Canadian diplomat and former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations
Louis Yves Fortier (born September 11, 1935) is a Canadian diplomat, trial and appellate lawyer, arbitrator and corporate director. He served as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations from August 1988 to December 1991. In August 2013, he became a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee and the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. He also served as the national president of the Canadian Bar Association from 1982 to 1983.
Early life and family.
Fortier was born in Quebec City in 1935. His father was a regional service agent for passengers on the Canadian Pacific Railway. After Fortier earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Université de Montréal in 1955 and was considering a legal career, his father encouraged him to apply to the law school at McGill University in Montreal to improve his English. At that time, McGill taught in English only. When Fortier said he was worried about learning law in English, his father said: "Yves, les anglophones assis à côté de toi, ils n'ont jamais fait de droit en anglais non plus". ("Yves, the anglophones sitting beside you will have never learned law in English either.") Fortier applied to McGill and was accepted, and then successfully persuaded the McGill faculty that he should be able to sit his examinations in French. He graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from McGill in 1958.
While at McGill, Fortier met his future wife, Carol Eaton, who was studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree. Her father encouraged Fortier to apply for a Rhodes scholarship following his graduation from McGill, although Fortier jokes that "Je pense qu'il voulait m'éloigner de sa fille" ("I think he wanted to get me away from his daughter").
Fortier was awarded a Rhodes scholarship in 1958, for two years. At that time, Rhodes scholars were required to be single and to live in a college at Oxford. He and Carol deferred their marriage for a year, with his commitment to her that he would try to get the regulation changed. In his first major advocacy, he and some other Rhodes scholars in similar situations were able to persuade the Prefect of Rhodes House to change the rule. He and Carol married in 1959. The next year, he received his Bachelor of Letters degree from the University of Oxford.
Fortier insisted with his wife that their children be educated in French. He believes that it is extremely important to protect the French language in Quebec.
Fortier keeps fit with tennis, skiing, and especially cross-country skiing. He and his wife travel extensively.
Personal reputation.
Brian Mulroney, Fortier's friend, former law partner, and former Prime Minister of Canada, has said that Fortier was consistently considered one of the top three courtroom lawyers in Canada. Fortier has said that he does not like being called an "avocat" (advocate) and prefers the term "plaideur", meaning one who seeks to persuade. One of his other colleagues has described him: "Bien des plaideurs oublient que leur objectif est de convaincre. Ils parlent fort, ils sont agressifs, mais ça ne marche pas. Yves, lui, est persuasif : il a de l'humour, des idées, du charme, il est rigoureux" ("A lot of lawyers forget that their objective is to convince. They speak loudly, they are aggressive, but that doesn't work. But Yves, he is persuasive: he is humorous, he has ideas and charm, and he is rigorous").
Fortier was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1976. In 2007, he was appointed "Avocat émérite" (Ad.E.) by the Barreau du Québec, one of the first recipients of the award.
In 2002, while serving on the board of Nortel, Fortier was the subject of a conflict of interest controversy as he both sat on the board and provided billed legal services to the company. He stepped down from the board in 2005 during an accounting scandal.
Since becoming an international arbitrator, Fortier has developed an impressive reputation. One of his former colleagues from Ogilvy Renault, Pierre Bienvenu, has stated that he is one of the four or five international arbitrators who are most in demand in the world.
He has been described as humble, treating junior lawyers with respect, and always willing to share credit on major files with other people who have worked on them with him.
Political views.
Fortier has described himself as both a Quebec nationalist and a committed federalist. Growing up, he saw the domination of the anglophone minority in Quebec. For instance, his father could not rise above a certain position in his career because he was francophone. At the same time, he rejected the sovereigntist approach of René Lévesque. Mulroney has joked that Fortier has only one defect: being a Liberal.
Legal career.
Fifty years at Ogilvy Renault.
In 1961, he was called to the Quebec bar. He joined the well-known firm of Ogilvy Renault, where he practised for half a century. While at Ogilvy Renault, he developed a friendship with another young lawyer, Brian Mulroney, who went on to be Prime Minister of Canada. Fortier served as Chairman of Ogilvy Renault from 1992 to 2009. He left the firm on good terms in 2011 to establish a solo international arbitration practice.
Fortier developed an active civil litigation practice, both within Canada and internationally. He acted in a wide range of litigation matters: commercial law, bankruptcy cases, tax law, competition law, and divorces all came within his practice. He appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on twenty-five cases, including lead counsel for the Government of Canada on one of the most important Supreme Court cases, the "Reference re Secession of Quebec". He also argued before international arbitration panels, including the International Court of Justice. He has represented Canada in boundary disputes with the United States over the boundary with Maine, and with France in relation to St Pierre and Miquelon, as well as fisheries disputes with the United States. He has been counsel to several royal commissions and public inquiries, as well as counsel to the Government of Quebec in relations with the Cree Nation in Quebec.
On November 15, 2010, Ogilvy Renault LLP joined with London-based law firm Norton Rose. In 2011, citing potential conflicts of interest posed by the expansion of the firm's clientele, Fortier left Norton Rose and established his own firm in order to continue his career as an international arbitrator independently.
Declined appointment to Supreme Court of Canada.
In 1988, Fortier was contacted by his old law partner, now Prime Minister Mulroney, who offered him an appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Fortier turned it down, explaining later: "Juge à la Cour suprême, ça n'était pas dans mon ADN. Vivre comme un moine. Fréquenter les mêmes huit personnes. Sans pouvoir lâcher son fou. Non merci." ("Judge on the Supreme Court, that wasn't in my DNA. Living like a monk. Hanging out with the same eight people. Not being able to let loose. No thanks.") Although the fact that he declined an appointment is now public knowledge, he has said that he would have preferred that the story never have leaked out.
Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations.
After Fortier turned down the appointment to the Supreme Court, Mulroney instead offered to appoint him as Canada's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Fortier accepted the position and served for four years, from 1988 to 1992. From 1989 until 1990, he was also Canada's representative to the UN Security Council and in October 1989 was the President of the Security Council. Fortier was Canada's principal delegate to four sessions of the General Assembly, including serving as Vice-President at one of those sessions.
The role of ambassador at the United Nations was much more to his taste than a judicial appointment would have been. He was constantly using his skills as an advocate and mediator, advancing Canada's position while responding to initiatives from the ambassadors of other countries. He also acknowledged that his personal connection to Mulroney was of great assistance. He summed up his term as being at the right place at the right time: "During my term in New York, the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union broke up, we went through the first Gulf War, Nelson Mandela was released — how wonderful it was to meet him! Let's say that all this gave me exposure to some outstanding matters."
Five years after his term as ambassador ended, Fortier was invited to give the annual O.D. Skelton Lecture organized by the federal Department of Foreign Affairs (now Global Affairs Canada). In his address, he gave a retrospective on his time at the UN and his opinion on the value of the organization. He concluded that the UN served an increasingly important role in the international community. In his opinion, international issues are too large and too complex for any one nation to solve. Multilateral solutions are necessary, and the UN provides the avenue for such solutions to be found. Fortier also emphasized that Canada has an important role to play at the UN: Canada's views were solicited and did count. Fortier rejected the popular myth that the UN is mainly dominated by dictators and petty tyrants. He also suggested that Canada's participation in the UN helps to free Canada from dominance by the United States. Overall, Fortier said that he had become almost a missionary in speaking for the good played by the UN.
Arbitration career.
Becomes international arbitrator.
After his term as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Fortier decided he would concentrate on acting as an arbitrator in international commercial matters, rather than returning to his civil litigation practice. Through his firm, he made contacts with some of the leading arbitrators in the United Kingdom, which led to him being appointed the chair of a panel on a major arbitration concerning the Channel Tunnel. From that point on, he focused on international arbitrations.
Positions held with arbitration organisations.
From 1984 to 1989, Fortier was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration located at The Hague, Netherlands. From 1998 to 2001, he served as President of the London Court of International Arbitration.
After leaving Ogilvy Renault, in 2012 Fortier joined Arbitration Place in Toronto and is currently a Member Arbitrator. He is also a member of 20 Essex Street in London, a commercial barristers and arbitrators chambers.
In June 2012, Fortier was appointed chair of the World Bank Group's Sanctions Board in order to help combat corruption and fraud in projects financed by the World Bank.
Hockey Hall of Fame inquiry.
In 1993, Fortier was asked to investigate a controversy at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The outgoing president of the National Hockey League, Gil Stein, had been elected to the Hall, but rumours arose that he had put undue pressure to ensure his induction. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, retained Fortier and an American lawyer, Arnold Burns, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, to review the issue. In their report, they concluded that Stein had "improperly manipulated the process" and "created the false appearance and illusion" that the owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Bruce McNall, had put Stein's name forward. Stein denied this suggestion and argued that it had been McNall's idea. Nonetheless, the upshot was that Stein withdrew his nomination.
Yukos arbitration.
Fortier was the presiding member of the arbitration panel in the Yukos arbitration, which resulted in the largest award ever made by an international arbitration panel. (The other two members of the panel were Arbitrators Charles Poncet and Stephen M. Schwebel.)
The arbitration involved a major dispute between the shareholders of Yukos, a Russian energy company, and the government of Russia. The shareholders argued that the Russian government had improperly expropriated the company, allegedly to satisfy unpaid back-taxes. The arbitration was argued under the Energy Charter Treaty. In 2009, the panel held that it had jurisdiction to hear the complaint.
In 2014, the panel ruled on the merits of the claim and ruled in favour of the shareholders. The panel awarded more than US$50 billion to the shareholders, the largest award ever made by an international arbitration panel. However, Russia then applied to the District Court of The Hague to have the awards set aside. In 2016, the District Court ruled that the panel did not have jurisdiction under the Energy Charter Treaty, and set aside the award. It is now under appeal to The Hague Court of Appeal for a full "de novo" hearing, which could