Jerry Grafstein

Jerahmiel S. Grafstein
Senator for Metro Toronto, Ontario
In office January 13, 1984 – January 2, 2010
Appointed by	Pierre Trudeau
Personal details
Born	January 2, 1935 (1935-01-02) (age 76) London, Ontario
Political party	Liberal

Jerahmiel S. "Jerry" Grafstein (born January 2, 1935) is a former Canadian Senator and lawyer.

He is married to Carole (née Sniderman) and has two children, Laurence Stephen and Michael Kevin.

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario and University of Toronto Law School, Grafstein is a Toronto-based financier, political fundraiser, advisor and "backroom boy" who has worked on numerous political campaigns for the Liberal Party of Canada and Ontario Liberal Party, as well as local Toronto campaigns. A senior advisor to Pierre Trudeau, Grafstein was appointed to the Senate in January 1984 several weeks prior to Trudeau's retirement.

Since the 1960s, he has been a corporate lawyer, specializing in the areas of communications and administrative law. He has founded several media companies around the world, and is a partner in the legal firm Minden Gross LLP.

In 1972, he was one of the founders of Citytv. He was also an organizer of the 2003 Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert to help the city recover from the outbreak of SARS.

In 2003, Grafstein and Canada's Consul General in New York at the time, Pamela Wallin, were honored by the Canadian Society of New York for devoting much of their careers to strengthening the ties between Canada and the United States.^[1]

In the 2003 municipal election, Grafstein assisted with the unsuccessful campaign of John Nunziata to become Mayor of Toronto.

In the 2006 Toronto municipal election, Grafstein endorsed City Councillor Jane Pitfield for Mayor of Toronto.

In 2008, Senator Jerry Grafstein started pushing a bill to amend the Library and Archives of Canada Act to require that the National Portrait gallery stay in Ottawa.

He retired as a Senator when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 on January 2, 2010.

In early 2010, a consortium made up of Grafstein, Raymond Heard and Beryl Wajsman announced a bid to purchase the National Post, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette from the floundering CanWest media conglomerate.^[2]

See also

• List of Ontario senators

References

1. ^ Grafstein's acceptance speech
2. ^ "Group including Jerry Grafstein seeks 3 CanWest papers", Globe and Mail, January 18, 2010

• Jerahmiel S. Grafstein - Liberal Party of Canada

External links

• Biography from the Senate of Canada
• Liberal Senate Forum

Persondata
Name	Grafstein, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 2, 1935
Place of birth	London, Ontario
Date of death
Place of death