Morton Shulman (25 April 1925 – 18 August 2000) was a Canadian politician, businessman, broadcaster, columnist, coroner, and physician. He first came to public notice as Ontario's Chief Coroner in the early 1960s. At the same time he became a very successful stock-market player and wrote a bestselling book on investing in the stock market. In the mid-1960s he embarrassed the provincial government when he found it to be disobeying provincial health and safety laws. He was fired and then ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, defeating a government Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). He served two terms as the MPP for High Park from 1967 to 1975. In the late 1970s and 1980s he hosted a nationally distributed television talk show called The Shulman File. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the early 1980s and became a pharmaceutical entrepreneur specializing in treatments for that disease. Near the end of his life he was appointed to the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award.

Biography

Morton Shulman was born on 25 April 1925 to a Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, where he grew up and was educated. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1948 He became wealthy through investing in the stock market and wrote a bestselling book, Anyone Can Make a Million in 1966. environmental lawyer and Toronto city councillor Dianne Saxe; and Dr. Geoffrey Shulman (1954-2012).

Coroner

Shulman was appointed to the Coroner's Office as a junior in 1952, in exchange for his helping Conservative candidate William James Stewart defeat incumbent CCF MPP Lloyd Fell in Parkdale in the 1951 election, . Shulman was outspoken and used his position as coroner to crusade on a number of issues such as enacting tougher regulations on lifejackets for small boats, having government regulate car safety, introducing breathalysers and loosening abortion laws after he investigated the deaths of women who had died while trying to terminate their pregnancies.

Political career

Shulman decided to avenge himself on the Ontario government by running for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He was elected in the that year's election, defeating High Park's incumbent MPP, Progressive Conservative Alfred Cowling by over 6,200 votes.

Shulman used his position in the legislature to become a thorn in the side of the Tory government. He asked provocative questions in the legislature and was known for stunts such as selling the book The Happy Hooker from his office after it had been banned by the Toronto Police morality squad (he offered MPPs a ten percent discount). Once, to make a point about lax security, he carried a pellet gun — dressed up to look like a submachine gun — in a bag through an Ontario nuclear plant, and later pulled it out on the floor of the Legislature; he waved it around gleefully while cabinet ministers hid under their desks.

In 1975, shortly before the next general election, Shulman demanded that he be appointed Attorney General in the event that the NDP won. NDP leader Stephen Lewis refused to commit to such a promise. in order to acquire Canadian rights to the anti-Parkinson's drug Deprenyl. After battling Parkinson's disease for more than 17 years, he died from complications arising from it at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto on August 18, 2000. He was buried in Pardes Shalom Cemetery on Dufferin Street two days later.

Electoral record

See also

  • Larry Campbell (Canadian coroner and politician compared to Morton Shulman)
  • Quincy, M.E. (U.S. TV series inspired in part by the career of Morton Shulman)
  • Wojeck (Canadian TV series inspired in part by the career of Morton Shulman)

References

Bibliography

  • Morton Shulman fonds, Ontario Archives.
  • City of Toronto Document detailing "Shulman Avenue."