Roland de Corneille

Roland de Corneille
Roland de Corneille
Member of Parliament; for Eglinton—Lawrence
	In office; 1979–1988
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	Joe Volpe
Personal details
Born	May 19, 1927; Switzerland
Died	December 30, 2014 (aged 87); Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario
Profession	Clergyman

Roland de Corneille (May 19, 1927 – December 30, 2014) was a

Eglinton-Lawrence in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party

from 1979 to 1988.

Background

Born in

Trinity College in 1953 as an ordained Anglican priest. He served as a curate and as a rector of a number of Anglican parish churches, while earning his degrees of Licentiate of Theology, Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Theology in studies at McGill, Yale and Trinity College, Toronto. He died on December 30, 2014, aged 87.^[1]

Views on Judaism

In 1960, de Corneille was the secretary of the Nathaneal Institute, an Anglican missionary institute dedicated to converting

Harper and Row

.

De Corneille is credited as the first Canadian clergyman to urge the Christian community to re-evaluate its attitude towards Jews.

As a result of de Corneille's efforts, the Anglican Church re-evaluated its attitude towards the Jewish community and renounced

proselytization

in favour of understanding, dialogue and reconciliation.

The process was continued by de Corneille by introducing the programme into other Canadian denominations, the Episcopal Church U.S.A., and through his membership in the

anti-Semitism

De Corneille's activity earned him the respect of the Jewish community. In 1971 he was appointed national director of the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada where he worked until 1979. In the 1979 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Eglinton—Lawrence, serving in the House until 1988.

Political career

In parliament, he was the founding chairman of the Canada-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, and a chairman of the Canada-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group. From 1980 to 1981 he was national chairman of the National Committee for a Human Rights Charter which lobbied parliament for the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He served for three terms in the House of Commons until he was challenged for the Liberal nomination by Joe Volpe and defeated in a bitter nomination meeting prior to the 1988 federal election.

Electoral record

Eglinton—Lawrence
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Roland de Corneille	18,645	42.98	-7.49
	Progressive Conservative	Dan La Caprara	17,476	40.29	+6.46
	New Democratic	Marlene Miller	6,458	14.89	+0.19
	Libertarian	Linda Cain	362	0.83	0.00
	Independent	Ken Kirk	219	0.50
	Communist	Nan McDonald	219	0.50
Total valid votes			43,379	100.00

Eglinton—Lawrence
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Roland de Corneille	20,861	50.47	+7.59
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Parker	13,985	33.83	-5.35
	New Democratic	Graham Murray	6,077	14.70	-1.70
	Libertarian	Linda Cain	343	0.83	-0.47
	Marxist–Leninist	Iqbal S. Sumbal	71	0.17	-0.08
Total valid votes			41,337	100.00

Eglinton—Lawrence
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Roland de Corneille	19,270	42.88
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Parker	17,605	39.18
	New Democratic	Leo Heaps	7,368	16.40
	Libertarian	Linda Cain	585	1.30
	Marxist–Leninist	Iqbal S. Sumbal	111	0.25
Total valid votes			44,939	100.00

Works

De Corneille, Roland. Christians and Jews: The Tragic Past and the Hopeful Future. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

References

^ "Roland De Corneille Obituary (2015) - Toronto Star". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.

Rev. Roland de Corneille Papers, Library and Archives Canada

External links

Roland de Corneille – Parliament of Canada biography

[1] "Roland De Corneille Obituary (2015) - Toronto Star". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.

[1]