Leonard Asper (born May 31, 1964, in Winnipeg, Manitoba), is a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
businesspersonA businessperson is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically, someone who is involved in the management of a company, or even an entrepreneur...
and
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
. He is a graduate of
Brandeis UniversityBrandeis University is a private research university with a liberal arts focus, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate...
and the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated north of the city's Financial District on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. The university was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in the...
Law SchoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- United States:...
.
Leonard Asper is the son of the late
Izzy AsperIsrael Harold "Izzy" Asper, OC, QC, OM , Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate, was the founder of CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to current CEO and President Leonard Asper, current director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, as well as Executive Vice President David Asper.Israel...
, founder of CanWest Global. He is currently the
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and
Chief Executive OfficerA chief executive officer or chief executive is one of the highest-ranking corporate officers or administrators in charge of total management...
of the Canadian
mediaMass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such...
company, CanWest Global Communications Corp.
Through Global Television, a subsidiary of CanWest, Leonard Asper worked with CCI Entertainment of Toronto as an executive co-producer to create the documentary,
My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich KellnerMy Opposition - The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner is a 2007 documentary film about an orphaned American who went in search of his German grandfather and discovered a secret diary written during the time of the Third Reich. The film is a production of Abella Entertainment Ltd...
.
He has often been rumoured as a potential partner in an ownership group that would bring the NHL back to Winnipeg.
His opinion on the Israel/Palestine conflict was transmitted to the public when he ordered the production, and aired twice at primetime, the pro Israel documentary Confrontation at Concordia. This Documentary was responded to by the Documentary Discordia, which offers an opposing view of the events.