Sol Shinder’s status as a giant of Ottawa business was already secure when his younger brother Lionel’s unexpected death at the end of 1993 changed the course of his career.
Shinder, who died recently at age 90, was then in his late fifties and a partner at one of the city’s most prestigious law firms. He had already enjoyed a decades-long run as the go-to real estate lawyer for many of Ottawa’s top developers and was a pillar of the capital’s Jewish community.
Suddenly, though, he was thrust into an entirely new role. His brother’s passing created a massive leadership void at the top of District Realty, a property management and real estate brokerage firm Lionel helped launch in 1987.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)
The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires (Commissionaires) is proudly marking 100 years of dedicated service. Established on July 25, 1925, Commissionaires has played a vital role in providing meaningful employment to
Imagine enjoying a perfectly seared entrée surrounded by Indigenous art and culture, while enjoying breathtaking views of Parliament Hill. Or sipping a glass of wine in a glass-walled space featuring
At an age when others might think of slowing down, Shinder left the comfort of the legal suite in January 1994 to take over his brother’s business.
“This was not an easy decision,” Shinder’s son Jeffrey, now a lawyer himself, recalls. “He left a law firm with his name on the door that he had built from the ground up over decades and was one of the leading law firms in the city. No matter what, he knew what he needed to do.”
As much as Shinder loved the law, he loved his family more. Carrying on his brother’s legacy superseded any other business priorities.
“He guided us through a tough time and on to greater success,” Shinder’s son Neil, who returned to Ottawa from Toronto in 1993 to work with his uncle at District, explains. “He was a steadying presence.”
Indeed, whether he was leading a real estate firm or helping spearhead a major reorganization of Ottawa’s health-care institutions, Sol Shinder left an indelible impact on his hometown.
Shinder, a devoted father of two and grandfather of six, passed away at his home earlier this month after a battle with pancreatic cancer. To the end, those who knew him best say, his commitment to his biggest passions – family and community – never wavered.
“He was a born leader,” Jeffrey says. “My dad, I wouldn’t call him an introvert, but he wasn’t an extrovert by any measure. He was sort of a quiet, resolute, thoughtful leader who radiated integrity. Everyone respected him.
“There are certain types of people who walk in a room, they don’t have to pound the table. They exude respect, and when they speak, people listen and tend to follow him. He always did what was right, knew what was right, and he commanded respect everywhere he went.”
Shinder’s nephew Ian Sherman, another well-known leader in Ottawa’s business community, calls his uncle a “consummate trusted adviser” who was idolized by businesspeople and family members alike.
Legal trailblazer
Ottawa lawyer Stephen Victor, who knew Shinder for more than six decades, describes him as an exemplary family man and loyal friend who made major contributions to the professions of law and real estate as well as Ottawa’s Jewish community and the city at large.
“You’ve got to be a great man if you can be excellent in five areas of your life, and that’s what he was,” Victor says. “That’s what made his life fulfilling.”
Born in Ottawa in 1934, Shinder earned a bachelor of commerce degree from Carleton University before graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School. After being called to the bar in 1960, he and friend Arnie Goldberg launched their own firm, Goldberg Shinder, which later became Goldberg, Shinder, Gardner, Kronick & Tavel.
For the next three and a half decades, Shinder was one of Ottawa’s foremost authorities on real estate and municipal law. Leading developers, including Mastercraft, Glenview and Claridge Homes, were among the clients who relied on his counsel.
But Shinder’s reputation extended well beyond the real estate development industry. His expertise was also sought-after at Ottawa City Hall, where he served five years as chair of the city’s committee of adjustments.
“People respected his wisdom in terms of navigating city hall and navigating the real estate world,” explains Neil, who now works in real estate in the Greater Toronto Area.
Nephew Jason Shinder, District Realty’s current CEO, says his uncle was a trailblazer who was “instrumental” in pioneering new zoning concepts in Ottawa, such as using strata titles to allow a developer to build an office complex on one part of a property on Cooper Street in the 1970s while the city constructed non-profit housing on another portion.
When Shinder left his practice to join District, he initially planned to take a two-year sabbatical, get the company on solid footing and return to the law, his family says.
However, those plans changed. Neil, who spent a decade working with his father at District, says that while Shinder “did have a bit of an adjustment period” after taking over the firm, he gradually warmed to the role.
“I think in that two-year period, he learned to enjoy this side of ownership of real estate, management of real estate and brokerage,” Jason adds. “The catalyst to it was taking care of his family.”
Jason, who joined District in 1994, says that as savvy a businessman as his uncle was, he would never compromise his principles to make a buck.
“He took great pride in doing things the right way,” says Jason, noting, for example, there were times when Shinder felt respecting sight lines to Parliament Hill was more important than wringing the maximum density out of a site.
“He never bent from that kind of stuff. He would push the client to be respectful of what’s best for all of Ottawa versus what’s best for an individual project.”
Jewish community’s ‘Va’ad Father’
An Ottawan to the core and a proud member of the city’s Jewish community, Shinder was born on the same day – June 18, 1934 – as Ottawa Va’ad Ha’Ir, now known as the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, was launched. He eventually chaired the organization in the 1980s, earning him the enduring nickname “the Va’ad Father.”
As chair of the Civic Hospital’s board of trustees in the late 1990s, he also played a major role in the decision to amalgamate the city’s three biggest hospitals – the Civic, the General and the Riverside – into The Ottawa Hospital in 1998.
“He felt a responsibility to the city going beyond just the Jewish community,” Jason explains. “It was unique to be asked to be in a leadership role as a Jewish professional in the ’70s and ’80s. He took it very seriously. He always felt it was his responsibility to ensure that Ottawa was the best city it could be and that it was welcoming to all and that the Jewish community was as strong as it could be. He taught all of us that. He wanted to make the community he lived in a better place.”
Shinder, who was married to his beloved wife, travelling companion and confidante Zelaine for 65 years, remained the emotional centre of the family to the end.
At Jeffrey’s wedding last April, Shinder carried on a cherished family tradition, presenting a T-shirt adorned with his grandfather’s picture to his son’s new bride – the same ritual he had performed for new members of the extended Shinder clan dozens of times before.
“He was six months into his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer,” Jeffrey recalls. “I was worried about him, so I brought a chair over – a 90-year-old man, nursing a very aggressive cancer. And he waved me away. His manner was, ‘Get that chair out of here. I’m fine.’ He stood there for 20 minutes and he did his thing, and it was great. It was one of the highlights of the evening.
“He was quite a guy.”
To Jason Shinder, his uncle was a towering figure whose influence can’t be measured in dollars and cents – or any other business metric.
“He’s been a father to me longer than I had a father,” Jason says. “My dad died when I was 20, and he took me under his wing. He has made me who I am, and I was blessed to have him in my life.”
