Jerry S. Grafstein, B.A., J.D., Q.C. (born January 2, 1935), is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served in the Senate of Canada from 1984 to 2010. Grafstein was the longest-serving member of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He served as co-chair of the Canada-

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Inter-Parliamentary Group and as a senior officer of the

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

(OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly for over a decade. Grafstein is a former partner of Minden Gross LLP, a business law firm 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 anch ...

in communications law, corporate financing, and administrative law. Grafstein is also known as one of the founders of CityTV, MTV-Multilingual (now Omni TV), YTV, and a series of other media companies in Canada, the United States,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He served on the board of several enterprises, including Petro-Canada. Most recently, he co-founded a series of online newspapers, including ''The Wellington Street Post'' (Ottawa), ''The Penn Ave Post'' (Washington, DC), ''Israel News Cloud'', ''HollyPost'' (Hollywood, California), ''China News Cloud'', ''Africa News Cloud'', ''Brazil News Cloud'', ''India News Cloud'', ''Russia News Cloud'', ''Fashion News Cloud'', and ''Animation News''. Grafstein is well known for his participation in the community and his key role in the organization of events such as "Canada Loves New York" in the aftermath of September 11, "Toronto Rocks" Concert during the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...

outbreak, and the "Canada for Asia"

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

for relief aid of

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

victims. Grafstein holds numerous awards, including honorary chief of the

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

and honorary commandant of the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

by the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. He was named one of Canada's 100 most important "public intellectuals" in 2005 by the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

''.

Early life

Grafstein was born Jerahmiel Samson Grafstein in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, on January 2, 1935, the son of Solomon S. Grafstein and Helen Rose Grafstein (née Bleeman). His late sister was Pauline Wayne. His father came to Canada in 1927 after he had served in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and then the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921). He married in 1930 in Toronto and settled in London that year. Grafstein was raised in London and attended public primary and high schools. He was active in sports, school governance, and acting and served as an officer in the Army Cadets. He completed his undergraduate studies at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

in 1955, where was active in debates and acted in local theatre and musicals.

Legal career

Grafstein graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1955 and from the University of Toronto Law School in 1958. He was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1960. While at law school, he was active in intramural sports at Hart House, debates, and class governance and received the highest standing in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. He was a member of the Bar of North West Territories for almost a decade in the 1970s and early 1980s. He lectured in commercial law and later instructed in the Bar Admissions Course at

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

. He has given lectures to law students on the role of lawyers in civil society. Grafstein is a former partner of Minden Gross LLP, a business law firm in

in communications law, corporate financing and administrative law. He served as chairman of the Media and Communications Law subsection of the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations. Grafstein was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

by the province of Ontario in 1972. Since his retirement from the Senate on January 2, 2010, Grafstein has served as counsel to Minden Gross LLP in Toronto, a firm he joined in 1960.

Political career

Liberal Party of Canada and Canadian government

Starting in 1961, Grafstein held offices of the Liberal Party of Canada from the riding level to national campaigns. He was active in federal, provincial, and municipal elections for over four decades. He has taken a leading role in mayoralty elections in Toronto since 1960. In 1966, he founded and edited the ''Journal of Liberal Thought''. During 1966-1968 he served in Ottawa as executive assistant to

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

, then

Registrar General of Canada The registrar general of Canada (french: registraire général du Canada) is responsible for registering all letters patent, commissions, instruments, proclamations, and any other documents that may, from time to time, be issued under the Great Se ...

, and later as special advisor to the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs during its founding period. From 1974 to 1986, he co-founded and was president of Red Leaf Communications Company, the advertising consortium for the Liberal Party of Canada during national elections. He also served as advisor to the Ministry of Transport and the Canadian International Development Agency of the Department of External Affairs and as a member of the Department of Justice Advisory Committee.

Senate of Canada

In January 1984, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed Grafstein to the Senate of Canada. He was elected vice-chair of the Toronto Liberal Caucus and served for over two decades. Grafstein was the longest serving member of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, served on the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, and served from time to time on all Senate committees, including Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He served in the Special Senate/Commons Committee in its review of Canada's foreign policy. He was a chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. During his chairmanship, the committee completed twenty reports, including the following special reports: * ''Falling Behind: Answering the Wake-up Call; What can be done to improve Canada’s Productivity Performance?'' * ''The Public Good and Private Funds: The Federal Tax Treatment of Charitable Giving By Individuals and Corporations.'' *''Passports and PASS Cards, Identity and Citizenship: Implementing the WHTI'' * ''Stemming the Flow of Illicit Money: A Priority for Canada: Parliamentary Review of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act'' * ''The Demographic Time Bomb: Mitigating the Effects of Demographic Change in Canada'' * ''Consumer Protection in the Financial Services Sector: The Unfinished Agenda.'' He also initiated the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce special studies on hedge funds and Canada's interprovincial trade barriers. He was a member of the Special Joint Senate and Commons Committee on a Review of Canada's Foreign Policy. He has long advocated national standards for clean drinking water and introduced numerous private member's bills on mapping and safeguarding Canada's fresh water resources. Grafstein was the longest serving co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (the largest inter-parliamentary group in Canada) for 15 years. In that capacity, he advocated Canadian issues to senators, congressmen, state legislators, governors, and Canada-United States border alliances in states and cities across America. Grafstein introduced numerous resolutions and a private member's bill to establish a national portrait gallery in Ottawa, co-sponsored a private member's bill in the Senate establishing Holocaust Memorial Day in Canada in 1998, and introduced a private member's bill that established the Parliamentary Poet Laureate in 2001. He also introduced a private member's bill (Bill 215) to amend the Criminal Code for the explicit inclusion of " suicide bombing" as a definition of terrorism, which became part of the Canadian Criminal Code in 2011. In 1988, he co-chaired the Preparatory Committee for the G7 Economic Summit held in Toronto. On retirement from the Senate in 2010, he received from Parliament the

Canadian flag The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...

that flew over Parliament (the "Two Week Flag") and from Congress, the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

that flew over the

US Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(the "One Day Flag") in recognition of his political activities in Canada and the United States, respectively.

International affairs

In July 2007, Grafstein was elected vice president of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, the world's largest parliamentary organization dedicated to human rights, democratic rights, economic security and co-operation (after he had served as its treasurer for six years), and served as president of the Liberal, Democratic Reform Group there for a decade. He served as vice chair and chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and the Environment. He served on the OSCE election monitoring missions throughout

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

and, more recently, in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, and on resolving "frozen foreign conflicts." He co-sponsored numerous resolutions condemning racism and

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

at the OSCE PA and in the Parliament of Canada. Grafstein co-chaired Middle East Economic Partnership forums held throughout Europe and across the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. In September 2008 he co-hosted the first OSCEPA meeting held in Toronto. Highlights included the Georgian Crisis and a Mediterranean Forum, which he co-chaired. He served on many Parliamentary Friendship Groups in Europe (east and west),

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

. In the fall of 2007, he was elected vice president of the Canada-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group. In 2009, he was elected vice chairman of the Canadian Armenian Parliamentary Friendship Group. He served as a member of the International Political Committee for Co-existence between

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. In April 2009, Grafstein helped organize a counter-conference in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in the follow-up UN Human Rights Conference on Durban, held in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, to combat antisemitism and lectured on the topic across Europe, Canada, and the United States. He co-sponsored numerous successful resolutions at the OSCE PA meetings across Western and Eastern Europe against racism and antisemitism. In May 2009, while he was a senator, he helped organize and was a keynote speaker at the OSCE PA Economic Conference in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Grafstein served as a member of Canada/Germany

Atlantik-Brücke Atlantik-Brücke (, ''Atlantic Bridge'') is a leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berli ...

for over a decade. He is currently first vice-president of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians.

Business career

Grafstein had wide-ranging legal and business experience in all aspects of media, including television, cable, radio, telephony, telecommunications microwave, high speed wireless data transmission, advertising, production, distribution, publishing, and financing. From 1979 to 1984, he served on the board of Petro-Canada, was a member of the Northwest Territorial Bar, and served as counsel to Northwest Territorial Airways for almost a decade. He then traveled across the far north extensively. He was a co-founder of a range of media companies, especially broadcasting/communications/ publication enterprises, including:

CUC Broadcasting CUC Broadcasting was a Canadian media company, active from 1968 to 1995. Active primarily as a cable television distributor, the company also had some holdings in broadcast media and publishing. The company was founded in 1968 by chairman Geoffrey ...

Limited (Canada's fifth largest cable MSO before it was acquired by Shaw Communications in 1995, now Canada's second largest cable MSO); national specialty TV channels in lifestyle, youth (YTV) and music; CityTV (Canada's first independent UHF station); MTV-

Multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

Television (Toronto) (Canada's first independent multilingual broadcasting station – now OMNI TV); CUC Cablevision (UK) Limited ( Telecential) (now part of one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's larger cable MSOs); Northern Communications, Ontario a Northern Ontario Company, comprising cable, TV ( CBC and CTV) and radio stations – French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He co-founded one of the longest private microwave companies in Canada that ran from

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

to Toronto to mid-Northern Ontario, Canbras Communications Corporation, (now part of Brazil's third largest cable MSO); and Multivision Communications Corp. (Bolivia's largest MMDS Hyper Cable and cable MSO). He served on the board of Ukraine Enterprise Corporation, which made early investments in

. He was also a lead director of Toronto Life Publishing Company Limited, which published ''

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eatin ...

'' (after it merged with Toronto Calendar) and ''Toronto Life Fashion'', two of Canada's leading lifestyle and fashion magazines, and co-founded Toronto Life Fashion File, which is now seen on television around the world. In addition, he served as a governor of the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

and, for over a decade, was the chairman and a board member of the O'Keefe Centre (now " Sony Centre for the Performing Arts"), Canada's largest public performing arts centre. He served on the board of the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured productio ...

(Canada's leading theatrical festival dedicated to the works of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

and his contemporary playwrights), the planning committee of the Stratford Festival (Canada's leading theatrical festival dedicated to the plays of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

), and the Festival of Festivals (now the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

). He served as chairman of the City of Toronto Asia/Pacific Committee and vice-chairman of the Toronto- Chongqing Association and Toronto-

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Friendship Association. In 2011 and 2012, he cofounded and currently serves as chair of ''The Wellington Street Post'', ''The Penn Ave Post'', ''Israel News Cloud'' and ''HollyPost'', in a network of online 24/7 news sites around the globe. Those news sites use technology to bring together the diversity of the blogosphere and social networks into timely news and information coverage of political news from Ottawa and Washington, and entertainment news from Hollywood. Other international projects include ''China News Cloud'', ''Africa News Cloud'', ''Brazil News Cloud'', ''India News Cloud'' and ''Russia News Cloud''. 2013 additions to the network include ''Fashion News Cloud'' and ''Animation News''. Grafstein is still actively engaged in business start-ups and municipal; provincial; national; and international affairs, charitable, educational and cultural institutions and serves on private and public corporate boards.

Community

For over a decade, Grafstein served on the Board of the League for Human Rights of

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...

and the Joint Community Relations Committee of Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s. He served as co-chairman of Toronto Committee for the

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

Economic Summit in Toronto in 1988. He served as a member of the executive for the Toronto 1996 and 2008 Olympic Bid Committees. In 1998, the Grafstein Annual Lecture in Communications was established by Grafstein to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his graduation from the

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

Faculty of Law and the 10th anniversary of the graduation of his son, Laurence Grafstein, and daughter-in-law, Rebecca Grafstein (née Weatherhead), both from the Class of 1988. The Grafstein Lecture is hosted by the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy at the Faculty of Law. He and his wife, Carole, established the Grafstein Chair in Jewish Philosophy at the University of Toronto the following year. Grafstein co-organized "Canada Loves New York" in November 2001, when over 26,000 Canadians visited New York City after September 11, to assist New York City's recovery, which was called "the largest peaceful invasion of Canadians since the War of 1812." In 2001, Grafstein was given the War Chief's tomahawk of the

Northern Peigan The Piikani Nation (, formerly the Peigan Nation) ( bla, Piikáni) is a First Nation (or an Indian band as defined by the '' Indian Act''), representing the Indigenous people in Canada known as the Northern Piikani ( bla, script=Latn, Aapátohsi ...

Tribe (

Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

) of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

for advancing the cause of clean drinking water on First Nations' Reserves across Canada. On April 4, 2003, Grafstein co-organized, with Friends of America, a pro-Ametican rally at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto with over 1,000 participants. In July 2003, he co-created and co-organized "Toronto Rocks" to offset the negative impact on Toronto in the global media as a result of the

outbreak. Headlined by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, it is considered to be the largest ticketed band concert in history and was attended by almost half-a-million people. In December 2004, Grafstein co-organized "Canada for Asia", a three-hour broadcast telethon in aid of relief for tsunami victims that raised over $15,000,000. On August 5, 2014, Grafstein led more than 500 Canadians, including five Members of Parliament and a senator, on a solidarity mission to Jerusalem.

Awards and honours

In 1992, Grafstein was the recipient of the

125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal The 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (french: Médaille commémorative du 125e anniversaire de la Confédération du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the 125th anniversary of ...

. In December 1996, he was named the "Man of the Year" by the

Chabad Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

of Ontario. In 2002, Grafstein was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2003, Grafstein was honoured by the Canadian Society of New York for his dedication to strengthening ties between Canada and the United States. As a senator, he was made an honorary chief of the

and an honorary commandant of the

by the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. On November 4, 2005, he was named one of Canada's 100 most important "Public Intellectuals" by the ''

'' in its series "Beautiful Minds." On November 12, 2005 he was made a Duke of Friulani, Italy (Ducato dei Vini Friulani). In November 2010, the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University (CFHU) created The Honourable Jerry and Carole Grafstein Network for Cancer Research at the Institute For Medical Research, Israel-Canada (IMRIC), part of the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Later in 2011, the CFHU named him "Man of the Year" in Toronto. On November 27, 2011, he was installed as honorary chairman of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School, University of Toronto, at its inaugural convocation, the first such rabbinical school of its kind in Canada. On July 7, 2014, Grafstein was honoured by Chief Ron Cooper of the

Mohawk Nation The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and norther ...

and presented with a handcrafted

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

stick. Grafstein is the president and chairman of the National Board for the Canadian Friends of the Tel Aviv University and a governor of Tel Aviv University.

Author

Grafstein has written numerous articles and delivered papers on broadcasting regulations; communications; computers; travel; international relations; technology; transportation, politics; international trade; and constitutional matters in Canada, the United States, and Europe. He has written articles on key aspects of the public life of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. His first book, ''Beyond Imagination'', is an anthology of some of Canada's outstanding authors and poets that he edited; it published by McClelland & Stewart Inc. in 1995. His second book, ''The Making of the Parliamentary Poet Laureate : Based on a Private Member's Bill '', was published by the Porcupine's Quill. He co-authored his third book, ''The Passage Through Parliament to Establish Holocaust Memorial Day'', in Canada in 2004. His fourth book, ''Suicide Bombings: Parliament Speaks'', is the parliamentary history of Bill 215, an Act to amend the Criminal Code (Suicide Bombing) and was published in 2012. He is currently working on a collection of his speeches on politics and public affairs and of tributes to his contemporaries.

Personal life

Grafstein is married to Carole (née Sniderman), a community activist, a volunteer leader, a leading fundraiser for cancer research across Canada, and a member of the Order of Canada. They have two sons: Laurence and Michael. Laurence was a Rhodes Scholar and president of the Oxford Union and is now a New York investment banker married to Rebecca (née Weatherhead) from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, a member of the Ontario and New York Bars. They have three sons (Daniel, Edward, and Isaac) and now reside in

References

External links

*
Liberal Senate Forum TRIBUTE TO CANADIAN SENATOR JERAHMIEL 'JERRY' GRAFSTEIN ON THE RETIREMENT OF SENATOR JERAHMIEL ‘JERRY’ GRAFSTEIN OF CANADA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafstein, Jerry 1935 births Canadian political consultants Canadian political fundraisers Canadian senators from Ontario Canadian television executives Jewish Canadian politicians Lawyers in Ontario Liberal Party of Canada senators Living people Politicians from London, Ontario University of Toronto alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian King's Counsel 21st-century Canadian politicians