Sol Kanee

Who was Sol Kanee?

Sol Kanee, OC OM was a Canadian lawyer, former President of Canadian Jewish Congress from 1971 to 1974, former Chairman of the World Jewish Congress Board of Governors, the longest-serving member, for 17 years, of the board of governors of the Bank of Canada, and chairman of the Federal Business Development Bank, 1975–78.

Born in Melville, Saskatchewan, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1929 and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1932. He was called to Bar of Saskatchewan in 1933. From 1933 to 1940, he practised law in Melville, Saskatchewan with the law firm Kanee & Deroche. During World War II, he served with the Canadian Army in Europe and the South Pacific. He was discharged with the rank of Major. He and his wife Florence had one son, Stephen, now resident in Minneapolis.

After the war, he practised law in Winnipeg, Manitoba with the law firm, Shinbane, Dorfman & Kanee, until 1965. He was the owner and President of Soo Line Mills, which he took over after his father's death, and several other businesses in Winnipeg. Under his supervision, in 1955, the Soo Line Milling Company switched from conveyor belt operation to a pneumatic drive; this was the first flour mill to make this switch in the Western hemisphere.