CCIJ > About > Who's Involved > Honorary Council

Honorary Council

The Honorary Council is comprised of the following individuals:

The Honourable Raynell Andreychuk, former judge of the Saskatchewan provincial court, has served as Canada’s High Commissioner to Kenya and Uganda and Ambassador to Somalia and the Comoros. She was named to the Canadian Senate in 1993 where she has worked on numerous committees, often involving matters related to foreign affairs and human rights.  

Maher Arar is a telecommunications expert and Syrian-born Canadian.  In 2002 he was detained by US officials at a US airport before being removed to Syria, where he was beaten, tortured, and forced to make a false confession. Now cleared of all charges by a public inquiry in Canada, Mr. Arar is a passionate advocate of human rights and civil liberties with the hope that the horrors he experienced will not happen to other Canadian citizens.

The Honourable Madam Justice Louise Arbour has a long and distinguished record as a professor, lawyer, judge and advocate for human rights and international justice. She is perhaps best known to Canadians for her work as Chief Prosecutor of War Crimes at the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, as a Supreme Court Justice from 1999 to 2004, and more recently for her work as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, had a distinguished political career which spanned 27 years. Dr. Axworthy, who was the founding Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, is now President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. He has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Ed Broadbent began his political career as an MP in the House of Commons, serving as the leader of the NDP for 14 of his 21 years in Parliament. He returned to politics in 2004, where he served in the NDP shadow cabinet. Dr. Broadbent is currently a Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University, and a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Judge Philippe Kirsch, recently called the ‘Father of the International Criminal Court’ by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, held the distinguished roles of Chair of Rome Diplomatic Conference that developed the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty, and of the subsequent UN sessions to flesh out the details of how the Court would function.  In 2003 he was elected as one of the ICC’s first judges and as its President.  He is a lawyer and a diplomat who has served in several posts, including at the United Nations and as Canada’s Ambassador to Sweden.  He is now an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, having completed his term with the ICC.

The Honourable Madam Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé was the first woman from Quebec to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, where she served from 1987-2002. Among her numerous accomplishments, her work as an activist for the promotion of human rights through equality is widely recognized as being at the forefront of Canadian law.

The Honourable Flora MacDonald served as an MP from 1971-1988, during which time she became Canada’s first female foreign minister. Since leaving politics, she has become a high profile advocate of humanitarian causes, serving on numerous boards and advisory councils of prominent organizations, and receiving multiple awards for exemplary work in the areas of human rights, peace, security, and development.

Erna Paris is the author of seven acclaimed books of literary non-fiction, the winner of ten national and international writing awards, and the former Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. She began her writing career as a magazine journalist, book reviewer, and radio documentary broadcaster (in French and English). Erna's books explore themes related to the history, politics and implications of massive human rights abuses, and the important role of the emerging system of international justice.