L. Yves Fortier

He was the Trudeau mentor of 2003 Trudeau scholars Caroline Allard and James Milner.

Yves Fortier is a lawyer, an international arbitrator and a former diplomat. He was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Fortier is Chairman Emeritus and Senior Partner of the Ogilvy Renault law firm, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alcan and current administrator of Rio Tinto plc.
Born in Quebec City, Mr. Fortier holds degrees from the University of Montreal, the McGill University and the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar). During a distinguished legal career, he has pleaded important cases before all court jurisdictions in Canada, and before domestic and international arbitral tribunals. He has also served as counsel to many Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry in Quebec and Canada. He has represented Canada in border disputes with the United States and France.
In 1989 and 1990, while he was Ambassador of Canada to the United Nations, he represented Canada to the Security Council, where he assumed the presidency in October 1989.

From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Fortier served as President of the London Court of International Arbitration.

In 1984, Mr. Fortier was named Officer of the Order of Canada. In July 1991, he attained the rank of Companion, the highest title of the Order. In 2006, he was named Officer of the National Order of Quebec. Mr. Fortier is a member of the Queen's Counsel and a lawyer emeritus of the Quebec Bar Association. Seven Canadian universities, among them McGill University, University of Montreal and Laval University, have awarded him honorary doctorates.