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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician and lawyer.

Life and career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 in Toronto, then received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1958 and an LL.B in 1961 from the

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

. In 1963, he was called to the Ontario Bar. He was first elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Don Valley in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, beating the Progressive Conservative candidate,

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

. He lost to PC challenger James Gillies in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. In 1974, he switched ridings to York Centre and won by over 16,000 votes, holding the seat for the Liberals after James Edgar Walker's retirement. In 1978, he introduced a notable

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

: Bill C-215, ''An Act respecting war criminals in Canada'', which would have amended the '' Citizenship Act'' by stripping citizenship from Canadians if they had been convicted of

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s. The final report of the Deschênes Commission, published in 1986, later stated that the bill would not have achieved the effect Kaplan hoped to achieve because there was no capacity to apply the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

retroactively. 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 United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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 Southeas ...

and 1988 elections. He was the Solicitor General of Canada from 1980 to 1984, under

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

and John Turner. He oversaw the creation of the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; , ''SCRS'') is a Intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service and security agency of the Government of Canada, federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, a ...

and the Security Intelligence Review Committee and the termination of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service. Kaplan was also responsible for bringing in the '' Young Offenders Act'' 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 public identification of youths charged or convicted of criminal acts in most circumstances. He also pressed for and oversaw the extradition of Helmut Rauca to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

for war crimes. Kaplan retired from the House of Commons on the call of the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 35th Canadian Parliament, 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it ...

. He subsequently served as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

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 is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

. Kaplan died of cancer on November 5, 2012. He was 75 years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Bob 1936 births 2012 deaths Canadian King's Counsel Deaths from cancer in Ontario Jewish Canadian politicians Lawyers in Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 22nd Canadian Ministry Members of the 23rd Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Toronto Solicitors general of Canada University of Toronto alumni Vaughan Road Academy alumni 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada

Life and career

Archives

References

External links