Jerry Grafstein

His father came to Canada in 1927 after he had served in the Polish Army during the First World War 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.

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 Inter-Parliamentary Group and as a senior officer of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly for over a decade.

Grafstein is a former partner of Minden Gross LLP, a business law firm in Toronto 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, and Europe.

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 outbreak, and the "Canada for Asia" telethon for relief aid of tsunami victims.

Grafstein holds numerous awards, including honorary chief of the New York City Fire Department and honorary commandant of the US Marine Corps by the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.

Grafstein was born Jerahmiel Samson Grafstein in London, Ontario, on January 2, 1935, the son of Solomon S. Grafstein and Helen Rose Grafstein (née Bleeman).

His late sister was Pauline Wayne.

He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario in 1955, where was active in debates and acted in local theatre and musicals.

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.

He has taken a leading role in mayoralty elections in Toronto since 1960.

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.

In 1966, he founded and edited the Journal of Liberal Thought.

During 1966-1968 he served in Ottawa as executive assistant to John Turner, then Registrar General of Canada, and later as special advisor to the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs during its founding period.

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.

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 Toronto 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 by the province of Ontario in 1972.

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.

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:

He was named one of Canada's 100 most important "public intellectuals" in 2005 by the National Post.

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.