By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
Marvin Rotrand, the longtime Snowdon councillor, former head of B’nai Brith’s League For Human Rights and now director general of the group United Against Hate Canada, was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal last week.
Rotrand was nominated for the award by his municipal successor Sonny Moroz, and the medal was awarded virtually via Zoom by Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather. The award is given for outstanding achievement in public service to the community and to Canada. Numerous political and community leaders spoke and were on the Zoom call, amongst them Luzviminda Mazzone, President, Federation of Filipino Canadian Associations of Quebec and Cynthia Waithe, President of Barbados House. The MC was new EMSB commissioner Chelsea Craig.
Rotrand, speaking from Indonesia, told the Zoom call, “I believe in good government and that government can do good for people, gives opportunity, lifts people out of poverty, prevents hate and discrimination and fosters peace and cooperation.
“It was a privilege for me to be the city councillor for Snowdon for 39 years, and in all that time, those were the issues I championed. I continued doing that in my role at B’nai Brith Canada and it’s what I’m doing now with United Against Hate Canada. There are common themes in all these positions — building solidarity, harmony and cooperation, understanding and promoting diversity as an asset.”
Housefather said Rotrand is a “very special person,” with whom he has worked for 30 years — “30 years of trying to build a future for the English-speaking minority of Quebec at a time when the English-speaking community was greatly threatened by many actions of the provincial government.
“The diversity on this call is a tribute to the kind of person Marvin is because, whatever the community, Marvin has tried to be a beacon for inclusivity of all communities. We want to be judged as people and Marvin’s been an inspiration in making sure that everyone is treated as an equal individual.”
Rotrand’s son, Graeme, speaking for the family, said his father’s most important work “has been his career-long fight for a more just and a more equitable Canada and Montreal. That’s a fight he continues today.”
Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said Rotrand “is an example of a grassroots politician who, more than any other that I know, has been appreciated by people of all backgrounds, and he’s done so much.”
Moroz told Rotrand he is someone “who goes above and beyond, in terms of the hours of commitment, but also to the detail that you put into your work. It’s unbelievable and more than what a medal can properly signify because you’ve had an impact with your actions over time.”
English Montreal School Board chairman Joe Ortona thanked Rotrand for his support of the board, particularly as regards Bill 40, the provincial law seeking to abolish school boards.
“There were very few elected officials who understood what Bill 40 was all about, and he always wanted to know where we were at with the court cases. He still asks me to this day.”
Lac St. Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia told the meeting there was a reason Rotrand was Montreal’s longest serving municipal councillor.
“To experience the success and longevity Marvin did in the lion’s den of politics, you need to be true to your constituents and be true to yourself. Short-term success may be possible without these, but not long-term success….You have and continue to inspire me and others in political life, as well as those contemplating how they can make a difference in their community and by making their communities stronger, they make the country better.” n