The Hon. Irwin Cotler: "Hate, Genocide and Human Rights"
4/29/07--HHRP sponsored a lecture recently with the Honorable Irwin Cotler. Watch the video here.
BC's Holocaust/Human Rights Project sponsored an important lecture on April 11, 2007: "Hate, Genocide and Human Rights." The event was co-sponsored by ACLU, Jewish Law Students Association, St. Thomas More Society, and the Center for Human Rights and International Justice.
Law Professor, Constitutional and Comparative Law Scholar, International Human Rights Lawyer, Counsel to prisoners of conscience, NGO Head, Public Intellectual, Community Leader and Peace Activist, Member of Parliament, and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada -- Irwin Cotler has been variously described in these roles and responsibilities as being at the forefront of the struggle for justice, peace and human rights.
Irwin Cotler is presently a Canadian Member of Parliament first elected in a by-election in November 1999 with 92% of the votes, in what was characterized as "the most stunning electoral victory in this century by any standard". He was re-elected in the general elections of November 2000, June 2004, and January 2006, with the highest Liberal majority in the country.
On December 12, 2003, the Prime Minister appointed him Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He was reappointed following the General Election of June 2004 and served in that office until the general election of January 2006, when the Liberal government was defeated. He is currently official Opposition Critic for Human Rights, a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and a member of the House of Commons Committee on Public Safety and National Security.