David Asper

David Asper (born November 26, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and businessman, currently serving as Acting Dean of Robson Hall, the law faculty of the University of Manitoba. Asper is the son of Canwest founder Izzy Asper, and is now the head of his family's namesake charitable foundation. As a lawyer, he served on David Milgaard's legal team that overturned his wrongful conviction and later became a professor. From April 2017 to December 2018, he served as chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, and in January 2019 became chair of the Manitoba Police Commission. Early life and education Asper was born in Winnipeg in 1958 to Izzy Asper, the founder of Canwest, and Babs Asper (1933–2011). He has two younger siblings, Gail Asper and Leonard Asper. After graduating from Brentwood College School on Vancouver Island Asper attended the University of Manitoba where he earned a BA in political science and history. He then went to California Western School of Law, earning a Juris Doctor in 1984. Career Asper started his career as a lawyer focused primarily on criminal defense litigation and successfully represented David Milgaard in overturning one of Canada's most notorious wrongful conviction cases. In 2006 he returned to Law School at the University of Toronto where he earned an LLM in 2007.