[Nova Scotia general election, 1998|1998]] the party vaulted from third place to ahead of the Conservatives and won 19 seats in the House of Assembly, the same number as the Liberals. The Liberals formed a [[minority government]] with the support of 14 Progressive Conservatives (Tories), the latter who had also improved their standings. The prospect of an NDP government seemed imminent.


He was re-elected to the Knesset in the [[Israeli legislative election, 2003|2003 elections]] as Meimad's sole representative, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport when Labour joined the coalition government in January 2005. In June 2006 he became Deputy Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, but again lost his position when Labour pulled out of the coalition.
However, the party was unable to improve on its standings in the [[Nova Scotia general election, 1999|1999 election]]. But with 11 seats in the legislature with 29.9% of the vote, it edged out the Liberals and were able to retain "Official Opposition" status when the Tories formed a [[majority government]] under [[John Hamm]]. Chisholm's unexpected resignation immediately following the election led to a period of internal party strife, with new leader Helen MacDonald, a former Cape Breton MLA, resigning after barely a year.


He retained his seat again in the [[Israeli legislative election, 2006|2006 elections]] and currently chairs the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee and the Social-Environmental lobby in the Knesset.
===Darrell Dexter===

The [[Nova Scotia general election, 2003|2003 election]] resulted in a Tory minority government while the NDP maintained Official Opposition status under new leader [[Darrell Dexter]]. In the election, the NDP won 15 seats and 31% of the vote, coming slightly behind the Liberals in the popular vote but winning three more seats than the Liberals' 12. In the [[Nova Scotia general election, 2006|2006 election]], the NDP managed to capitalise on its position as the Official Opposition to squeeze the Liberal vote, and the party increased its number of seats from 15 to 20, an all time high, and won 34.63% of the vote. Unlike in 2003, in 2006 the NDP came in a clear second, far ahead of the Liberals.

The political scene in Nova Scotia is now tightly divided between the PCs and the NDP, with either poised to form the next government should the current minority government collapse. Most polls have shown the NDP leading the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia]], since the election. The most recent Poll in December 2007 showed the NDP with a seven point lead.<ref>Nodice.ca, Nova Scotia Provincial Election 2008 Public opinion polls, [http://www.cra.ca/en/home/Newsroom/SupportforNSNDPIncreases.aspx]</ref>

==Current elected members==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
! Name
! Riding
! Year elected
|- align="center"
! [[Darrell Dexter]]
| [[Cole Harbour (electoral district)|Cole Harbour]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[Frank Corbett]]
| [[Cape Breton Centre]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[Howard Epstein]]
| [[Halifax Chebucto]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[Bill Estabrooks]]
| [[Timberlea-Prospect]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[Gordie Gosse]]
| [[Cape Breton Nova]]
| 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Maureen MacDonald]]
| [[Halifax Needham]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[John MacDonell (NDP)|John MacDonell]]
| [[Hants East]]
| 1998
|- align="center"
| [[Joan Massey]]
| [[Dartmouth East]]
| 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Marilyn More]]
| [[Dartmouth South-Portland Valley]]
| 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Charlie Parker (Nova Scotia politician)|Charlie Parker]]
| [[Pictou West]]
| 1998, 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Trevor Zinck]]
| [[Dartmouth North]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Michele Raymond]]
| [[Halifax Atlantic]]
| 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Graham Steele]]
| [[Halifax Fairview]]
| 2001
|- align="center"
| [[Dave Wilson]]
| [[Sackville-Cobequid]]
| 2003
|- align="center"
| [[Leonard Preyra]]
| [[Halifax Citadel]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Sterling Belliveau]]
| [[Shelburne (provincial electoral district)|Shelburne]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Vicki Conrad]]
| [[Queens (Nova Scotia provincial electoral district)|Queens]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Percy Paris]]
| [[Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Clarrie MacKinnon]]
| [[Pictou East]]
| 2006
|- align="center"
| [[Becky Kent]]
| [[Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage]]
| 2007
|}

==Party leaders==
'''Co-operative Commonwealth Federation'''
*[[Donald MacDonald, O.C., LL.D.|Donald MacDonald]] (1941-1945)<ref name="archives"/>
*[[Russell Cunningham (Canadian politician)|Russell Cunningham]] (1945 - 1953)
*[[Michael James MacDonald]] (1953 - 1963)

'''New Democratic Party'''
*[[James H. Aitchison]] (1963 - November 1968)
*[[Jeremy Akerman]] (November 1968 - May 1980)
*[[James 'Buddy' MacEachern]] (1980) ''interim leader''
*[[Alexa McDonough]] (1980 - 1994)
*[[John Holm]] (1994 - 1996)
*[[Robert Chisholm (Canadian politician)|Robert Chisholm]] (1996 - 2000)
*[[Helen MacDonald (Nova Scotia politician)|Helen MacDonald]] (2000 - 2001)
*[[Darrell Dexter]] (2001 - present)

==Provincial secretaries==
* [[Lloyd Shaw (socialist)|Lloyd Shaw]] (-1949)
* Dr. L. P. Rutherford (1949 - 1950)
* [[Florence E. Welton]] (1950 - 1961)
* John McKinnon (1961 - 1963)
* Nancy Doull (1963 - 1965)
* Rae Gilman (1965 - 1969)
* Peggy Prowse (1969 - 1971)
* Gordon Flowers (1971 - 1974)
* Karen Vance (1974 - 1977)
* Bev Ivan (1978)
* Serena Renner (1979 - 1981)
* Mary Morrison (1982)
* Brian MacNaulty (1983)
* Rod Dickinson (1984 - 1986)
* Gayle Cromwell (1986 - 1987)
* [[Dennis Theman]] (1987 - 1990)
* Sandra Houston (1990 - 1992)
* Ross Fisher (1992 - 1996)
* Ron Cavalucci (1996 - 1997)
* Bruce Cox (1997 - 1999)
* Joe Fraser (1999 - 2001)
* [[Matthew Hebb]] (2001 - June 2005)
* [[Karen Haslam]] (October 2005 - March 2006)
* Ed Wark (October 2006 - Present)

== Election results 1933&ndash;2006==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
! Election
! # of candidates nominated
! # of seats won
! # of total votes
! % of popular vote
|- align="center"
!1933
| 3
| 0
| 2,336
| 0.7%
|- align="center"
!1937
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0%
|- align="center"
!1941
| 6
| 3
| 18,583
| 7.0%
|- align="center"
!1945
| 20
| 2
| 39,637
| 13.6%
|- align="center"
!1949
| 21
| 2
| 32,869
| 9.6%
|- align="center"
!1953
| 16
| 2
| 23,700
| 6.8%
|- align="center"
!1956
| 11
| 1
| 9,932
| 3.0%
|- align="center"
!1960
| 34
| 1
| 31,036
| 8.9%
|- align="center"
!1963
| 20
| 0
| 14,076
| 4.1%
|- align="center"
!1967
| 24
| 0
| 17,873
| 5.2%
|- align="center"
!1970
| 23
| 2
| 25,259
| 6.6%
|- align="center"
!1974
| 46
| 3
| 55,902
| 13.0%
|- align="center"
!1978
| 52
| 4
| 63,979
| 14.4%
|- align="center"
!1981
| 52
| 1
| 76,289
| 18.1%
|- align="center"
!1984
| 52
| 3
| 65,876
| 15.9%
|- align="center"
!1988
| 52
| 2
| 74,038
| 15.7%
|- align="center"
!1993
| 52
| 3
| 86,743
| 17.7%
|- align="center"
!1998
| 52
| 19
| 155,361
| 34.4%
|- align="center"
!1999
| 52
| 11
| 129,474
| 29.7%
|- align="center"
!2003
| 52
| 15
| 126,479
| 30.9%
|- align="center"
!2006
| 52
| 20
| 142,673
| 35%
|}

*Election results between 1933 and 1963 represent the party during its time as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Since 1963, the party has been called the New Democratic Party.

''Sources:''
*To 1984: ''Politics of Nova Scotia: Vol. Two 1896-1988'' by [[J. Murray Beck]]. Four Post Publications: Tantallon, Nova Scotia, 1988.
*After 1984: [http://www.gov.ns.ca/elo/elections/ Elections Nova Scotia]

== Youth wing ==

The youth wing of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is the Nova Scotia Young New Democrats (NSYND). Founded in the early 1960s, it was not incorporated with a full constitution - aligned with that of the party proper - until 1969.

The youth wing was partially responsible for the election of Jeremy Akerman, as leader, at the 1968 Leadership Convention.

In 1994 the NSYND was renamed "The Nova Scotia NDP Youth Wing". At this time the youth wing was quite moderate, encouraging the main party to focus on government and embrace mainstream values such as fiscal responsibility, "one member one vote" and banning corporate and union donations. They also successfully lobbied the party to include more youth members in the party structure. Members and alumni of the youth wing were instrumental in forming [[NDProgress]] in 2000.

In a controversial move in 2001 the youth wing was renamed the “New Party Youth Movement” (NPYM). The name change was made to advocate a renewal of the NDP similar the one in 1961 when the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) became the NDP. The “New Party” name was taken from the “New Party” groups formed before the creation of the NDP. The NPYM made a positive impact at the 2001 NSNDP convention pushing the party to adopt a “one member one vote” style of electing its leader, successfully distributed home-made buttons to satire an organized attempt to shame members of the NDP caucus who did not support former leader Helen MacDonald and gaining over 2/3 support from convention delegates for their name change.

The youth wing was reconstituted in 2004 under its current name, the Nova Scotia Young New Democrats (NSYND) and has remained ideologically in step with that of the party proper.

==References & Notes==

<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[List of articles about Nova Scotia CCF/NDP members]]
*[[List of political parties in Canada#Nova Scotia|List of Nova Scotia political parties]]
*[[Nova Scotia Young New Democrats]]


==External links==
==External links==
{{MKlink|id=220}}
*[http://www.ns.ndp.ca/ Nova Scotia NDP]
*[http://www.ndpcaucus.ns.ca/ Nova Scotia NDP Caucus]
*[http://www.nsynd.ca/ Nova Scotia Young New Democrats]

{{Nova Scotia provincial political parties}}
{{NDP}}
{{Nova Scotia politics}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Melchior, Michael}}
[[Category:New Democratic Party of Canada|Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Provincial political parties in Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Members of the Knesset]]
[[Category:Danish immigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Danish Jews]]
[[Category:Danish rabbis]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis]]
[[Category:20th century rabbis]]


[[da:Michael Melchior]]
[[fr:Nouveau Parti démocratique de la Nouvelle-Écosse]]
[[de:Michael Melchior]]
[[fr:Michaël Melchior]]
[[he:מיכאל מלכיאור]]
[[no:Michael Melchior]]
[[nn:Michael Melchior]]
[[pl:Michael Melchior]]
[[pt:Michael Melchior]]
[[fi:Michael Melchior]]

Revision as of 14:10, 10 October 2008

Template:MKs

Rabbi Michael Melchior (Hebrew: מיכאל מלכיאור, born 31 January 1954) is a Danish-Norwegian rabbi, an Israeli politician and leader of the left-wing religious party Meimad, which he represents in the Knesset.

Background


Rabbi Michael Melchior comes from Denmark where for seven generations his family members have served as Chief Rabbis. He studied at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and in 1980 received rabbinic ordination after which he returned to Scandinavia to serve as Chief Rabbi of the Norwegian Jewish Community.

In 1986, Rabbi Melchior moved to Israel where amongst other activities, he served as International Relations Director for the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Nine years later, when Israel's Prime-minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a religious extremist, Rabbi Melchior decided to extend his drive for high ethical standards from the synagogue to national politics. In 1996, he was selected as Chairman of Meimad's Executive Committee and three years later, he was elected to the Knesset as Meimad's representative on Ehud Barak's "One Israel" list. In July 1999, he was appointed Minister for Israeli Society and the World Jewish Community.He resumed these responsibilities during the first Sharon government, while serving as Deputy foreign Minister. In the second Sharon government,Rabbi Melchior served as a Deputy Minister for Education, and later as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's office, in charge of Jewish diaspora and Israeli society affairs. Rabbi Melchior returned to being an opposition member MK when the labour resigned the government. On the 17th Knesset, May 2006, He was elected as Chairman of the Knesset committee for Education, Culture and Sports.

Rabbi Melchior has been actively involved in besmirching campaigns against groups and organisations that don't see eye to eye with him in many of the questionable activities he has instigated creating rifts in local communities, hiding behind his titles and very liberal views.

Areas of activity

Rabbi Melchior takes particular interest in the social fabric of Israeli Society which he believes must be built on the basis of tolerance, equal rights and equal opportunities. To this end, Rabbi Melchior actively guides the Committee for Education, Culture and Sports; previously chaired the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child during the 16th session of the Knesset. Recognizing that religious extremism and the tensions between religious and secular Jews are deeply damaging to Israeli Society, Rabbi Melchior launched Moe'tzet Yachad; a forum which promotes dialogue and understanding between different strands in Israeli society. He has also established 'Meitarim' a network of Orthodox Jewish schools whose open, democratic ethos enables religious and secular students to study their heritage together. Rabbi Melchior does not restrict his activities to the Jewish population of Israel. He passionately believes that building bridges with the local Israeli-Arab and Palestinian populations is central to the preservation of our Jewish values and essential to our shared future in the Middle East. Rabbi Melchior, therefore, serves as Co-Chair of the Knesset Caucus for Jewish-Arab relations and he established Citizen's Accord Forum between Jews and Arabs in Israel which campaigns for coexistence between the two peoples and the correction of injustices against Israel's Arab minority. Recognizing that much of the tension between Jews and Muslims has its roots in religious prejudice and ignorance, Rabbi Melchior with the support of world religious leaders initiated the Alexandria Declaration in which the religious leaders of all the major communities in the Holy Land agreed to work towards peaceful resolution of conflicts. Rabbi Melchior is heavily involved in the realization of this vision and has forged partnerships with leading religious and political figures in the Muslim community to establish the Mosaica Center for interfaith dialogue in Israel.

Through his career in the rabbinate, his leading role in the campaign for Soviet Jewry and his ongoing connection to the global Jewish people, Rabbi Melchior has gained enormous insight into the concerns and workings of Diaspora Jewish communities. It was therefore natural for him to be invited to take up the portfolio of Diaspora affairs in three successive governments. This places him in the forefront of the international fight against anti-Semitism, the restitution of the property of Holocaust victims and the campaign to maintain close relations between the Diaspora and the State of Israel. His love of Israel and his deep connection to the world Jewish community led him to be amongst the pioneers of the concept of the Birthright Trips to Israel and from their inception, he has chaired the Birthright steering committee. This organization has over the last five years brought tens of thousands of young unaffiliated Jews to explore their heritage in Israel, causing many of them to revaluate their Jewish identity and take up leading positions within the Jewish community.

Rabbi Melchior brings his religious leadership and political influence to bear on many other issues including his work as chair of the Knesset caucus on the environment, activity on behalf of Agunot and efforts to resolve the problems of conversion which effect Jewish communities around the world. Rabbi Melchior recently coalesced all of his interests in the establishment of Tenufa; a mass movement for social change in Israel whose launch was attended by 5,000 people.

Rabbi Melchior is a recipient of Norway's Prize for Tolerance and Bridge-Building win the Nobel Institute, the Church of England's Coventry Peace Prize for his contribution to world peace, and 'The Marc and Henia Liebhaber Prize for the Promotion of Religious Tolerance and Cultural Pluralism in Israel' for the year 2007. Alongside his ministerial responsibilities, he also serves as the Rabbi of a young and active Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem and is actively involved in the Norwegian Jewish Community where he still holds the honorary position of Chief Rabbi.

Rabbi Melchior by his own admission was the only one aware 24 hours in advance that there was going to be a kidnapping of an Israeli soldier (Rabbi Melchior was notified by his good friend a sheikh from Gaza) and did not notify any authorities and thus facilitated the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.

Rabbi Melchior is married to Hanna, an occupational therapist and is the father to five children.

Political career

Melchior became involved in the politics when the Meimad party was formed shortly before the 1999 elections from the movement founded by Yehuda Amital in 1988. The party joined Labour (with which it was friendly, Amital having served as a non-parliamentary minister under Shimon Peres in the early 1990s) and Gesher in forming an alliance called One Israel.

The alliance won 26 seats, with Melchior taking the one reserved for Meimad. He was appointed Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs in Ehud Barak's government. After Barak lost a special election for Prime Minister to Ariel Sharon in 2001, Melchior lost his post, but was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, though he lost his new job in November 2002 when Labour pulled out of the national unity government Sharon had formed.

He was re-elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections as Meimad's sole representative, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport when Labour joined the coalition government in January 2005. In June 2006 he became Deputy Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, but again lost his position when Labour pulled out of the coalition.

He retained his seat again in the 2006 elections and currently chairs the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee and the Social-Environmental lobby in the Knesset.

External links

Michael Melchior on the Knesset website

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