Gail Asper has blazed a trail for Canadian women in philanthropy. The daughter of Israel “Izzy” Asper, founder of CanWest Global Communications Corp., and a corporate lawyer by training, she turned her lifelong passion for making a difference into a career in philanthropy, including as president of the Asper Foundation (after her father’s passing in 2003) and later as its chair. Asper has been a major force in support the arts both nationally and in her native Winnipeg and in advocating for human rights, particularly through the $351-million Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg—the first national museum in Canada to be established outside of the capital region.
Here, Asper shares how she and her family uphold her father’s legacy, while supporting a variety of philanthropic initiatives in an often politically precarious time.
What are your memories of growing up in Winnipeg?
I had an idyllic childhood in Winnipeg, growing up with my brothers and parents in beautiful River Heights, spending long hours after school playing with countless friends, riding bikes down our streets lined with ancient elm trees, making snow forts and spending weekends at the local skating rink during the winter and heading to our wonderful cottage at Falcon Lake in the Whiteshell for two solid months every summer.
I have loved singing from the time I was a toddler and greatly appreciated my parents giving me piano lessons and then singing lessons and enrolling me in the Winnipeg Girls Choir. I also loved all of my schools, including Robert H. Smith, River Heights and Kelvin High School, and took part in the choirs and high school musicals. Playing Anne in Anne of Green Gables in the Kelvin musical was definitely a highlight.
Manitobans are incredibly lucky to have thousands of clear freshwater lakes where my friends and I would lazily while away the summer days suntanning on our docks, reading comic books, or horseback riding and buying penny candy from the local store. It just didn’t get any better than that!
With regard to my education, I was very interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts and took part in the plays at the University of Manitoba’s Blackhole Theatre. I sang in the Manitoba Opera Association’s chorus and attended a summer at the Banff School of Fine Arts in their drama program. I was also pursuing singing lessons and competing in the Winnipeg Music Competitions in the areas of opera, French art songs, German Leider, etc. I originally thought, in addition to the performing arts, a career as a teacher would be exciting, especially if I could focus on drama, music and French language (which I loved). I started with an arts degree at the University of Manitoba, but my father, Israel Asper, a lawyer and ever practical, felt I should pursue a law degree instead.
How did your father inspire you?
He believed that all women should be able to support themselves and not be reliant upon a spouse, parents, siblings or children. As a lawyer himself, he had seen too many women become completely helpless when they relied too much on their husbands to look after them. He suggested that a law degree, even if I never practised law, would be an invaluable asset no matter what I chose to do with my life.
Whether it’s bullies on the playground, bullies on the battleground or bullies in the White House, it’s important to stand up for yourself.
Gail Asper
I followed his advice and am very glad that I did, because that law degree has enabled me to do countless different activities in my life and I have still been able to pursue my interests in the arts, but just on the side and not as a primary career. Given the challenging life most Canadian artists have, I think it was the right choice.
I always thought my father was a strict disciplinarian until I had children of my own and realized he was actually just trying to make sure that we kids worked hard, tried our best and were prepared to make our own way in the world. He also had an incredible joie de vivre and really knew how to live.
Never having been able to travel as he grew up, because of the need to work in his family’s theatre business, my father was an avid traveller and made sure that we travelled constantly. One of my fondest memories was our first trip to Israel in 1974, one year after the Yom Kippur War. It was an incredibly powerful experience as a 14-year-old, and I am eternally grateful for my father inspiring in me a love of Israel and an understanding of the importance of going there regularly. But we also traveled to Europe, Turkey, Greece, the Caribbean, Expo ’67 in Montreal, Jasper National Park, Disney World, Disneyland and of course our fantastic trips to New York. My dad took me to New York on my 16th birthday—just the two of us—and we didn’t stop going from noon to well after midnight, seeing shows, shopping, maybe even hitting a few jazz bars, in the days when being a minor didn’t impede your being in a bar.
My dad taught me to seize the day and live life to the fullest while a choosing a career or life activity that meant something to you and giving it your all. He was a person who never did things in a mediocre way but always believed in reaching for the stars.
One of his defining features was his belief in the importance of justice and human rights. He was passionate about creating an institution in Canada that explored Canada’s human rights journey, warts and all, while also exposing Canadians to the horrors of the Holocaust, as the prime example of how, with the right education and propaganda, normal civilized people like Germans in the ‘30s could be turned into genocidal murderers.
He always believed we needed to remain vigilant in protecting human rights for ourselves and for all. Watching the world today and seeing how easily people can be whipped up into a frenzy of hatred, I am mindful of his reminder to never ever take our rights for granted. They are hard-fought for, and complacency can result in us losing our freedoms very easily and quickly.
He also taught me that it’s important to be a fighter and to never back down from a fight. For him, failure wasn’t the act of losing, it was the act of not even trying. Bearing in mind the lessons of the Holocaust, he definitely felt that it was important for the Jewish people to have the ability to fight back against our oppressors and that has been an invaluable lesson for me and one with which I agree. Whether it’s bullies on the playground, bullies on the battleground or bullies in the White House, it’s important to stand up for yourself. One of my favourite quotes from Manitoba suffragist Emily Murphy, who fought for and won the rights of white women to vote in Manitoba, is: ‘Whenever I have the choice to run or fight—I fight.’
What drew you to philanthropy?
My family did not have a lot of money growing up—my father was a self-made man beginning as a young lawyer, before he moved into the business world. Stewarding financial resources, watching expenses, learning how to follow a budget and to earn my own money—all of these were important lessons I was taught growing up. As our family wealth grew, and as both my parents were very involved with volunteering and making fair-share donations to the community, my brothers and I were taught that you have to ‘give as you live.’ If you are fortunate enough to have money, you need to share it. If you are getting the benefit of charitable organizations and you have the resources, it was important to support those causes both financially and with your time.
Later in his career, as my father’s resources grew, he created the Asper Foundation, which was set up as a permanent charitable fund with a goal of supporting the Jewish community primarily as well as the general community. His goal was to have my brothers, David and Leonard, and me steward the foundation after my parents’ passing and have the foundation become a vehicle for strengthening family relationships between siblings and cousins. That continues to this day. The Asper Foundation supports countless projects in Canada and Israel and spearheaded the creation of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Canada’s fifth national museum, in Winnipeg.
What drew me to philanthropy, as my career, was the realization that I could combine all of my training as a lawyer and experience as a volunteer fundraiser, to deliver transformational projects like the CMHR. I found philanthropy to be extremely stimulating intellectually because you can develop new entrepreneurial ventures, and I also felt that it filled my spiritual need to leave the world a better place. Not only that, but the people that you meet when you are involved with philanthropy are some of the most intelligent, inspiring, compassionate and wonderful people in the world. I know that my life would be immeasurably diminished if I didn’t have the friends that I’ve made when we were developing the CMHR, leading United Way campaigns, chairing boards of arts groups like the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and leading Jewish community campaigns.
When you became president of the Asper Foundation after your father’s passing, how did you overcome challenges?
When my father died suddenly at the age of 71, he was deeply involved with complex negotiations to establish the CMHR in his hometown of Winnipeg. This involved negotiations with three levels of government and discussions with other major philanthropists from across the country. It required good media relations and community relation skills as well, not to mention the knowledge of how to do a start-up of a national museum on a complicated topic relating to human rights. This was not a project for the faint of heart, but my father was absolutely committed to establishing the CMHR. When he died, it meant that we suddenly needed a leader of the Asper Foundation and also a leader of this daunting and ambitious project. I put my hand up for that job and became President, serving in that role for 20 years before retiring last year and becoming the chair of the board.
Fortunately, at the time of my dad’s passing, my mother, Babs, stepped in as chair and was an avid advocate and ambassador for the CMHR project. Most importantly, we were also incredibly blessed to have the brilliant leadership of our Executive Director, Moe Levy, who was eminently capable of continuing the development of the CMHR business and fundraising plans.
Working as a team with my mother, Moe and the Asper Foundation trustees, we pushed ahead with the CMHR project, completing the business plan, the government negotiations and the capital campaign. It was a monumentally challenging time, and I did spend many nights in my kitchen, late at night, despairing about whether we would ever be able to succeed in delivering the museum project. But with perseverance that would have made my dad proud, we succeeded, and this year the CMHR celebrated its 10th anniversary.
What initiatives are most important to you and your family within the foundation?
Both the Asper Foundation and my own family foundation are thriving. The Asper Foundation focuses primarily on Jewish and Israel projects. For my own foundation, which is where I spend most of my time now, I support the arts in general and theatre, especially Manitoba theatre. I’m also a huge lover of opera and support the Manitoba Opera Association. I also believe that women need to support women’s initiatives, so that is a pillar of my giving as well. The Jewish community matters greatly to me, so I support almost every Jewish organization in Manitoba and am also a major donor to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, on whose board of governors’ executive I serve.
The environment is another major pillar for our family and in particular we are major supporters of the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), which carries out research on the impact of human activity on freshwater lakes and rivers. My husband, Mike, has been the chief scientist of ELA and continues his work there.
How do you engage younger generations of your family in philanthropy?
Mike and I are working closely with our two sons, Stephen and Jonathan, in teaching them about careful stewardship of their resources and are encouraging them to obtain a deeper understanding of the investment world. We also encourage them be fair-share givers to community campaigns like the Combined Jewish Appeal and United Way, and to also support and get involved with charities that are near and dear to their hearts. My message to them is that not only will they be making the world a better place than the way they found it, but their lives will also be immeasurably enriched by the good that they have caused to happen and the extraordinary people they meet.
Any projects or initiatives you’re excited about as we continue into 2025?
In terms of initiatives, I still would like to see the establishment of a world-class, architecturally spectacular museum in Tel Aviv that celebrates the remarkable impact the Jewish people have had on civilization, from the Ten Commandments to the scientific breakthroughs of our Nobel Prize winners, to the arts, entrepreneurship, etc. This is a project that we were working on that is now being led by the City of Tel Aviv.
In the meantime, I’m busy serving as chair of the board of the Asper Foundation, serving on the board of the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, and have just been appointed as an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. As a Jewish Canadian, I believe strongly in showing our gratitude to the Canadian Armed Forces and I’m thoroughly enjoying this new experience. In addition, I have an endless pile of requests from artists and arts groups that are trying to develop new pieces of theatre, opera, film, and I’m also thinking about supporting the refurbishment of the historic Pantages Theatre in downtown Winnipeg to become a world-class, acoustically cutting-edge performing arts centre.
So, many things on the go. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to make a difference and help people, and I look forward to many more years of philanthropic activities.
Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Get our new quarterly newsletter about philanthropy: Canadian Family Offices’ new newsletter brings you key insights, trends and expert perspectives on charitable giving, tailored to Canada’s wealth leaders and giving communities. Click here to subscribe now to stay ahead.
Please visit here to see information about our standards of journalistic excellence.