Early life and education
Saltsman was born on 29 May 1921 in Toronto to Samuel and Sara (née Krier) Saltsman, gaining the nickname “Max” in childhood. He attended schools in the Spadina area and left Central Technical School at age 14 to work and support his family. He earned high-school credits through part-time studies after work.
Saltsman did not complete a university degree, but took correspondence courses while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and continued his education sporadically during his years in Parliament. During World War II, he served in France, the Netherlands, and Germany with the RCAF. In 1947, he married Dorothy Gellman. He was president of Galt Dry Cleaning Services and Eastern Coin Operated Enterprise.
Career in politics
Saltsman was first elected to the House of Commons in a 1964 by‑election following the death of MP Gordon Chaplin, and was re‑elected in the general elections of 1965, 1968, 1972, and 1974. He served as the New Democratic Party critic for Finance and National Revenue in 1976–1977. He drafted private member's bill C‑249, “An Act Respecting a Proposed Association Between Canada and the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands,” proposing an association between Canada and the islands; the bill did not proceed to a vote.
Before entering federal office, Saltsman was an alderman in Galt, Ontario, from 1961 to 1964. In 1982, Bill Davis, the Premier of Ontario, appointed Saltsman to the province's Inflation Restraint Board. He planned to return to municipal politics as a councillor‑at‑large for Cambridge in 1985, but withdrew at a news conference on 21 October after announcing a diagnosis of terminal liver cancer.
Saltsman died at Toronto's Wellesley Hospital on 28 November 1985, two weeks after the Cambridge municipal election. The Max Saltsman fonds are held at Library and Archives Canada.
