Lloyd Axworthy

Lloyd Axworthy is the former President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. Previously Director and CEO of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia and Canada’s Foreign Minister from 1995 to 2000, Lloyd Axworthy’s political career spanned 27 years, during six of which he served in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and twenty-one in the Federal Parliament. He held several Cabinet positions, notably Minister of Employment and Immigration, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, Minister of Transport, Minister of Human Resources Development, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In the Foreign Affairs portfolio, Dr. Axworthy became internationally known for his advancement of the human security concept, in particular, the Ottawa Treaty – a landmark global treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. For his leadership on landmines, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. For his efforts in establishing the International Criminal Court and the Protocol on child soldiers, he received the North-South Institute’s Peace Award.

Since leaving public life in the fall of 2000, Dr. Axworthy has been the recipient of several prestigious awards and honours. The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation presented him with the Senator Patrick J. Leahy Award in recognition of his leadership in the global effort to outlaw landmines and the use of children as soldiers and to bring war criminals to justice. Princeton University awarded him the Madison Medal for his record of outstanding public service and he received the CARE International Humanitarian Award. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been named to the Order of Manitoba. He is also a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

He has received honourary doctorates from Queen’s University, Lakehead University, University of Victoria, University of Denver, Niagara University, The University of Winnipeg, Dalhousie University, University of Manitoba and McMaster.

Dr. Axworthy is a Board member of the MacArthur Foundation, Human Rights Watch – where he chairs the Advisory Board for Americas Watch, Lester B. Pearson College, University of the Arctic, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation as well as on the Advisory Board of the Ethical Globalization Initiative.

In February 2004, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Lloyd Axworthy as his special envoy for Ethiopia-Eritrea to assist in implementing a peace agreement between the East African countries. He currently sits on the High Level Commission for the Empowerment of the Poor – UN Development Program. In January 2006, the Organization of American States appointed Dr. Axworthy to head the OAS Electoral Observation Mission that monitored the 2006 general elections in Peru.

In 2015, The Honourable Lyod Axworthy was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada “for his principled contributions to international human rights and for his leadership in post-secondary education, particularly in support of Aboriginal students.”

He graduated in 1961 with a B.A. from United College (now The University of Winnipeg), obtained his M.A. in Political Science from Princeton University in 1963, subsequently earning a PhD from Princeton in 1972.

Lloyd Axworthy remains involved in international matters and lectures widely in Canada, the U.S. and abroad. His book Navigating a New World – Canada’s Global Future, Knopf Canada, was published in the Fall of 2003.