Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper (August 11, 1932 – October 7, 2003) was a Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate. He was the founder and owner of the now-defunct TV and media company CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and President Leonard Asper, former director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, and former Executive Vice President David Asper. He was also the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 1970 to 1975 and is credited with the idea and vision to establish the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Personal life and education
Israel Asper was born on August 11, 1932, to a Jewish family in Minnedosa, Manitoba, the son of musicians Leon Asper and Cecilia Swet, who had emigrated from Ukraine in the 1920s.
Asper married Ruth Miriam "Babs" Bernstein on May 27, 1956, at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Winnipeg.
Asper attended the University of Manitoba Law School in Winnipeg, where he received his law degree in 1957 and was called to the bar shortly thereafter in July, eventually receiving a Master of Laws in 1964.
On October 7, 2003, Asper died in St. Boniface Hospital at the age of 71 after suffering a heart attack. He was buried in the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery in Winnipeg in the presence of 1,500 mourners, including Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and leading politicians.
Career
He founded the firm of Asper, Freedman & Co. in 1959, His Liberals won only five seats, and Asper was elected in Wolseley by only four votes. He resigned as party leader and MLA in 1975, though he continued to support the Manitoba Liberal Party in later years.
His media empire began with the Winnipeg television station CKND-TV in 1975. Shortly after, in 1977, Asper formed CanWest Global Communications Corporation, which grew to encompass the Global Television Network, among other assets. In 2000, CanWest bought the media holdings of Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc. for $3.2 billion, allowing Asper control of the Southam newspaper group, over 60 Canadian newspapers (including the daily National Post) as well as several important offshore newspapers and journals.
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He was also a noted philanthropist, making major donations to the areas of culture, arts, and education; to expand on these endeavours, the Asper Foundation was established in 1983 in Winnipeg. In 2001, Asper donated CA$5 million to the St. Boniface Hospital & Research Foundation.
Views on Israel
As a youth, growing up in Winnipeg, Asper joined the socialist-Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair which supported the creation of a binational state in Mandatory Palestine. As a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Asper's views on Zionism swung to the right and he became a supporter of Jabotinskyism and Irgun leader Menachem Begin and an opponent of Labour Zionism. Asper said of his views "because the Labour Zionists got control of the educational institutions, and of the government, I utterly supported Begin from the time I was 12 or 13. Without him and his guerrilla revolt against the British, there would be no Israel."
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Israel Asper first had the idea to build the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) on 18 July 2000. Asper spent the next three years making the CMHR a reality, and had a thorough feasibility study conducted by museum experts from around Canada.
Accolades and recognition
- 1975 – appointed Queen’s Counsel
- 1995 – inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame
- 1997 – inducted as Laureate of Canadian Business Hall of Fame
- 2000 – inducted as a Founding Member of the Order of Manitoba
- 2000 – The Faculty of Management at the University of Manitoba renamed itself the Asper School of Business.
- 1999 – Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- 2002 – Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, McMaster University, Montreal
The Asper Foundation received its heraldic emblem from the Canadian Heraldic Authority in January 2003. and is one of Canada’s largest private foundations.
The Foundation was established in 1983 by Israel and Babs Asper, created from the wealth they had generated via CanWest, to build upon theirs and their family’s philanthropic endeavours. In October 2019, the Foundation announced a gift of CA$5-million to the University of Manitoba to establish the "Asper Foundation Entrance Bursary," a $1,000 entrance bursary program available to students in any faculty or school. In early 2021, the Foundation made a $5 million gift to the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) to expand the "Asper HUJI Innovate" startup accelerator program at the university.
The Asper Foundation also created and sourced the funding for Canada’s 5th national museum, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.