Jerry S. Grafstein, B.A., J.D., Q.C. (born January 2, 1935), is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served in the Senate of Canada from 1984 to 2010. Grafstein was the longest-serving member of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He served as co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group and as a senior officer of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly for over a decade. Grafstein is a former partner of Minden Gross LLP, a business law firm in Toronto in communications law, corporate financing, and administrative law. Grafstein is also known as one of the founders of CityTV, MTV-Multilingual (now Omni TV), YTV, and a series of other media companies in Canada, the United States, South America, and Europe. He served on the board of several enterprises, including Petro-Canada. Most recently, he co-founded a series of online newspapers, including The Wellington Street Post (Ottawa), The Penn Ave Post (Washington, DC), Israel News Cloud, HollyPost (Hollywood, California), China News Cloud, Africa News Cloud, Brazil News Cloud, India News Cloud, Russia News Cloud, Fashion News Cloud, and Animation News. Grafstein is well known for his participation in the community and his key role in the organization of events such as "Canada Loves New York" in the aftermath of September 11, "Toronto Rocks" Concert during the SARS outbreak, and the "Canada for Asia" telethon for relief aid of tsunami victims. Grafstein holds numerous awards, including honorary chief of the New York City Fire Department and honorary commandant of the US Marine Corps by the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. He was named one of Canada's 100 most important "public intellectuals" in 2005 by the National Post. Early life Grafstein was born Jerahmiel Samson Grafstein in London, Ontario, on January 2, 1935, the son of Solomon S. Grafstein and Helen Rose Grafstein (née Bleeman). His late sister was Pauline Wayne. His father came to Canada in 1927 after he had served in the Polish Army during the First World War and then the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921). He married in 1930 in Toronto and settled in London that year. Grafstein was raised in London and attended public primary and high schools. He was active in sports, school governance, and acting and served as an officer in the Army Cadets. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario in 1955, where was active