Ernest Leo Kolber, (January 18, 1929 – January 9, 2020) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and Senator, serving from 1983 to 2004.

Early life and career

Kolber was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, the son of Luba (Kahan) and Moses Kolber, a doctor. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 and a Bachelor of Law in 1952 from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1952.

Business

Kolber was President of

Cemp Investments Cemp Investments (1951–1987, succeeded by Claridge Investments) was the primary holding company and investment vehicle for, and named after, the four children of Samuel Bronfman: Charles Bronfman, Edgar Bronfman, Aileen "Minda" Bronfman de Gunzbu ...

, a family holding company for the children of

Samuel Bronfman Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Bronfman family. Biography Samuel Bronfman was born in Otaci, ...

. In the 1960s, Kolber played a key role in the construction of the

Toronto Dominion Centre The Toronto-Dominion Centre, or TD Centre, is an office complex in the Financial District of downtown Toronto owned by Cadillac Fairview. It serves as the global headquarters for its anchor tenant, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and provides office a ...

, a landmark building complex designed by

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

that is credited with helping to elevate Toronto to the status of a world class city. Kolber was also instrumental in two major Bronfman deals:

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the ...

's purchase of a stake in DuPont and the sale of the Cadillac-Fairview real estate company at the height of its value in 1987. In the process, Kolber acquired considerable wealth in his own right, including $100 million for arranging the Cadillac-Fairview sale. Author

Peter C. Newman Peter Charles Newman (born May 10, 1929) is a Canadian journalist and writer. Life and career Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His parents were Wanda Maria and O ...

wrote in his 1975 book ''

The Canadian Establishment ''The Canadian Establishment'' is a series of books published in Canada by economic journalist Peter C. Newman Peter Charles Newman (born May 10, 1929) is a Canadian journalist and writer. Life and career Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigr ...

'' that Kolber was so close to the Bronfman family that "Sam ronfmantreated him as a son and Leo worshipped Sam as a father." Newman calls Kolber "the non-Bronfman Bronfman with the big brain" and "a tough cookie," but goes on to say that Kolber "was always honest and had a sense of humor about himself." A character based on a caricature of Kolber appears in the

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...

novel ''

Solomon Gursky Was Here ''Solomon Gursky Was Here'' is a novel by Canadians, Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published by Viking Canada in 1989 in literature, 1989. Summary The novel tells of several generations of the fictional Gursky family, who are connected t ...

''; the portrait is highly unflattering. For many years, Kolber was the chief fundraiser for the Liberal Party of Canada. He also served on the boards of many companies, including Seagram,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, and the

Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. T ...

Personal life

Kolber's late wife Sandra was a published poet and film executive who served on the board of The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

and received an arts award from the Governor General. Sandra and Leo Kolber were among Montreal's most active philanthropists. Causes included The

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orch ...

and The Jewish General Hospital. Kolber's close friendship with former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres dates back to the 1950s. Kolber's son Jonathan is an Israeli citizen who was chairman of Koor Industries Ltd., an Israeli investment firm.

Senate Tenure

In 1983, Kolber was appointed to the Senate of Canada representing the senatorial division of Victoria, Quebec. He was the Chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. Kolber played a role in reducing Canada's capital gains taxes. He advocated a change in government policy to permit bank mergers, but did not prevail

In December 2000, the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

condemned Yves Michaud, a former

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

delegate-general to Paris, for repeating on the radio angry remarks he had made to Kolber in a Montreal barber shop. Michaud had said that Jews weren't the only people in the world to have suffered. The controversy escalated into what became known as l'Affaire Michaud. Quebec Premier

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the Ho ...

subsequently resigned, citing support for Michaud within the Parti Québécois as one of his reasons.

Controversy

In November 2017 an investigation conducted by the

International Consortium of Investigative Journalism The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C. with ...

cited his name in the list of politicians named in "

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...

" allegations.

Retirement and death

Kolber retired from the Senate shortly before his 75th birthday in 2004. In 2005, he was appointed Chair of the Advisory Council on National Security. In 2007, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. On January 8, 2020, Kolber died at his home in Montreal from Alzheimer's disease at age 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolber, Leo 1929 births 2020 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Anglophone Quebec people Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian corporate directors Canadian senators from Quebec Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish Canadian philanthropists Liberal Party of Canada senators McGill University alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Montreal 21st-century Canadian politicians McGill University Faculty of Law alumni People named in the Paradise Papers Neurological disease deaths in Quebec