Montreal Apéro at hôtel 10

Louise Arbour sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1999 to 2004, as well as on the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and on the Supreme Court of Ontario. She has held senior positions at the United Nations, including that of High Commissioner for Human Rights, and is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of The Coalition for the International Criminal Court. She chaired an inquiry commission that investigated the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario, and has also served as a member of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security.

Madam Arbour has received numerous honorary doctorates and awards of recognition. Most noteworthy, she has been a Companion of the Order of Canada since 2007, a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec since 2009, and a Commander of the Légion d'honneur; she has also been decorated by Spain and Colombia.

Born in Noranda, Marie Bernard-Meunier obtained a Masters in Political Science from the Université de Montréal, and is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris. A career diplomat, she successively served as Canada’s Ambassador to UNESCO, the Netherlands, and Germany. She was the first female Ambassador, from any country, to serve in Berlin. For Canada, this mandate also represented the first appointment of a female ambassador to a G7 country. During her mandate at UNESCO, she was elected to the Organization’s Executive Committee, in an exceptional campaign led by her predecessor, former Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau. With his advice, she went on to be elected Chair of the Executive Committee, the first woman to hold the position in the history of the organization. Since leaving the diplomatic service, Marie Bernard-Meunier has served on several boards of directors, including that of the Public Policy Forum, during the time when Marcel Côté was chair. Today, she chairs the Board of the CPRST, in the telecommunications field, and is on the Canadian Space Agency’s Audit Committee, as well as on the Board of Governors of The Federal Idea, a think-tank devoted to federalism. She has recently joined the board of directors of The Glenn Gould Foundation, whose mission is to honour the memory of the brilliant pianist and, through the awarding of The Glenn Gould Prize, promote Canada’s image as a global centre of creativity and innovation.

Prior to his appointment as Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Marc-André Blanchard was the chairman and CEO of McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada’s most prominent law firms, where he advised companies on strategic issues and public policy issues. In 2013, Canadian Lawyer named him one of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada, and Catalyst Canada awarded him the Entrepreneur Recognition Award for his leadership in matters of diversity.

Mr. Blanchard has received many other awards and accolades highlighting his expertise and leadership. He is actively involved in his community in a variety of capacities. He sits on the board of directors of the Conference Board of Canada, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, the WoodGreen Foundation, and the Glendon College Advisory Board. He is an active member of the Université de Montréal’s Centraide campaign, the United Way Toronto, and the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Mr. Blanchard holds Masters degrees in Public Administration and in International Relations from Columbia University in New York, and a Masters in International Public Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. He also has a law degree from the Université de Montréal. Mr. Blanchard was born on November 10, 1965, is married, and is the father of two children.

From 1998 to 2006, Louise Fréchette was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. As the first person to hold this position, she assisted Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the full range of his responsibilities. Prior to this, she pursued a career in the public service in Canada, serving notably as Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay (1985-1988), Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN (1992-1994), Associate Deputy Minister of Finance (1995), and Deputy Minister of National Defence (1995-1998). She was also the first Canadian woman to be named a Canadian Ambassador to the UN.

Madam Fréchette holds a degree in history from the Université de Montréal and a certificate in economics from Collège d’Europe in Bruges, Belgium. She has received honorary doctorates from St-Mary’s University (Halifax), the universities of Ottawa, Toronto, Laval, and Montreal, as well as Carleton, Waterloo, Queen’s, and McGill universities in Canada, in addition to Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea, and the University of Turin in Italy.

Madam Fréchette is an Officer of the Order of Canada.