Warren Allmand
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development | |
---|---|
In office September 14, 1976 – September 15, 1977 | |
Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
Preceded by | Judd Buchanan |
Succeeded by | Hugh Faulkner |
Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | |
In office November 8, 1965 – February 2, 1997 | |
Preceded by | Edmund Tobin Asselin |
Succeeded by | Marlene Jennings |
Personal details | |
Born | William Warren Allmand September 19, 1932 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Died | December 7, 2016 Montreal, Quebec, Canada | (aged 84)
Political party | Liberal Union Montreal |
Children | 3 |
Residence(s) | Montreal, Quebec |
Alma mater | |
Profession | Lawyer |
William Warren Allmand
After leaving federal politics, Allmand took on the role of
Early life and career
William Warren Allmand was born in
Allmand studied
Federal politics
In the 1965 federal election, Allmand ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in the Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and was elected to the Parliament of Canada.[2] He would serve his constituency for over 30 years, being re-elected in every subsequent election before stepping down in 1997.[1]
As a
In 1967, after
Solicitor General
Allmand was sworn into the
In 1976, Allmand signed a warrant requested by Michael Dare, the Director-General of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service, to authorize them to intercept the mail of a Toronto couple. The couple were suspected of conspiring with the Japanese Red Army, possibly to attack the upcoming 1976 Summer Olympics. After the Department of Justice advised Allmand it was a violation of the Post Office Act, it was cancelled in December 1976, nine months after it had been granted.[13]
In December 1976, Allmand was Solicitor General when Leonard Peltier was extradited to the United States. According to Allmand, the Federal Bureau of Investigation submitted false information to the Canadian government, including an affidavit from a woman with mental disorders who claimed to be Peltier's girlfriend.[12]
In 1977, after Allmand was no longer Solicitor General, he testified before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP (the McDonald Commission) that the RCMP had advised him that it was legal for them to break into buildings to conduct warrantless searches as long as they did not take anything.[10] Allmand would later state that the RCMP had been dishonest in withholding information from him and other solicitors general.[2]
Abolishing the death penalty
After Trudeau's Liberals upgraded their minority government to a majority in the 1974 federal election, they had more leeway to act on abolishing capital punishment. In 1973, Liberals had renewed the provisions of Bill C-168, passed by Lester B. Pearson's minority government in 1968, which imposed a five-year moratorium on the use of the death penalty. With a majority behind them, Allmand and Trudeau, both ardent abolitionists, prepared to go further than Pearson had gone and decided to try and abolish the death penalty altogether.[14]
Allmand felt it was hypocritical to have the law on the books when Parliament had
In 1976 Allmand tabled Bill C-84, An Act to Amend the
Opponents of the bill cited recent polling that 70% of Canadians supported capital punishment and called on the government to call a national referendum on the issue. Other opponents accused Allmand and Trudeau of proposing the bill now so that it would not expire before the next federal election in 1979 and risk costing the Liberals votes. Almost all opponents thought that the death penalty was a necessary response to terrorism, insurrection, and other serious crimes. Former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker argued that after the Munich massacre, passing Bill C-84 was sending the wrong message in the lead-up to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[14] In response to the calls for referendum, including a motion for a national plebiscite by Alberta MP Gordon Towers, Allmand argued that the role of MPs was to deliberate in the House of Commons, make up their own minds, and then vote. He also argued that representative democracy necessarily excluded plebiscites, because then it would open the door to plebiscites on a variety of serious and controversial issues.[17]
In order not to risk the fall of the government over the bill given its contentious nature, Allmand and Trudeau agreed that the final vote would be a free vote. Despite the Liberal majority in the House of Commons, it only narrowly passed Bill C-84, 131 to 124.[14]
A year after the vote, Allmand remarked in a speech delivered to Amnesty International, that "Capital punishment, simply because it is immoral and useless, must be fought and defeated if we are to become a world society in which our descendants can live in peace and justice."[11]
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
After being Solicitor General, Allmand continued to serve in the cabinet of Pierre Trudeau as
Unlike his predecessor
His final cabinet post was as
Opposition and return to backbenches
In October 1979, Allmand was forced to borrow a tie from an NDP MP when the
During the negotiations leading up to the
During
In 1995, he gained notoriety for voting against
He retired before the 1997 election after Chrétien appointed him president of the Montreal-based International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (later renamed Rights and Democracy) to replace Ed Broadbent, its first president.[1][11]
Human rights activism
Allmand served as the second president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development from 1997 to 2002. During the 3rd Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City in 2001, Allmand encouraged social activists boycotting the event to speak with governmental actors in order to collaboratively develop better policy.[11][12] During his time at the centre, Allmand supported the work done on the International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.[3]
In the leadup to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Allmand was an active participant in the negotiations via the Coalition for Peace in Ireland.[25] During the negotiations, Allmand met Rosemary Nolan, whom he married in 2002.[26]
He also served as the international president of
In 2004, Allmand taught at McGill University as a visiting scholar at the Institute of Canadian Studies.[30]
In 2005, Allmand served as counsel for the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group during the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, and argued that Canada's national security agencies, especially the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, chose security over rights and were largely unaccountable when they did so.[31]
Montreal municipal politics
In November 2005, Allmand was elected to the Montreal city council seat as a member of the
Although Allmand had been recruited by then mayor Gérald Tremblay for his party, he was not afraid to publicly criticize the mayor if he disagreed with city policy.[11] Allmand voted against Tremblay's motion to change the name of Park Avenue to Avenue Robert Bourassa.[2] During his time on the council, he criticized the lack of transparency in urban planning for projects in his seat of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, while Michael Applebaum was mayor.[2]
Although he had risen to become the Vice President of the Montreal City Council,[23] he did not choose to run again in the 2009 Montreal municipal election.[15][23]
Later activities and death
In 2011, Allmand supported the Canadian Boat for Gaza, part of the Freedom Flotilla II that sought to deliver supplies to Palestinians.[33][34][35] In Fall 2013, Allmand joined Foundation Board of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.[36]
In 2014, Allmand defended a legal argument, on behalf of the World Federalist Movement – Canada, that challenged the Canadian government's implementation bill for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. He argued that a clause of the bill which gave Canada an explicit exemption in certain cases while participating in combined military operations with non-signatory allies such as the United States undermined the purpose of the convention. Allmand noted that Australia and New Zealand, two other American allies, had passed similar legislation without this exemption. Allmand was concerned that signing a treaty with the exception would encourage other countries to create their own exceptions.[37]
Allmand was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2016, and his condition worsened in October 2016. He then entered a palliative care centre at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal's Hôpital Notre-Dame, where he died on December 7, 2016, at the age of 84.[11] Allmand's funeral was held at St. Patrick's Basilica on December 19.[38] Allmand was survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.[15]
Honours, awards, and legacy
In 1977, Allmand was appointed
In 1999, in a list that Allmand submitted to the Great Canadian Book of Lists, he listed abolishing the death penalty as one of Canada's twelve most significant political events.[41]
After his death, Denis Coderre, the Mayor of Montreal, announced that the flags at Montreal City Hall would be flown at half-mast in his honour.[42] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement on Twitter saying that Allmand's "legacy will live on in the enormous contributions he made to Canada as an MP and Minister."[3][43]
In 2018, the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex, a non-profit in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood that Allmand represented, for which he served as a board member from 2001 until his death, renamed its urgent care waiting room in his honour as part of a fundraising initiative with the Warren Allmand Memorial Fund.[18]
In January 2020, Montreal city councilors Marvin Rotrand and Lionel Perez submitted a motion requesting a public place to be renamed to honour Montreal. In August 2021, Somerland Park, near Royal Vale School in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, part of the constituency that he represented federally and municipally, was chosen to be renamed. In May 2023, the park was inaugurated under the new name of Warren Allmand Park.[6][12]
Published works
Allmand published at least three books during this career:[1]
- Is there a future for progressive policies in Canada? Montréal : McGill Institute for the Study of Canada; 1997.
- Trading in human rights: the need for human rights sensitivity at the World Trade Organization. Montréal : International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development; 1999.
- Troquer ou respecter les droits humains? Pour une Organisation mondiale du commerce soucieuse des droits humains. Montréal : Centre international des droits de la personne et du développement démocratique; 1999.
Archives
There is a Warren Allmand fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[44]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Hon. William Warren Allmand, P.C., Q.C., O.C." Library of Parliament. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ CTV Montreal. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ Catholic Register. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ISBN 9780773513853.
- ^ McGill Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ Radio Canada. The Canadian Press. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Convocation 2006" (PDF). Bishop's University News. Fall 2006 (20): 6. 2006.
- ^ ISBN 9781442665606.
- ISBN 9781896219813.
- ^ a b Sallot 1979, p. 150.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pindera, Loreen; Montpetit, Jonathan (December 8, 2016). "Warren Allmand, Liberal MP for NDG for 32 years, has died at 84". CBC News. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Bellegarde apologizes to Anna Mae Aquash's daughter over statement about Leonard Peltier". Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. March 9, 2016. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ISBN 9780888622860.
- ^ ISBN 9780774859639.
- ^ Montreal Gazette. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9780307365842.
- ISBN 9781459718975.
- ^ ISBN 9781135940409.
- ISBN 9781550281200.
- CBC Archives. December 5, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ISBN 9780774843393.
- ISBN 9780773518391.
- ^ LaPresse. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ISBN 9780774841856.
- Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ Montgomery, Sue (December 20, 2016). "A passionate defender of human rights". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
- World Federalist Movement – Canada. August 30, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ "List of Directors and Honorary Directors Newman Association of Montreal Inc". newmancentre.org. Archived from the original on December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ "Board of Directors". canadem.ca. CANADEM. Archived from the original on December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- McGill Reporter. 36. 2004.
- ISBN 9780776615516.
- Agence QMI. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ Jeeroburkhan, Tariq (March 28, 2011). "Freedom Flotilla II launched with Canadian Boat for Gaza". rabble.ca. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- CJPME. June 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ "Endorsed by Warren Allmand (interview)". tahrir.ca. Canada Boat for Gaza. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- CJPME. Archived from the originalon December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ Ward, Olivia (May 30, 2013). "Canada's bill on cluster bombs seriously flawed, say critics". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- World Federalist Movement–Canada. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
- ^ "W. Warren Allmand, P.C., O.C., Q.C., B.C.L., LL.D." Governor General of Canada. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ISBN 9781459726987.
- ^ "Ex-cabinet minister Warren Allmand dead at 84". Global News. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ "Justin Trudeau on Twitter". Twitter. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "Warren Allmand fonds, Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 18 September 2020.