Ernest Leo Kolber, (January 18, 1929 – January 9, 2020) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, serving from 1983 to 2004.

Early life and career

Kolber was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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 A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1952 from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. 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 Gunz ...

, a family holding company for the children of

Samuel Bronfman Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and member of the Canadian Bronfman family. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited and purchased the Seagram Company, that became the world’ ...

. 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 of six skyscrapers 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, an ...

, 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, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

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 trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...

's purchase of a stake in

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

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 Petr Karel Neumann; May 10, 1929 – September 7, 2023) was a Canadian journalist, editor and author. He interviewed and wrote about every Canadian prime minister from Louis St. Laurent (1948–1957) to Paul Martin (2 ...

wrote in his 1975 book ''

The Canadian Establishment ''The Canadian Establishment'' is a series of books published in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Oc ...

'' 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 (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

novel ''

Solomon Gursky Was Here ''Solomon Gursky Was Here'' is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published by Viking Canada in 1989. Summary The novel tells of several generations of the fictional Gursky family, who are connected to several disparate events in ...

''; the portrait is highly unflattering. For many years, Kolber was the chief fundraiser for the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. He also served on the boards of many companies, including Seagram,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, and the

Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (), doing business as TD Bank Group (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was created on February 1, 1955, through the merger of the Bank of ...

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 (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

and was a recipient of the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual Canadian award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in associ ...

in 1994. Sandra and Leo Kolber were among Montreal's most active philanthropists. Causes included The

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

and The Jewish General Hospital. Kolber's close friendship with former

Israeli President The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister. The incumbent president is Is ...

and Prime Minister

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

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 The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

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 (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

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 establishi ...

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. A minister for two years in the 24th Canadian Ministry, Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then founded and led the Bloc Québécois and became Leader ...

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 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'' Süddeutsche Z ...

" 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 () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. 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 in Canada Anglophone Quebec people Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian corporate directors Canadian senators from Quebec Jewish Canadian politicians Canadian philanthropists Liberal Party of Canada senators McGill University alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Montreal 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada McGill University Faculty of Law alumni People named in the Paradise Papers Neurological disease deaths in Quebec 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada