David Asper

David Asper is a philanthropist, lawyer, Chair of the National Post newspaper, and executive vice-president of CanWest Global Communications Corp.

Asper was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1986. He left the practice of law in 1992 after successfully serving as co-counsel in the David Milgaard wrongful conviction case and winning Mr. Milgaard’s freedom before the Supreme Court of Canada.

He joined CanWest Global in 1992 and has been active as a member of CanWest’s corporate development team on many domestic and international projects. As Executive Vice President, Asper oversees Canwest’s corporate communications including its philanthropy programs.

In 1997, David Asper was appointed to CanWest’s Board of Directors and recently to the Board of the CanWest MediaWorks Income Fund. As Chair of the National Post since 2003, Asper maintains responsibility for overall editorial standards in the company’s newspaper division covering 12 major market newspapers from B.C. to Quebec.

A past chair of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Asper is currently an Honourary member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre; Vice Chair of the Pan Am Clinic Foundation; Board Member of the Merry Go Round Foundation in Toronto; and Trustee of St. Johns Ravenscourt School. Asper also served as co-Chair of the 2006 Grey Cup Festival in Winnipeg and was honoured by the Canadian Football League with the Commissioner’s Award.

Asper is the founding Chair of The Daremax Foundation, supporting local and national philanthropic projects, and is a member of the UBC Innocence Project Advisory Board. Asper recently received his master’s of law at the University of Toronto, and is a member of the Chief Justice of Canada’s Judicial Council of Canada Advisory Group. He recently established the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Right through a multi-million dollar gift to the University of Toronto Faculty Of Law.