Sonnee Cohen

Sonnee Ruben Cohen is a former businessman and candidate for political candidate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He campaigned in numerous municipal elections, and was an independent candidate in the 1967 provincial campaign.

Cohen was a trustee with B'nai B'rith in the 1940s, and later served on the executive of the Toronto's Herzl Zion Club in the 1950s.[1]

Private career

Cohen was a businessman and public relations worker in private life. He worked for Toronto's Dominion Dry Ginger Ale Co. for several years.[2] He also designed products for children. In 1955, he began selling a hockey puck with ball bearings designed for year-round use.[3] He later designed a safety kit for schoolchildren.[4]

Cohen was listed as chairman of the Canadian Diabetic Association in 1965, and as Vice-Chair of the North York Safety Council in 1966.[5] He asked Canadians to support a mobile diabetes detection unit in 1970, and promoted healthy eating habits later in the decade.[6]

Cohen founded Worldwide Diabetes Information Service in 1977, a non-profit organization specializing in diabetes information. His work was profiled in a 1985 Toronto Star feature.[7]

Cohen was listed in Baycrest and Baycrest Foundation's "Family of Supporters" list for 2005-06.[8]

Perennial candidate

Cohen campaigned for North York's public school board in the 1964, 1966 and 1969 municipal elections, for North York City Council in 1972, 1974 and 1991, and for the North York Board of Control in 1982 and 1985. He lost each time.

Cohen campaigned as a reform candidate in 1969, and was endorsed by the North York Liberal Association.[9]

During the 1985 contest, he called for better conditions in nursing homes.[10] Seventy-seven years old in 1991, he centred his campaign on improved health care and the prevention of child and senior abuse.[11]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "To install offices", Toronto Star, 2 April 1949, 30; "Jack H. Papernick Herzl Zion chief", Toronto Star, 27 June 1953, 42.
  2. ↑ "Saccharin pop hits the market", Toronto Star, 8 November 1969, 66.
  3. ↑ Mat Dunnell, "Speaking on sport", Toronto Star, 29 March 1955, 16.
  4. ↑ Lotta Dempsey, "The veneer rubs off", Toronto Star, 18 April 1963, 51.
  5. ↑ "It was lively all over town", Toronto Star, 30 October 1965, 59; "`Canada's third biggest' votes without thrills", Toronto Star, 3 December 1966, 9.
  6. ↑ Sonnee R. Cohen, letter, Toronto Star, 14 February 1970, 2; "Visitors at food building fed advice on proper eating", Toronto Star, 25 August 1973, A14.
  7. ↑ Leslie Fulton, "Sonnee Cohen's hobby has turned into an obsession", Toronto Star, 13 August 1985, NR11; Stasia Evasuk, "Fun times a priority in 'society of friends'", Toronto Star, 21 July 1988, H3.
  8. ↑ Baycrest and Baycrest Foundation, Annual Review 2005-06, accessed 18 October 2006.
  9. ↑ "North York Liberals back reformer", Toronto Star, 24 November 1969, 30.
  10. ↑ Dyanne Rivers, "Traffic an issue in controllers' race", Globe and Mail, 6 November 1985, A6.
  11. ↑ Stan Josey, "Spadina ward is called home by diverse ethnic mix", Toronto Star, 24 October 1991, NY2.