Paul Godfrey

Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, BASc, PEng (born January 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and businessman.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Godfrey grew up in a working class Jewish family in the Kensington Market neighbourhood of Toronto and later moved to the Bathurst and Lawrence area of North York. After graduating from Bathurst Heights Secondary School, he attended the University of Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in chemical engineering. In 1999, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2001, he received an honorary degree from Ryerson University. In 2003, he was inducted into Nunavut's Anuckchuck Tribal League of Honour. He and his wife Gina have three children.

He entered politics as an alderman in the borough of North York in 1964, serving until 1973. That year, he was appointed Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, serving until 1984. He then left politics and joined the "Toronto Sun" as publisher and CEO from 1984 to 1991. Following his departure from electoral politics he has remained a highly influential backroom broker. He was particularly influential during the mayoral terms of Art Eggleton and Mel Lastman and played an instrumental role in the election of both men.

On September 1 2000, he became chief executive officer and president of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club [ [http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=tor Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club Executive Office] ] owned by Rogers Communications. He stayed until September 29 2008 when he announced his retirement. During his tenure, the Jays payroll increased from $71 million US to over $100 million US but this did not result in any playoff berths. The Jays did no better than 2nd place in 2006. [Godfrey steps down as Jays president. CBC News. September 29 2008. [http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2008/09/29/paul-godfrey.html] ] Godfrey, who was one of the key supporters of the original proposal to bring a baseball team to the city, has also campaigned to bring the National Football League to Toronto. [ [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/NFL/2007/05/11/4172005-sun.html CANOE - SLAM! Sports - NFL - NFL dangles a carrot ] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/football/cfl/story.html?id=0f71ffff-78ea-45a1-ad78-d4f41e150628&k=22108 NFL franchise for Toronto still just a dream ] ]

He is also a member of the board of directors of CanWest Global Communications, RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and Astral Media.

References

External links

* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=5001 Order of Canada Citation]
* [http://www.sickkids.ca/internationalprogram/section.asp?s=Herbie+Fund&sID=9303 Herbie Fund] A fund Godfrey established with his wife, Gina, at the Hospital for Sick Children.