Elinor Caplan (born May 20, 1944) is a businesswoman and former politician in Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1997, and was a

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004. A Liberal, she served as a cabinet minister in the provincial government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backg ...

and the federal government of Jean Chrétien.

Background

She was born in Toronto to Samuel S. Hershorn, a textile manufacturer, and his wife Thelma (Goodman) Hershorn, both of whose families had come to Canada from Russian Poland. Caplan attended

Oakwood Collegiate Institute Oakwood Collegiate Institute (commonly known as OCI or Oakwood) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the neighbourhoods of Regal Heights, Oakwood-Vaughan and Bracondale Hill. History and Alumni Oakwood was fo ...

in Toronto, and then Centennial College. She then worked in real estate heading Elinor Caplan and Associates from 1973 to 1978. Her husband, Wilfred, sought election to the provincial legislature in the 1977 election, but was defeated. Caplan is

Jewish 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 ...

, and is a longtime member of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, a women's

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

organization.

Politics

Municipal

She ran for office in 1978, when she was elected to the

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a p ...

municipal council as an alderman.

Provincial

She ran for the provincial legislature in the 1981 election, but lost to Progressive Conservative David Rotenberg in the constituency of Wilson Heights. She was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1985 election, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

by over 4,000 votes in the

riding of

Oriole Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

. The Liberal Party formed a minority government after this election, and Caplan was appointed as Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet on June 26, 1985. She resigned her portfolio on June 16, 1986, following accusations of a conflict of interest relating to her husband's business dealings; while protesting her innocence, she claimed she had lost the confidence of the house. Caplan was subsequently exonerated by a parliamentary commission. Caplan won a landslide re-election victory in the provincial election of 1987, She was reappointed to Peterson's cabinet on September 29, 1987 as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

. She held this position until the Liberals were defeated by the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social democracy, social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Leader of the Opposition ( ...

in the 1990 election. Caplan defeated NDP candidate Lennox Farrell by just over 2,000 votes in the 1990 campaign, and remained a prominent figure in the official opposition, serving as Deputy House Leader in 1994-95. In the 1995 election, Caplan narrowly retained her seat against a challenge from Progressive Conservative Paul Sutherland. She served as Chief Opposition

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

from 1995 to 1996, and retired from the legislature on May 1, 1997. (She was succeeded as the MPP for Oriole by her son, David Caplan, who went on to serve as a cabinet minister in the government of

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

.) In 1996, she supported

Joseph Cordiano Joseph Cordiano (born October 30, 1957) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 2006 who represented the riding of Downsview. He served as a cabinet minister in the g ...

for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Provincial Cabinet posts

Federal politics

Caplan was elected to the federal House of Commons in the 1997 election, defeating her closest opponent by more than 14,000 votes in the riding of Thornhill. She served as parliamentary secretary to the

in 1998-99, and was appointed to cabinet as

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration The minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship (french: Ministre de l'immigration, des réfugiés et de la citoyenneté) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The minister is responsible for Immigration, Refugees and Cit ...

on August 3, 1999. There was some speculation that Caplan would be challenged by David Rotenberg in the 2000 federal election, but this ultimately came to nothing. Facing an inexperienced opponent from the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

, she was easily re-elected. After a cabinet shuffle on January 15, 2002, Caplan was appointed Minister of National Revenue. She was dropped from cabinet when

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

replaced Chrétien as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in December 2003. She did not seek re-election in the 2004 election.

Federal Cabinet posts

After politics

In late 2004, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed Caplan to lead a provincial inquiry into the state of home-care medical services.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caplan, Elinor 1944 births Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Businesspeople from Toronto Centennial College alumni Canadian monarchists Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian Zionists Jewish Canadian politicians Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Toronto Women MPPs in Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Jewish women politicians