title: Michael Fainstat
text: # Michael Fainstat
  
  Michael Fainstat (29 August 1923 – 29 December 2010) was a Canadian politician and a city councillor in Montreal, Quebec.
  
  ## Background
  
  In the early seventies Fainstat became a founding member of the progressive Montreal Citizens' Movement, also known as Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal (RCM) in French.
  
  ## City councillor
  
  Fainstat was elected to Montreal's city council in 1974 against Civic incumbent James Bellin with 17 other RCM candidates, and represented the district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
  
  He was the only RCM candidate to win a seat in 1978. He was re-elected in the district of La-Confédération in 1982 and 1986.
  
  ## Chairman of the executive committee
  
  Fainstat served as Montreal's chairman of the executive committee from 1986 to 1990.
  
  He was re-elected in the district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in 1990, but resigned in 1991. He was succeeded by Democratic Coalition candidate Claudette Demers-Godley on the city council.
  
  ## Death
  
  Fainstat died on December 29, 2010, due to Parkinson's disease. A commemoration of his life was held on January 9, 2011.
  
  ## Footnotes
  
  * ↑ Montreal politician helped to unseat Jean Drapeau Globe and Mail 2011-01-25
  * ↑ "Michael Fainstat dies at 87". CBC News. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  
  Political offices :
  
  | Preceded byYvon Lamarre (Civic Party) | Chairman of the Executive Committee 1986–1990 | Succeeded byLéa Cousineau (RCM) |
  | - | - | - |
  | Preceded byArnold Bennett (RCM) | City Councillor, District of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce 1990–1991 | Succeeded byClaudette Demers-Godley (Democratic Coalition) |
  