8 August 2013
Ottawa, Ontario
L. Yves Fortier was born in Quebec City in 1935. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Montreal in 1955, a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University in 1958, and a Bachelor of Letters in 1960 from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1960, he was called to the Barreau du Québec. He currently practices law in Montreal as an independent mediator/arbitrator. Mr. Fortier is the past chairman of Norton Rose (formerly Ogilvy Renault).
Throughout his distinguished legal career, Mr. Fortier has pleaded important cases before Canadian and international courts and arbitration panels. From 1984 to 1989, he was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He has represented Canada in maritime boundary disputes with the United States (1984) and with France (1991). He has been a Counsel to many Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry in Canada, as well as a negotiator for the Government of Quebec with the Cree Nation.
From July 1988 to January 1992, Mr. Fortier was Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was Canada’s Chief Delegate to four sessions of the General Assembly. In 1989 and 1990, he served as Canada’s Representative to the Security Council of the United Nations, and was President of the Council in 1989. Mr. Fortier’s professional accomplishments have been recognized by his appointment as a Queen’s Counsel (1976) and by his election as National President of the Canadian Bar Association (1982). In May 2012, he was appointed chairman of the World Bank’s Sanctions Board.
In addition to having served as a director of many Canadian corporations, including the Royal Bank of Canada and TransCanada PipeLines Limited, Mr. Fortier is the former chairman of Alcan Inc. and the former Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
In 1984, Mr. Fortier was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 1991, he was elevated to Companion, the highest rank in the Order. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He has also received numerous honorary degrees from major universities in Canada.
