Robert Philip "Bob" Kaplan, (December 27, 1936 – November 5, 2012) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and lawyer.

Life and career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

to Solomon and Pearl Kaplan and brother of Michael Kaplan. Kaplan attended and graduated from Forest Hill Collegiate after spending one year at

Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute Vaughan Road Academy (VRA), formerly known as Vaughan Road High School and Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute, is a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) facility that formerly operated as an International Baccalaureate high school in Toronto, Ont ...

in Toronto and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1958 and an

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1961 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. In 1963, he was called to the Ontario Bar. He was first elected as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Toronto riding of Don Valley in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, beating the Progressive Conservative candidate,

Dalton Camp Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a sea ...

. He lost to the PC candidate, Jim Gillies, in the 1972 election. For the 1974 election, he switched ridings to

York Centre York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss Fos or FOSS may refer to: Companies *Foss A/S, a Danish analytical instrument company * Foss Brewery, a former brewery in Oslo, Norway *Foss ...

and won by over 16,000 votes. In 1978, he failed to implement Bill C-215, which would have stripped Canadians of their citizenship if they had been convicted of war crimes. He was re-elected in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1988. Africa * 1988 Cameroonian general election * 1988 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1988 Kenyan general election * 1988 Malian parliamentary election * 1988 Rwandan parliamentary elect ...

. He was the

Solicitor General of Canada The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice. It was n ...

from 1980 to 1984 and oversaw the creation of the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

and the

Security Intelligence Review Committee The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC; french: Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement de sécurité) was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the o ...

and the termination of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service. Kaplan was also responsible for bringing in the ''

Young Offenders Act The ''Young Offenders Act'' (YOA; french: Loi sur les jeunes contrevenants) (the ''Act'') was an act of the Parliament of Canada, granted Royal Assent in 1982 and proclaimed in force on April 2, 1984, that regulated the criminal prosecution of C ...

'' in 1984 which established 12 as the minimum age for criminal charges, brought in shorter sentences for most offenders under the age of 18 and banned the publication of youths charged or convicted of criminal acts in most circumstances. He also pressed for and oversaw the extradition of

Helmut Rauca Helmut Rauca (3 November 1908 – 29 October 1983) was a Holocaust perpetrator instrumental in the murder of more than 10,000 Jews from the Kaunas Ghetto, Lithuania, during World War II. He was a member of ''Einsatzgruppe A'' in the rank of ''Haup ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

for war crimes. After leaving politics in 1993, Kaplan served as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

for Canada and was awarded the Order of Kazakhstan by its president in recognition of his service to the Republic. He was a director of PetroKazakhstan Inc., Platexco Inc., and Rex Diamond Mining Corp. In 2004, he joined the Board of Directors of European Goldfields, a Canadian-based resource company involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and the

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

s. Kaplan died on November 5, 2012 at the age of 75 from cancer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Bob 1936 births 2012 deaths Canadian King's Counsel Jewish Canadian politicians Lawyers in Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Solicitors General of Canada Members of the 22nd Canadian Ministry Members of the 23rd Canadian Ministry

Life and career

Archives

References

External links