Lawyer, businessman, social activist, philanthropist.
Born at Melville, Saskatchewan on 1 June 1909, eldest of four children of Samuel “Sam” Kanee (1884-1951) and Rose Kanee (1883-1975), he came to Winnipeg with his family in 1914 and attended St. John’s Technical High School. He received a BA degree from the University of Manitoba (1929) and trained at the Manitoba Law School. He received a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1932 then practiced law at Melville, Saskatchewan for a time.
During the Second World War, he enlisted in an officer’s training program, was promoted to Captain in 1942, and served in England, being raised to Major in 1943. He was a Artillery Battalion Commander in London until the end of the war. He returned to Winnipeg and resumed a law practice in the firm of Shinbane Dorfman and Kanee. Following the death of his father in 1951, he left the practice to take over the Soo Line Milling Company established by his father in 1939. He chairing the board of Trans-Air and was a director of the Bank of Canada (17 years), and chairman of the Business Development Bank of Canada.
On 10 April 1935, he married Florence Barish (1909-?) at Winnipeg. They had a son. Kanee was extremely active in the community, particularly in the Winnipeg Jewish community. He was involved in the World Jewish Congress in New York for over thirty years, serving on the executive. He was also involved in the Canadian Jewish Congress, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, United Way, Canadian Society of the Weizmann Institute, Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, Board of Governors for the University of Manitoba (Chairman, 1975), Manitoba Centennial Corporation, and Jewish Senior’s Sharon Home (now called the Kanee Centre of the Sharon Home). He served as President of the Glendale Golf and Country Club (1950).
In 1979, Kanee received the International B’nai Brith Humanitarian Award, and the Nahum Goldmann Medal from the World Jewish Congress (1995). He received the Samuel Bronfman Medal from the Canadian Jewish Congress (1978) and the Centennial of Canada Medal. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba (1974). In 1977, he was inducted into the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, and he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977) and Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). He was called ‘Citizen Kanee’ by the Winnipeg Free Press. He received a City of Winnipeg Community Service Award (1968).
He died at Winnipeg on 22 April 2007 and was buried in the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery. He was inducted posthumously into the Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame, in 2009.
Birth registration [Florence Barish], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Soloman Kanee, Florence Barish], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registration [Sam Kanee], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“These Manitobans will help plan centennial,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 September 1963, page 9.
Obituary [Rose Kanee], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 1975, page 42.
Glendale Golf and Country Club Anniversary Yearbook 1946-1996, compiled by Leonard Remis, Winnipeg, 1996.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 May 2007.
Obituary, The Globe and Mail, 17 October 2007, page L8.
“Kanee most recent inductee into Citizens Hall of Fame,” Winnipeg Real Estate News, 25 September 2009, page 1.
We thank Sue Gibb for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Kris Keen and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 19 May 2025
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