Ron Atkey
Ronald George "Ron" Atkey,
PC,
QC (born
February 15 1942) is a lawyer, law professor and former
Canadian politician.
Atkey, a lawyer by training, was first elected to the
Canadian House of Commons as the
Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for the
Toronto riding of
St. Paul's in the
1972 election, making him the first ever opposition MP for the riding. (Current MP
Carolyn Bennett is the second). Atkey was defeated by
John Roberts two years later in the
1974 election.
Atkey avenged his defeat in the
1979 election that brought the Tories to power under
Joe Clark. Clark appointed Atkey to the
Canadian Cabinet as
Minister of Employment and Immigration. Clark's
minority government was short-lived, however, and Atkey was defeated a year later in the
1980 election.
Atkey did not attempt a return to politics subsequently, and returned to his law practice. He became a senior partner in the firm of Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP. From
1984 to
1989, he served as Chairman of the
Security Intelligence Review Committee which oversees the activities of the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Atkey has taught law at the
University of Western Ontario,
Osgoode Hall Law School and the
University of Toronto. He wrote
Canadian Constitutional Law in a Modern Perspective which was a popular constitutional law textbook in the
1970s.
In
1994, he wrote a novel,
The Chancellor's Foot. He lectures on
national security law and international
terrorism, and is an expert on communications and cultural law. he has written on the exemption from
North American Free Trade Agreement of Canadian cultural industries.
In
2004, he was appointed
Amicus Curiae to the
Arar Commission in order to act as an independent counsel with the responsibility of testing government requests made on the grounds of national security confidentiality.
Atkey has also served as legal counsel to
Warner Communications, and played a role in the company's merger with
America Online.
*
Profile of Atkey from the University of Western Ontario's law alumni magazine.
*
Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
