Lloyd Axworthy

The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy PC CC OM
2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office January 25, 1996 – October 16, 2000
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	André Ouellet
Succeeded by	John Manley
Minister of Employment and Immigration
In office November 4, 1993 – January 24, 1996
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Bernard Valcourt
Succeeded by	Doug Young
In office March 3, 1980 – August 11, 1983
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Ron Atkey
Succeeded by	John Roberts
Minister of Labour
In office November 4, 1993 – February 21, 1995
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Bernard Valcourt
Succeeded by	Lucienne Robillard
Minister of Transport
In office August 12, 1983 – September 16, 1984
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau John Turner
Preceded by	Jean-Luc Pépin
Succeeded by	Don Mazankowski
Member of the House of Commons of Canada
In office November 21, 1988 – November 27, 2000
Preceded by	new constituency
Succeeded by	Anita Neville
Constituency	Winnipeg South Centre
In office May 22, 1979 – November 21, 1988
Preceded by	Sidney Spivak
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Constituency	Winnipeg—Fort Garry
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
In office June 28, 1973 – April 6, 1979
Preceded by	Inez Trueman
Succeeded by	June Westbury
Constituency	Fort Rouge
President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg
In office June 6, 2004 – June 27, 2014
Chancellor	Sanford Riley Bob Silver
Preceded by	Patrick Deane (acting)
Succeeded by	Annette Trimbee
Personal details
Born	Lloyd Norman Axworthy (1939-12-21) December 21, 1939 North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Political party	Liberal
Other political affiliations	New Democratic Party
Alma mater	United College Princeton University
Occupation	Academic, author
Religion	United Church of Canada

Lloyd Norman Axworthy, PC CC OM (born December 21, 1939) is a Canadian politician, statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Following his retirement from parliament, he served as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg from 2004 to 2014 and as chancellor of St. Paul's University College (a constituent institution of the University of Waterloo).

Biography

Axworthy was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan to parents Norman and Gwen Axworthy and into a family with strong United Church roots, and received his BA from United College, a Winnipeg-based Bible school, in 1961. He is the older brother of Tom Axworthy, Robert Axworthy (former Manitoba Liberal Party leadership candidate). He received his MA and PhD from Princeton University in 1963 and 1972 respectively, returning to Canada to teach at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg. At the latter, he also became the director of the Institute of Urban Affairs. His approach to urban renewal has been described in architectural circles as Gentrification Modernism or post-Dickensianism.

Early political career

Axworthy became involved in politics during the 1950s, becoming a member of the Liberal Party after attending a speech by Lester B. Pearson. He briefly aligned himself with the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 1960s when Pearson, as federal opposition leader, called for American Bomarc nuclear warheads to be allowed on Canadian soil. He soon returned to the Liberal fold, however, and worked as an executive assistant for John Turner; he supported Turner's bid to become party leader at the 1968 leadership convention.

Axworthy ran for the party in Winnipeg North Centre in the 1968 election, finishing second against veteran NDP Member of Parliament (MP) Stanley Knowles. He first ran for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 1966 election, placing second to Progressive Conservative Douglas Stanes in St. James. In the 1973 election, he was elected as a Manitoba Liberal in Fort Rouge, He was re-elected in the 1977 election, and was the only Liberal in the legislature from 1977 to 1979.

Federal government

He resigned from the Manitoba legislature on April 6, 1979 to run for the federal House of Commons, and in the 1979 election narrowly defeated former provincial PC leader Sidney Spivak in Winnipeg—Fort Garry. He was re-elected in the 1980 election, becoming the only Liberal MP west of Ontario. He was promoted to cabinet under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, serving as Minister of Employment and Immigration, and then as Minister of Transport.

In the Liberal defeat in the 1984 election, Axworthy was one of only two Liberals west of Ontario to be elected (the other being then Liberal leader John Turner). Axworthy played a role in opposition, supporting tough on crime policies, but also supporting fiscal conservatism by critiquing the fiscal taxation policy of Brian Mulroney. He was an especially vocal critic of the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement, and countenanced Canadian paternalism in international trade.

When the Liberals returned to power in 1993 under Jean Chrétien, Axworthy became a Cabinet minister. After the election, he was given responsibility for the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), and launched changes in employment insurance. Although his main interest was urban renewal,in a 1996 cabinet shuffle, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs.

His inexperience in international affairs was reflected in a idealist focus which ignored the centrality of deterrence, led to conflicts with the US Clinton Administration, and gave short shrift to global instabilities and threats, particularly emerging Middle East terrorism. Instead, Axworthy invested in efforts in high-profile utopian projects, such as the NGO-led controversial Ottawa Treaty that seeks to ban anti-personnel land mines (a project opposed by the US on security grounds). (Human Rights Watch, a leader of the landmine treaty campaign, rewarded Axworthy by appointing him to their international board.)

In February 1999 and April 2000, Axworthy was President of the United Nations Security Council with Canada's Ambassador to the UN Robert Fowler. In April 2000, Axworthy supported the highly controversial effort to reduce the sanction against Iraq, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, citing a humanitarian explanation "to avoid making ordinary citizens pay for the actions of their leaders." Axworthy clashed with the US government on this issue, particularly over the lack of alternative options to deter the regime from additional aggression.

Honours and awards

In 1997, Axworthy was nominated by United States Senator Patrick Leahy to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on banning land mines.[1]. He did not win, but was thanked by the recipients, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, as having been instrumental in their effort. Critics, however, viewed Axworthy's land mine campaign and the involvement of political NGOs as counter-productive, since many key nations, including the US, Russia and China did not join.

In 1998 he was one of the two winners of the North–South Prize. In 2003, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

On October 15, 2012, Elder, Dr. Tobasonakwut Kinew and, Dr. Phil Fontaine, honoured Axworthy - Waapshki Pinaysee Inini, Free Range Frog Man, at a sacred Pipe Ceremony. Axworthy was recognized for his commitment to creating an inclusive learning experience that reflects Indigenous cultures and traditions at UWinnipeg. The ceremony was led by Anishinaabe Elder Fred Kelly and musician and broadcaster Wab Kinew.

Axworthy was presented with an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Environment of the University of Waterloo in October 2014.

In December 30, 2015, Axworthy was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest grade of the honour.

After politics

In September 2000, Axworthy returned to academia, joining the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia. He has published Navigating A New World, a book on the uses of "soft power".

In May 2004, he was appointed as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. He retired in June 2014.

Axworthy is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, a highly controversial position resulting from this organisation's record of political bias, fundraising in Saudi Arabia, and lack of credibility.[2] He also serves on the advisory council of USC Center on Public Diplomacy and of Fair Vote Canada, and is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network and International Student Exchange, Ontario.

In 2006, Axworthy was elected to the Board of Directors of Hudbay Minerals, Inc.

He currently serves as the President of the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy.

Axworthy was installed as Chancellor of St. Paul's University College, a constituent institution of the University of Waterloo, in October 2014.

Publications

• Navigating a New World, Knopf Canada Publishing, 2004
• Liberals at the Border, University of Toronto Press, 2004
• The Axworthy Legacy, Edited by O. Hampson, N. Hillmer, M. Appel Molot, Oxford University Press, 2001
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams: A 40 Year Journey through Portage Avenue - Displacement, Dislocation, and How Osmosis Can Resolve Community Blight', Rattray Canada Publishing, 2014 (In Press)

External links

• Lecture transcript and video of Axworthy's speech at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego, February 2005
• Lloyd Axworthy – Parliament of Canada biography
• Order of Canada Citation

26th Ministry – Cabinet of Jean Chrétien
Cabinet Posts (4)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
André Ouellet	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1996–2000	John Manley
Larry Schneider	Minister of Western Economic Diversification 1993–1996	John Manley
Bernard Valcourt	Minister of Employment and Immigration 1993–1996 styled as Minister of Human Resources Development	Doug Young
Bernard Valcourt	Minister of Labour 1993–1995 styled as Minister of Human Resources Development	Lucienne Robillard
23rd Ministry – Cabinet of John Turner
Cabinet Post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
cont'd from 22nd Min.	Minister of Transport 1984	Don Mazankowski
22nd Ministry – Second cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Cabinet Posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Jean-Luc Pépin	Minister of Transport 1983–1984	cont'd into 23rd Min.
Ron Atkey	Minister of Employment and Immigration 1980–1983	John Roberts
Special Cabinet Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
David MacDonald	Minister responsible for the Status of Women 1980–1981	Judy Erola
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Preceded by Inez Trueman	Member of the Legislative Assembly for Fort Rouge 1973–1979	Succeeded by June Westbury
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Sidney Spivak	Member of Parliament for Winnipeg—Fort Garry 1979–1988	Succeeded by This electoral district was abolished in 1987
Preceded by This electoral district was created in 1987	Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre 1988–2000	Succeeded by Anita Neville

Academic offices
Preceded by Patrick Deane (acting)	President of the University of Winnipeg June 6, 2004 – June 27, 2014	Succeeded by Annette Trimbee
New office	Chancellor of St. Paul's University College October 24, 2014	Incumbent