Time to do something else: Caplan

[attach]4632[/attach]After two decades of public service, Don Valley East MPP David Caplan is bowing out of politics.

“It feels like, after 20 years now in public life, that it’s the right time now to do something else,” he told the Town Crier.

The 46-year-old Caplan was first elected in 1991 as a trustee at the North York Board of Education and in 1994 was elected to the Metro Toronto School Board. However, it could be said that he grew up in the political arena.

His father, Wilfred Caplan ran for political office in 1977 and his mother, Elinor Caplan, served as cabinet ministers at both the federal and provincial level including as Ontario’s Minister of Health, a portfolio her son would hold 21 years later.

However, it was not his parents who encouraged him to follow in their footsteps.

“It was at, originally, the behest of others that I ran and then I told my family and they were rather surprised,” Caplan said. “I was probably the least political in my family, which for most families I would probably be the most political person.”

At the end of his term Caplan will likely have more time to spend with his family. He and his wife Leigh have two sons, Benjamin and Jacob.

[attach]4633[/attach]Whether or not they enter politics is a choice they will have to make on their own, Caplan said.

“My boys are 15 and 11 and whatever path they’re on I’ll be very supportive,” he said. “If they choose this, that would be wonderful. If they chose something else that would be wonderful too.”

His boys would have some rather large shoes to fill if they entered politics. Caplan succeeded his mother in a 1997 byelection in what was then known as the riding of Oriole and was re-elected three times since.

During his 14-year career in provincial politics Caplan has taken on a number of portfolios and responsibilities. As a member of the opposition he acted as Deputy Whip of the Liberal caucus and was the critic for both housing and municipal affairs.

He was Canada’s first Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal and assumed oversight of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and the Ontario Realty Corporation where he was able to fall back on his background as a former commercial real estate agent.

When Caplan was Minister of Health and Long-Term Care he decided to step down in the wake of the billion-dollar e-health spending scandal.

“I offered to the Premier of Ontario to take responsibility for e-health and he accepted my resignation,” he said.

Most of the achievements Caplan mentioned as his proudest moments were health related. Some were relatively large, such as bringing the first community health centre to his riding. Others were significant to him on a personal level, such as the warm welcome he received while canvassing at the home of a family who he had helped when the wife was having health problems during her pregnancy.

Although he is getting ready to leave politics Caplan said he is still not sure what will be the next step for him.

“I’m open to new opportunities and challenges,” he said. “I think I bring a very unique skills set, a very unique background network and I’m very eager to get on with this new chapter in my life.”