“Toronto has a lot of rich people, and a lot of them don’t give much”: Meet philanthropist and media mogul Gary Slaight

Your father, Allan Slaight, started in radio, and the two of you grew the empire together. Does that make you a self-made man or a nepo baby? I think that term is hilarious, but I won’t comment on it. What I will say is that I’m proud of the work we’ve done. I was born in Edmonton. We lived above a food store, and we had no money. My dad worked at a radio station and performed magic as a side hustle. After moving to Toronto, he bought a single radio station, and we grew it to over 50 stations. I started working for my dad in 1977, when we launched Q107.

What did the long-haired 1977 version of you think you’d be doing today? Oh, I don’t know. I went to business school at Western and hated it. After second year, I took a break and ended up on a kibbutz in Israel. All I wanted was to have a fulfilling life and to do good. That’s it.

The Slaight Family Foundation just donated $30 million to dementia initiatives in Toronto. How does a massive gift like that come together? Since 2013, the foundation has donated roughly $251 million to several initiatives. I try to look at what’s going on in the world and identify causes where we can make a difference. We’ve supported hospitals, children’s charities, Indigenous groups, senior living, the rights of women and girls, Covid relief, and now dementia.

Do you care about recognition? If they put our name on everything we did, our name would be everywhere—and I would be sick of seeing it. If it helps the beneficiary in some way, I’ll consider it. But, as a rule, we don’t go to a hospital or whatever it may be and make demands like that. I don’t like being in the public eye, but I know it’s an important part of my work.

You’ve said your fundraising strategy entails first writing a cheque and then calling your wealthy friends. Is it really that simple? If there’s a need for money to be raised, I ask them to get involved. I want to see more people giving more.

Why is that not happening already? Because a lot of people are cheap. I apply pressure by demonstrating my own contributions. If someone comes to me trying to raise money for a cause they believe in, the first thing I ask is what they’ve given out of their own pocket. There are a lot of people in Toronto with a lot of money—and a lot of them don’t give much. I won’t name names, but there are folks who need to be doing much more.

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In 2022, your foundation donated $15 million to help local theatres survive the pandemic. It’s still bleak out there for arts institutions. How can things get better? That’s such a huge question. Everyone has to step up: government, private wealth, record companies and theatres themselves.

Who in that group is not doing their share? The government could do more, but I’m not a political person.

What was your last great arts experience in Toronto? Probably Bruce Springsteen at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1978. I’m kidding—I’ve seen so many great concerts. It’s hard to narrow it down.

But did you really see the Boss at the Gardens? I did—one of my three favourite shows of all time, the other two being Bob Dylan with the Band at Massey Hall in 1965 and Led Zeppelin at the Masonic Temple in 1969.

Which young artists excite you? I’m very proud of all the Slaight Music artists we’ve worked with over the past 10 years, particularly Sam Drysdale, Notifi, Jessica Mitchell and Roslyn Witter.

When you’re not giving money away, do you splurge on yourself? I love to travel. Some of my greatest memories are from family trips with our girls. We used to fly around the world every year. Today, I have four grandkids who keep me very busy. We do a lot of swimming.

Do you think much about your legacy? Not at all. I’m focused on philanthropy and music. My legacy will take care of itself.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.