50 Most Influential 2012: nine formidable Toronto power couples
Individually, they’re among Toronto’s biggest bigwigs. Together, they’re unstoppable. Here, a look at the Toronto power couples defining the city today.
(Images: Daniel Ehrenworth, Vanessa Heins, Markian Lozowchuk, George Pimentel, Lee Towndrow, Raina and Wilson, BFA, CP Images, Getstock, Getty Images and Reuters)
Andy Pringle, chairman of RP Investment Advisors, and Valerie Pringle, TV host
HOME BASE: Forest Hill and Niagara-on-the-Lake
PET PROJECTS: Fort York revitalization (for which they secured $1 million from the Weston Foundation), CANFAR (which counts them among their most prominent members)
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Jim Flaherty and Christine Elliott, Gord and Janet Nixon, Tony and Shari Fell
Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS, and David Naylor, president of U of T
HOME BASE: U of T president’s residence, Rosedale
PET PROJECTS: U of T expansion projects, stem cell research funding
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: John and Gay Evans, David and Shelley Peterson, Rob Prichard and Ann Wilson, Gord Nixon
Edward Sonshine, CEO of RioCan, and Fran Sonshine, chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
HOME BASE: North York
PET PROJECTS: The United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto, the United Way, Baycrest, Mount Sinai
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Ron Appleby, Fred Waks, Murray Koffler, Gord Nixon, John Tory, Ron Osborne, Paul Godfrey
Catherine Deluce, CEO of Chestnut Park, and Robert Deluce, CEO of Porter Airlines
HOME BASE: Rosedale
PET PROJECTS: Conquering both land and sky, sticking it to Air Canada
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Porter passengers, including Bay Street bigwigs and Ottawa politicos
Galen Weston, executive chairman of George Weston Ltd., and Hilary Weston, fundraising juggernaut
HOME BASE: Forest Hill; Vero Beach, Florida; Windsor, England
PET PROJECTS: The ROM, the Ontario Science Centre, the AGO, Fort York, the Writers’ Trust
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Tony and Helen Graham, Susan Perren, Martin Connell and Linda Haynes, John and Sally Eaton
Ira Gluskin, vice-chairman of Gluskin Sheff, and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, VP of AGO trustees
HOME BASE: Forest Hill
PET PROJECTS: The AGO, U of T, the National Ballet (they sponsor principal dancer Heather Ogden)
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Gerry Sheff and Shanitha Kachan, Matthew Teitelbaum, Larry and Judy Tanenbaum, Jack Rabinovitch, Charles and Libby Winograd
Gerry Schwartz, CEO of Onex, and Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo
HOME BASE: Rosedale and Palm Beach, Florida
PET PROJECTS: HESEG (a charity for Israeli soldiers), the Peres Center for Peace in Israel, the Harper Conservatives
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Brent and Lynn Belzberg, Rob and Ann Prichard, Michael Budman and Diane Bald, Larry and Judy Tanenbaum, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Joseph Rotman, chairman of Roy-L Capital, and Sandra Rotman, philanthropist
HOME BASE: Forest Hill
PET PROJECTS: U of T, UHN, AGO, COC, Baycrest, Western University
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Roger Martin, Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, Tony Graham, Peter and Melanie Munk, Rosalie and Irving Abella, Rob Prichard and Ann Wilson, Lawrence and Fran Bloomberg
Ed Rogers, deputy chairman of Rogers, and Suzanne Rogers, philanthropist
HOME BASE: Forest Hill
PET PROJECTS: SickKids Foundation, the Onexone Foundation, young fashion designers
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: John Tory, Peter Godsoe, Duncan Jackman, Michael Burns
*All* of Toronto’s top power couples are white? Surprising in a city that prides itself on being the world’s most multicultural.
Not well thought out, Piccadilly…Isn’t it delightful that this selection appears to be colour blind and void of a token anything.
There is a couple of token WASPS!!! Lol
forget white, lets talk about how many jewish power individuals there are
They’re Jewish, so they’re not P and probably (?) not AS. So you’ve got W. They’re a couple of token Ws.
Why are all the pictures so unflattering?
in this day, for sure…………….