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Maximilien Polak
Canadian politician (1930–2022) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Maximilien Polak (December 5, 1930 – December 27, 2022) was a Dutch-born Canadian judge and politician in the province of Quebec. Polak served as a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1981 to 1989 and later served as a justice in the Court of Quebec.
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Early life
Maximilien Polak was born December 5, 1930 in Leiden, Netherlands to professor Max Valentyn Polak and Maria Cordelia Nieuwenhuizen.[1] Polak studied at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden and University of Leiden, where he received his law license in 1952.[1] That same year, Polak immigrated to Canada. Polak enrolled in Université de Montréal, earning a degree in law in 1958 and passed the Quebec Bar.[1]
Polak worked as a lawyer at the office of Shriar and Polak in the 1960s before serving as a municipal court judge in Côte Saint-Luc from 1969 to 1979.[1] From 1971 to 1976, Polak served as vice-president of the Conference of Municipal Judges of Quebec. In 1974, he was named a legal councilor of the Crown and was president of the Canada-Holland Chamber of Commerce in 1977. In 1980 and 1981, Polak served as a commissioner on the Commission scolaire de Montréal, and later on the board of directors of the school board.
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Political career
Polak was first elected to the Quebec National Assembly in the 1981 Quebec general election as a Liberal, representing the district of Sainte-Anne. He was re-elected in 1985, and served as the deputy whip during that term. In the 1989 Quebec general election, Polak chose not to run again after he was passed up for a ministerial position.[2]
Post-political career
Polak served as a justice on the served as a judge from 1991 to 2000,[3] at which point he retired;[1] however, he served as an "ad hoc" judge from 2001 to 2005.
Personal life
Polak married Celine Spier in 1954 and had three children.[1] Polak's son, Michael, also a lawyer, serves as the Honorary Consul General of the Netherlands in Montreal. His daughter, Carolyn, also a lawyer, specializes in family law.
Polak died on December 27, 2022, at the age of 92.[4]
Electoral record (incomplete)
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References
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