Harry J.F. Bloomfield, Q.C.
12.26.2024
K.J.St.J., B.A., LL.B., M.B.A., (born 1944) is a lawyer, business manager, philanthropist, and 5th generation Canadian.
Henry (Harry) Joseph Frederick Bloomfield, Q.C., KJ.St.J., B.A., LL.B., M.B.A., (born 1944) is a lawyer, business manager, philanthropist, and 5th generation Canadian.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Bernard Manfred Bloomfield and Neri Judith Loewy, Bloomfield was educated at Selwyn House School and Lower Canada College. He received a Bachelor of Artsdegree from McGill University in 1965, a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Université de Montréal in 1968, joined the Barreau du Québec in 1969. Bloomfield received a Master of Business Administrationfrom the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1971. He is married to Nancy Carolyn Tolchinsky and has three sons: Jonathan, Andrew, and James.
He was appointed Queen's Counsel, "One of Her Majesty's Counsel Learned in the Law", in 1991.
From 1980 to 1984, he was the Progressive Conservative Riding Association President for Mount Royal. He was the defeated candidate in that constituency in the 1980 election who ran against Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the longstanding 15th Prime Minister of Canada.
In 1992, he was awarded rank of Knight of Grace in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and was elevated to Knight of Justice in 1993.
From March 1981 to March 1987 he served as a Member of the Commission des Valeurs Mobilieres du Québec, also then called the Quebec Securities Commission. In 1987 he was named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Business Development Bank, now called the BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada) and served there for 11 years, 7 of which as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
In 1994, in partnership with Bank Julius Baer of Zurich, Switzerland, he formed and was the first Chairman of BJB Global Investments, Ltd., a Canadian wealth-management advisory firm with headquarters in Montreal.
In 1998, he became the President of the Canadian Branch of the International Law Association, leading a Canadian delegation to the London Conference (2000) and the New Delhi Conference (2002), and later spearheaded an invitation for the world 2006 Conference that was successfully held in Toronto, Canada. As an Honorary Life President of the Canadian Branch he is an Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Branch.
Bloomfield has served on numerous boards, public and private, including Heller Financial Canada (now part of GE Capital); Banco Comercial Português, the Canadian subsidiary of Sottomayor Bank of Portugal; British Controlled Oilfields, Genoil Inc., and Balkan Resources Inc. He is President of the Eldee Foundation, a Canadian registered charitable foundation, Chairman of the Humane Society of Canada, and a member of the Financial Advisory Committee of the Jewish Community Foundation, and a Boardmember of the Jewish National Fund of Canada. During 2007 and 2008 he was a member of the Campaign Cabinet which successfully raised funds to renovate and expand the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Since December 2008 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Wi2Wi Inc., a leader in developing multiple-radio and integrated wireless solutions. December 2009 he joined the Board of Directors of Silent Communication Inc., or SilentCom, an Israeli-based company which provides a new face for mobile value added services. It offers mobile operators a new category of call management, messaging and visual voicemail solutions for mobile devices. In May 2011 he was elected to the Board of Directors and in April 2012 he was elected Chairman of the Board of Miraculins Inc. (TSX-V:MOM), a medical diagnostic company focused on developing and commercializing diagnostic tests and risk assessment tools for unmet clinical needs.
In November 2007, he was awarded the Gold Medal for meritorious philanthropic work, and international social bridge-building, by the Jordanian National Red Crescent Society, Dr. Mohammed Al-Hadid, President and Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. It is the highest award that they offer. He is a Member of the International Board of Governors of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
In 2008, subsequent to his co-founding of Balkan Resources Incorporated, a Canadian company exploring and developing nickel and copper mines in Albania, Bloomfield was chosen by the Government of Albania to act as their Honorary Consul General in Montreal with jurisdiction in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Bloomfield has previously acted as the Honorary Consul General of Liberia (1986 to 2005) and the Honorary Consul General of Belize (1987 to 2004), as well as serving as the Alt. Representative of Antigua and Barbuda at the International Civil Aviation Organization (the ICAO), a United Nations agency which is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
In March 2010 Bloomfield served as a founding Director, along with Albanian Ambassador to Canada Besnik Konci, Abby Badwi CEO/President of Bankers Petroleum and Toronto Businessman Nessim Gashi, of the Canada-Albania Business Council. He was elected the first President of the Council. The objects of the Corporation are to be the country’s Canada-Albania bilateral trade and investment facilitator, to act as a catalyst and to advocate the development of business, commercial and cultural ties between the two countries. The Canada-Albania Business Council (“CABC”) will provide administrative services and as well will draw on the experience and business relationships of its members to further these ends. The CABC is dedicated to building its members’ business success in Albania and Canada by offering business service and support. From direct operational support in Albania to trade and investment advocacy on its members’ behalf, the CABC’s role is to be a vital resource in enhancing Canada-Albania bilateral trade and investment and in building prosperity for Canadians through enhanced Albanian-Canadian business.
Bloomfield, as Managing partner of the law firm of Bloomfield & Avocats, holds the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory peer-ranked rating of AV, the "A" representing the very highest category of legal ability; and the "V" the very highest rating given for general ethical standards.