Newsclipping about Irwin Cotler from Macleans Magazine describing his devotion to the Jewish community in Montreal.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
Irwin Cotler and Premier Réné Lévesque, 1982.
Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
Irwin Cotler.
Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
Irwin Cotler speaking at a Soviet Jewry demonstration at Russian Embassy, 1985.
Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
1940 -
Irwin Cotler
Irwin Cotler is a Montreal-based human rights lawyer, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice for Canada, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1992.
Cotler, the son of a lawyer, received his undergraduate and law degrees at McGill and his Master of Laws from Yale University. He was a professor of law at McGill, where he specialized in human rights and international law, and taught the future NDP-leader, Thomas Mulcair. A tireless defender of civil rights, Cotler has been prominent in many human rights organizations and battles over the decades, including the plight of Soviet Jews, defending international dissidents – such as Nelson Mandela, Jacobo Timerman, Natan Shranasky, Andrei Sakharov and others – and fighting for equal rights for all.
He entered politics in 1999 as a Member of Parliament for Mount-Royal, winning his seat with 92% of the votes in a by-election. He served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General under Prime Minister Paul Martin, from 2003 to 2006, and sat as a Member of Parliament until 2014. While Minister of Justice, he introduced the National Justice Initiative Against Racism, as well as legislation that would lead to equal marriage rights in Canada. During his time in government, he sat on many committees, including Global Affairs, Security & Public Health, Domestic Affairs, Aboriginal Affairs and Canada-US Affairs.
Cotler served as Chief Counsel on the Deschenes Commission investigating War Criminals in Canada. He was also President of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
