Noah Zatzman

Noah Zatzman (born 1984) is a Canadian political strategist and media consultant. Zatzman served as a top advisor and spokesperson to Green Party leader Annamie Paul, Canada's first Black federal party leader. 
Zatzman was an aide to Ontario's first female Premier Kathleen Wynne and he and his family have been longtime supporters of the Liberal Party. 
Zatzman's great-uncle Joseph Zatzman, CM was Mayor of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from 1964 to 1967.
== Early life and education ==
Zatzman was born in 1984 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but raised in Toronto.
Zatzman is a graduate of the Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto|Community Hebrew Academy (CHAT). He received an Bachelor of Arts|Honours B.A. in Political Science from York University; at the time, he was a noted pro-Israel activist in Canadian campus politics, serving as a Vice-President of the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students|Canadian Federations of Jewish Students (CFJS).
== Career ==
Zatzman's political career began as a junior aide in the office of Liberal MP Navdeep Bains, future Industry Minister, working for a year for Bains, including during the 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute|Coalition Crisis of 2008.
During the first half of the 2010s|2010's Zatzman was the Canadian-based publicist for the Discovery Channel. A joint-venture between Discovery, Inc.|Discovery Networks International and Bell Media/ CTV Television Network|CTV, Zatzman represented both domestic and international titles while with Discovery Channel (Canadian TV channel)|Discovery Channel Canada and its nightly flagship program Daily Planet (TV series)|Daily Planet. 
From 2015 to 2018, Zatzman was a senior operations advisor on the political staff of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
Following his work with the Ontario Liberal Party|Ontario Liberals, Zatzman spent time 2019-2020 as a spokesman for Canadian insurance giant Sun Life Financial.
Zatzman began consulting for the campaign of family friend Annamie Paul in July 2020, following Paul's declaration as a 2020 Green Party of Canada leadership election|candidate for the Green Party federal leadership.
Zatzman began serving as a senior advisor to Paul following her winning the Green Party federal leadership election in October 2020. In addition, Zatzman played a pivotal role in Paul's strong by-election results in the riding of Toronto Centre that same month.
In May 2021 during the Sheikh Jarrah controversy|Israel-Hamas violence, Zatzman was thrust into the spotlight after he publicly accused prominent Canadian politicians, including Green MPs Jenica Atwin and Paul Manly of discrimination in a May 14 Facebook post, calling their statements against Israel "appalling" and Antisemitism|anti-Semitic. 
This led to the Green Party of Canada's Federal Council publicly asserting that they had voted not to renew Zatzman's contract in early June. Zatzman disputed this assertion, and told the Canadian online publication iPolitics in an interview that the split had been mutual, saying: "“it was agreed by both sides. Any suggestion to the contrary is false". 
Atwin subsequently Crossing the floor|crossed the floor and joined the Liberal Party on June 10, citing lack of support from Paul's leadership after Zatzman's threat. Paul disagreed with this account and claimed the events had nothing to do with Zatzman or her; however, the remaining Green MPs, Elizabeth May and Paul Manly, issued a statement stating “Unfortunately, the attack against Ms. Atwin by the Green Party leader’s chief spokesperson on May 14th created the conditions that led to this crisis." 
However, on June 14, 2021, shortly after joining the Liberal caucus, Atwin apologized for her earlier remarks, saying that she "regrets her choice of words" and adding: "Palestinians are suffering. Israelis are also suffering as well as their loved ones in Canada and around the world." Zatzman commended Atwin for her change of position.
On June 15, the Green Party's federal council passed a motion requiring Paul to denounce Zatzman and support the federal caucus, under threat of a vote of no confidence. This led to significant global attention for Paul, Zatzman, and Atwin, and dominated national headlines and editorials through the summer.
On July 19, this threat ended following reported arbitration between parties.
Media reported in June 2021 that Zatzman had stepped away from his role advising Paul following "anti-Semitic threats".
The controversy nonetheless proved a factor in what emerged as a conflict and deteriorating relations between Paul and the Green Party's executive throughout 2021. The September 2021 Canadian federal election resulted in Paul failing to win her seat as well as the defeat of Paul Manly, one of the Greens two MPs. After the election, Zatzman took credit for Manly's loss saying he had “actively worked and organized to defeat” Manly, whom he described as “Parliament’s number one anti-Israel legislator”. Paul ultimately resigned as party leader in November 2021.
Zatzman joined Aurora Strategy Group, a public relations firm closely associated with the Ontario Liberal Party|Ontario Liberals, in October 2021. 
== Personal life ==
Zatzman is Jewish. He is the great-nephew of Joseph Zatzman|former Dartmouth Mayor Joseph Zatzman, Order of Canada|CM.
Zatzman is also a great-grandson of Ben Zion Hyman|Benzion Hyman (and grandson of Gurion Hyman) and thus a direct descendant of Rabbi Shabbatai ha-Kohen. 
The Hyman family owned and operated Hyman's Book and Art Shoppe|Hyman's Bookstore, which "played a significant role in shaping the cultural landscape of Kensington Market."
 
Category:1984 births
Category:Canadian political consultants
Category:Canadian Zionists
Category:Green Party of Canada
Category:Jewish Canadian activists
Category:People from Halifax, Nova Scotia