Honourable Elinor Caplan, PC
The Honourable Elinor Caplan, P.C., is the Chief Executive Officer of Canada Strategies Inc. A well-respected former politician, Elinor has had an impressive career serving at the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government.
Elinor Caplan is a 'systems thinker' & change agent who has a focus on results. Elinor provokes thinking with probing, generative questions that enable people to think strategically.
Her passions include teaching, coaching, facilitating excellence in board governance, and the implementation of strategies to improve outcomes in patient safety and quality of health care services.
She has an impressive track record of success.
Elinor Caplan regularly taught at the Canada School of Public Service in Ottawa. During the Spring 2005, Elinor was a Visiting Fellow at Ryerson University. She has been a guest lecturer at the Rotman School of Management, the Faculty of Nursing at University of Toronto and Queen's University.
In 2008 she co-authored the paper "Can Local Governance Survive" and was a presenter at the Institute of Public Administration Canada (IPAC) conference on that topic.
In late 2007 Elinor successfully completed a project for the World Health Organization (WHO), assisting with the development of an integrated Health System and new Health Legislation in Armenia. In 2009 she served as an international expert on an WHO team, that completed an evaluation of the National Health Plan for the government of Portugal.
From 2005-2007 Elinor was the Governance, Program & Financial, Lead, on the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care project to create independent 'best practice' governance for Sunnybrook Health Science Centre & Women's College Hospital. Her work supported the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care's Transformation Agenda and should result in the creation of a Centre of Excellence in Academic Ambulatory Care at the new Women's College Hospital.
She completed a review of Ontario Home Care Procurement Policy & Practices in 2005. The 'Caplan Report' (Competing for Excellence by Rewarding Results), recommendations have been accepted by government and are being implemented.
In February 2006, Elinor completed the Director Education Program as well as the Finance Program for Corporate Directors at the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Business.
Elinor is currently a member for the following organizations:
- The Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD)
- The Institute of Public Administration Canada (IPAC) and is presently a consultant to several IPAC projects.
Elinor is currently a board member for the following organizations:
- The Institute of Clinical & Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and is the chair of the Governance & Nominating committee (GNC)
- Canadian Jewish Congress
In 2005 Elinor Caplan was a at Ryerson University as a fivising fellow. From 2004-2008 she taught regularily at the Canada School of Public Service. Elinor has been a guest lecturer at the Rotman School, the Faculty of Nursing and the School of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. In November, Elinor presented the 11th Annual Sinclair Lecture at Queen's University.
Elinor Caplan's political career began as an elected Municipal Alderman in North York from 1978-1985.
As a Provincial MPP (1985-97), she served in the Peterson Government as Minister of Government Services, Chair of Management Board & Chair of the first Peterson Cabinet. She was a member of the Policy & Priorities cabinet committee & chair of the cabinet committee on Social Policy. Elinor also served as Chief Opposition Whip.
Elinor Caplan is best known as Ontario's Health Minister (1987-1990).
Elected as Federal MP for Thornhill (1997-2004), Elinor served as Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health in 1998, she represented Canada and addressed the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
In August of 1999 Elinor was appointed by the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien to his Cabinet as Minister of Citizenship & Immigration. In the fall 2001 Elinor Caplan introduced the first new legislation to the immigration act in 25 years. "The Immigration & Refugee Protection Act" was passed by the Canadian Parliament, the Senate of Canada and was given royal assent.
In 2002 Elinor was named Minister of National Revenue where she had responsibility for Revenue Canada as well as Canada Customs. There she implemented the first Canada/USA Smart Border Accord in 2002. Her advice regarding that machinery of government proposal to establish the Canadian Border Services Agency was accepted and implemented by Right Hon Prime Minister Paul Martin.
While in Federal cabinet (1999-2003) Elinor served on the Public Security & Anti-Terrorism committee, the Social Union committee, the Reference Group of Ministers on Health, as well as the Reference Group of Ministers on the Voluntary Sector.
In 2004 Caplan chose not to seek re-election and returned to Toronto where she has used her years of experience in public policy to continue to forward the principles that have driven her over the past four decades.
Elinor has been married to Wilfred Caplan since 1963, she is a mother of four and grandmother of seven.