David Caplan
Encyclopedia
David Caplan is a politician in Ontario
, Canada
. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
, and was a cabinet minister
in the government of Liberal Premier
Dalton McGuinty
. He is not re-offering and will be retiring from the Ontario legislature at the October 6 provincial election
.
Caplan is the son of Elinor Caplan
, who served as a cabinet minister at the federal and provincial levels. His father, Wilfred Caplan, was also a politician. He is married to Leigh and has two sons, Benjamin and Jacob.
, Ontario, and was educated at the University of Western Ontario
. He worked as a commercial real estate agent with the firm of Ernest Goodman Ltd. from 1985 to 1989, and was Vice-President of Taurus Metal Trading Ltd. (a recycling company) between 1989 and 1992.
Caplan was elected as a trustee to the North York
Board of Education in 1991 and served in this capacity for six years, becoming the Board's Vice-Chair in 1993. He also served on the Metro Toronto Board of Education from 1994 to 1997, becoming its Vice-Chair shortly before his departure for higher office.
. David Caplan contested his mother's former riding of Oriole in the subsequent by-election, and defeated his Progressive Conservative
opponent, former federal Member of Parliament
Barbara Greene
, by a significant margin. He subsequently served as the Liberal critic for Youth and Training.
Ontario's electoral map was significantly altered in 1996, when Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris
introduced a bill to reduce the number of members in the legislature from 130 to 103. These changes did not apply to by-elections for the sitting legislature, but came into effect for the provincial election of 1999
. As a result, Caplan was forced to face another incumbent Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Minister of Education David Johnson
, in the new riding of Don Valley East
. Johnson had surprised many observers by not running in the safer riding of Don Valley West.
In one of the most closely watched races of the campaign, Caplan defeated Johnson on election night by just over 3,000 votes. There are several public school teachers in Don Valley East, and many suspect that "strategic voting" by this group against the Tories was a leading factor in Caplan's victory. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Caplan became his party's Housing Critic and Deputy Whip
.
Like his mother, David Caplan is a prominent politician in the Jewish community of the North York area. He did not, however, join with several other politicians from this community (including fellow Liberal MPP Monte Kwinter
) to support provincial funding for non-Catholic religious schools in 2001. The initiative was brought forward by the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris
, and the Liberal Party opposed it on the grounds that it would divert money from public schools. While Kwinter publicly disagreed with his party's position, Caplan supported it and referred to the Harris government's plan as "the first step toward a voucher system".
, defeating his Progressive Conservative opponent, former city councillor Paul Sutherland
, by over 9200 votes. The Liberals won the general election, and Caplan was appointed to Cabinet on October 23, 2003 as Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal
.
Caplan was responsible for leading the modernization of the province's infrastructure and planning for future population and economic growth. He released a long-term $30 billion plus infrastructure investment strategy called ReNew Ontario, which used a private financing model expanding and building new hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, and transit and transportation systems. Caplan was responsible for the Places to Grow Act, 2005, which allows for a better way of accommodating growth across the province through the development of growth plans. The first growth plan under this legislation, the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, was a 25-year strategy to maximize the benefits of growth and maintain a high quality of life for the fastest growing urban region in Canada. Minister Caplan also had responsibility for several major government agencies managing public assets, including: The Ontario Realty Corporation, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Infrastructure Ontario and the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation.
Caplan came under heavy criticism after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
was mired in a scandal which saw retailers were winning a disproportionate number of jackpots. He stayed on despite opposition calls for his resignation.
After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, Caplan was given the additional position of Deputy Government House Leader
.
. Caplan was appointed Minister of Health, while Smitherman was appointed both the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal and the Minister of Energy (taking over from Gerry Phillips). There was criticism of Caplan's new portfolio, as he suffered from weight issues and was formerly a heavy smoker, but he dismissed it, saying "My own conversations between me and my doctor are private matters, (as) they are for all of us, and they'll remain private".
In May 2009, there were opposition calls for Caplan's resignation after it was revealed that eHealth Ontario
CEO Sarah Kramer had approved about $4.8 million in no-bid contracts during the first four months of the agency's operation, while also spending $50000 to refurnish her office, and paying consultants up to $300 an hour. Nine senior eHealth employees were fired, reportedly for challenging the agency's tendering practices. eHealth Ontario argued that the no-bid contracts were necessary due to the rapid transition process to eHealth from its predecessor Smart Systems for Health Agency, while Caplan defended Kramer's bonus as part of her move from another agency. The opposition noted that the McGuinty government spent five years and $647 million on the Smart Systems for Health Agency, which used 15 per cent of its $225 million annual budget on consultants despite employing 166 people with annual salaries exceeding $100,000, before the project was shut down and restarted as eHealth Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was concerned about eHealth's spending information and said that he would act upon the auditor general's report. McGuinty and Caplan said that it was tough to recruit top experts to build a provincewide electronic health records system.
On October 6, 2009, Caplan resigned his post as Health Minister in advance of a report detailing irregularities in spending and expense accounts related to eHealth Ontario, a government agency tasked with the creation of electronic health records.
He announced on July 14, 2011 that he would not be a candidate in the October 6, 2011 provincial election.
|David Caplan
|align="right"|19,602
|align="right"|55.6
|align="right"|
|-
|Angela Kennedy
|align="right"|8,821
|align="right"|25.0
|align="right"|
|-
|Mary Trapani Hynes
|align="right"|3,757
|align="right"|10.7
|align="right"|
|-
|Trifon Haitas
|align="right"|2,300
|align="right"|6.5
|align="right"|
|-
|Stella Kargiannakis
|align="right"|467
|align="right"|1.3
|align="right"|
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|196
|align="right"|0.6
|align="right"|
|-
|Wayne simmons
|align="right"|98
|align="right"|0.3
|align="right"|
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|21,327
|align="right"|56.8
|align="right"|+6.30
|-
|Paul Sutherland
|align="right"|12,027
|align="right"|32.03
|align="right"|-11.16
|-
|Murphy Browne
|align="right"|3,058
|align="right"|8.14
|align="right"|+3.76
|-
|Dan Craig
|align="right"|558
|align="right"|1.49
|align="right"|+1.29
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|460
|align="right"|1.23
|align="right"|+0.86
|-
|Wayne Simmons
|align="right"|119
|align="right"|0.32
|align="right"|+0.19
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|20,993
|align="right"|50.5
|-
|David Johnson
|align="right"|17,955
|align="right"|43.19
|-
| Janaki Bala-Krishnan
|align="right"|1,822
|align="right"|4.38
|-
|Raffi Assadourian
|align="right"|329
|align="right"|0.79
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|153
|align="right"|0.37
|-
|Elizabeth Rowley
|align="right"|91
|align="right"|0.22
|-
|Jeff Pancer
|align="right"|85
|align="right"|0.20
|-
|Fernand Deschamps
|align="right"|65
|align="right"|0.16
|-
|Wayne Simmons
|align="right"|53
|align="right"|0.13
|-
|Shail Lall
|align="right"|28
|align="right"|0.07
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|9,954
|align="right"|
|-
|Barbara Greene
|align="right"|5,163
|align="right"|
|-
|Jim Kafieh
|align="right"|1,700
|align="right"|
|-
|Bernadette Michael
|align="right"|132
|align="right"|
|-
|Shelly Lipsey
|align="right"|96
|align="right"|
|}
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
, and was a cabinet minister
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
in the government of Liberal Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
. He is not re-offering and will be retiring from the Ontario legislature at the October 6 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2011
The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New...
.
Caplan is the son of Elinor Caplan
Elinor Caplan
Elinor Caplan, PC is a retired politician and businesswoman in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1997, and was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2004...
, who served as a cabinet minister at the federal and provincial levels. His father, Wilfred Caplan, was also a politician. He is married to Leigh and has two sons, Benjamin and Jacob.
Background
Caplan was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario, and was educated at the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
. He worked as a commercial real estate agent with the firm of Ernest Goodman Ltd. from 1985 to 1989, and was Vice-President of Taurus Metal Trading Ltd. (a recycling company) between 1989 and 1992.
Caplan was elected as a trustee to the North York
North York, Ontario
North York is a dissolved municipality within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the central part of the northern section of Toronto. As of the 2006 Census, it has a population of 635,370. The official 2001 census count was 608,288...
Board of Education in 1991 and served in this capacity for six years, becoming the Board's Vice-Chair in 1993. He also served on the Metro Toronto Board of Education from 1994 to 1997, becoming its Vice-Chair shortly before his departure for higher office.
Political career
In 1997, Elinor Caplan resigned her seat in the Ontario legislature to seek election to the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
. David Caplan contested his mother's former riding of Oriole in the subsequent by-election, and defeated his Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
opponent, former federal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Barbara Greene
Barbara Greene
Barbara Greene is a Canadian politician. She served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985...
, by a significant margin. He subsequently served as the Liberal critic for Youth and Training.
Ontario's electoral map was significantly altered in 1996, when Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
introduced a bill to reduce the number of members in the legislature from 130 to 103. These changes did not apply to by-elections for the sitting legislature, but came into effect for the provincial election of 1999
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
. As a result, Caplan was forced to face another incumbent Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Minister of Education David Johnson
David Johnson (Canadian politician)
David John Johnson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was the mayor of East York from 1982 to 1993, a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1993 to 1999, and a senior cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.Johnson has a Bachelor of Science...
, in the new riding of Don Valley East
Don Valley East
Don Valley East is a federal electoral district in Canada that covers the northeast section of the North York part of Toronto. The federal riding was created in 1976 from parts of Willowdale, York East, York North, and York—Scarborough ridings....
. Johnson had surprised many observers by not running in the safer riding of Don Valley West.
In one of the most closely watched races of the campaign, Caplan defeated Johnson on election night by just over 3,000 votes. There are several public school teachers in Don Valley East, and many suspect that "strategic voting" by this group against the Tories was a leading factor in Caplan's victory. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Caplan became his party's Housing Critic and Deputy Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
.
Like his mother, David Caplan is a prominent politician in the Jewish community of the North York area. He did not, however, join with several other politicians from this community (including fellow Liberal MPP Monte Kwinter
Monte Kwinter
Monte Kwinter is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1985, was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson from 1985 to 1990, and was re-appointed to a cabinet position when the Liberals returned to power under Dalton...
) to support provincial funding for non-Catholic religious schools in 2001. The initiative was brought forward by the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, and the Liberal Party opposed it on the grounds that it would divert money from public schools. While Kwinter publicly disagreed with his party's position, Caplan supported it and referred to the Harris government's plan as "the first step toward a voucher system".
2003 session
Caplan was easily re-elected in Don Valley East in the provincial election of 2003Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, defeating his Progressive Conservative opponent, former city councillor Paul Sutherland
Paul Sutherland (politician)
Paul Sutherland is an Ontario politician, former Toronto City Councillor, former North York City Councillor, and a former candidate for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in the provincial riding of Don Valley East....
, by over 9200 votes. The Liberals won the general election, and Caplan was appointed to Cabinet on October 23, 2003 as Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal
Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal (Ontario)
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal was responsible for public infrastructure in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was not only responsible for funding individual capital projects, but for drafting the capital budget in place of the Ministry of Finance...
.
Caplan was responsible for leading the modernization of the province's infrastructure and planning for future population and economic growth. He released a long-term $30 billion plus infrastructure investment strategy called ReNew Ontario, which used a private financing model expanding and building new hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, and transit and transportation systems. Caplan was responsible for the Places to Grow Act, 2005, which allows for a better way of accommodating growth across the province through the development of growth plans. The first growth plan under this legislation, the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, was a 25-year strategy to maximize the benefits of growth and maintain a high quality of life for the fastest growing urban region in Canada. Minister Caplan also had responsibility for several major government agencies managing public assets, including: The Ontario Realty Corporation, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Infrastructure Ontario and the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation.
Caplan came under heavy criticism after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation , known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown Corporation of the Government of Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for the province's lotteries, charity and Aboriginal casinos, commercial casinos, and slot machines at...
was mired in a scandal which saw retailers were winning a disproportionate number of jackpots. He stayed on despite opposition calls for his resignation.
After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, Caplan was given the additional position of Deputy Government House Leader
House Leader
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament and an expert in parliamentary procedure...
.
2007 session
On June 20, 2008, Premier Dalton McGuity announced a cabinet shuffle that saw Caplan swapping portfolios with George SmithermanGeorge Smitherman
George Smitherman is a Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayoralty of Toronto in the 2010 municipal election...
. Caplan was appointed Minister of Health, while Smitherman was appointed both the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal and the Minister of Energy (taking over from Gerry Phillips). There was criticism of Caplan's new portfolio, as he suffered from weight issues and was formerly a heavy smoker, but he dismissed it, saying "My own conversations between me and my doctor are private matters, (as) they are for all of us, and they'll remain private".
In May 2009, there were opposition calls for Caplan's resignation after it was revealed that eHealth Ontario
EHealth Ontario
eHealth Ontario is the agency tasked with facilitating the development of Ontario's proposed public Electronic Health Record system. Health Informatics in Canada is run provincially, with different provinces creating different systems, albeit sometimes under voluntary Pan-Canadian guidelines...
CEO Sarah Kramer had approved about $4.8 million in no-bid contracts during the first four months of the agency's operation, while also spending $50000 to refurnish her office, and paying consultants up to $300 an hour. Nine senior eHealth employees were fired, reportedly for challenging the agency's tendering practices. eHealth Ontario argued that the no-bid contracts were necessary due to the rapid transition process to eHealth from its predecessor Smart Systems for Health Agency, while Caplan defended Kramer's bonus as part of her move from another agency. The opposition noted that the McGuinty government spent five years and $647 million on the Smart Systems for Health Agency, which used 15 per cent of its $225 million annual budget on consultants despite employing 166 people with annual salaries exceeding $100,000, before the project was shut down and restarted as eHealth Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was concerned about eHealth's spending information and said that he would act upon the auditor general's report. McGuinty and Caplan said that it was tough to recruit top experts to build a provincewide electronic health records system.
On October 6, 2009, Caplan resigned his post as Health Minister in advance of a report detailing irregularities in spending and expense accounts related to eHealth Ontario, a government agency tasked with the creation of electronic health records.
He announced on July 14, 2011 that he would not be a candidate in the October 6, 2011 provincial election.
Electoral record
|-|David Caplan
|align="right"|19,602
|align="right"|55.6
|align="right"|
|-
|Angela Kennedy
|align="right"|8,821
|align="right"|25.0
|align="right"|
|-
|Mary Trapani Hynes
|align="right"|3,757
|align="right"|10.7
|align="right"|
|-
|Trifon Haitas
|align="right"|2,300
|align="right"|6.5
|align="right"|
|-
|Stella Kargiannakis
|align="right"|467
|align="right"|1.3
|align="right"|
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|196
|align="right"|0.6
|align="right"|
|-
|Wayne simmons
|align="right"|98
|align="right"|0.3
|align="right"|
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|21,327
|align="right"|56.8
|align="right"|+6.30
|-
|Paul Sutherland
Paul Sutherland (politician)
Paul Sutherland is an Ontario politician, former Toronto City Councillor, former North York City Councillor, and a former candidate for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in the provincial riding of Don Valley East....
|align="right"|12,027
|align="right"|32.03
|align="right"|-11.16
|-
|Murphy Browne
|align="right"|3,058
|align="right"|8.14
|align="right"|+3.76
|-
|Dan Craig
|align="right"|558
|align="right"|1.49
|align="right"|+1.29
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|460
|align="right"|1.23
|align="right"|+0.86
|-
|Wayne Simmons
|align="right"|119
|align="right"|0.32
|align="right"|+0.19
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|20,993
|align="right"|50.5
|-
|David Johnson
David Johnson (Canadian politician)
David John Johnson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was the mayor of East York from 1982 to 1993, a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1993 to 1999, and a senior cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.Johnson has a Bachelor of Science...
|align="right"|17,955
|align="right"|43.19
|-
| Janaki Bala-Krishnan
|align="right"|1,822
|align="right"|4.38
|-
|Raffi Assadourian
|align="right"|329
|align="right"|0.79
|-
|Ryan Kidd
|align="right"|153
|align="right"|0.37
|-
|Elizabeth Rowley
Elizabeth Rowley
Elizabeth Rowley is a politician, writer, and political activist in Ontario, Canada. Current leader of the Communist Party of Ontario, and a leading member of the Communist Party of Canada, Rowley has campaigned for office many times at both the municipal, federal and provincial levels.-Political...
|align="right"|91
|align="right"|0.22
|-
|Jeff Pancer
|align="right"|85
|align="right"|0.20
|-
|Fernand Deschamps
|align="right"|65
|align="right"|0.16
|-
|Wayne Simmons
|align="right"|53
|align="right"|0.13
|-
|Shail Lall
|align="right"|28
|align="right"|0.07
|}
|-
|David Caplan
|align="right"|9,954
|align="right"|
|-
|Barbara Greene
Barbara Greene
Barbara Greene is a Canadian politician. She served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985...
|align="right"|5,163
|align="right"|
|-
|Jim Kafieh
|align="right"|1,700
|align="right"|
|-
|Bernadette Michael
|align="right"|132
|align="right"|
|-
|Shelly Lipsey
|align="right"|96
|align="right"|
|}