The 黄色直播 Faculty of Management will honour The Honourable Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, with the 2019 Scotiabank Ethical Leadership Award.
Each year, the award is presented to a Canadian who has demonstrated exceptional character, moral courage and commitment to ethical principles. Mme. Arbour will accept the award and speak to Management students, faculty and the public at the Ethics in Action Gala on November 23.
Finding her home, making a difference
Born in Montr茅al in 1947 and earning a law degree from the Universit茅 de Montr茅al, Mme. Arbour鈥檚 career took her from a law clerkship for a Supreme Court justice to a professorship at Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1987, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario, and in 1989 to the Ontario Court of Appeal.
鈥淲hat became very clear to me when I went to law school is I found my home,鈥� explains Mme. Arbour. 鈥淚 was attracted to criminal law, and then to all aspects of public law as it interfaced with democracy and social equality and all kinds of things. That鈥檚 what I think has driven me to run toward things that others might run away from.鈥�
From 1996 to 1999, Mme. Arbour was chief prosecutor for two international criminal tribunals. The tribunal for the former Yugoslavia resulted in the first-ever indictment for war crimes of a sitting head of state (Serbian president Slobodan Milo拧evi膰), and the tribunal for Rwanda in the world鈥檚 first conviction for genocide since 1948.
For the next five years, Arbour sat on the Supreme Court of Canada. She returned to the UN as High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2004, then spent five years as president of the International Crisis Group. In December 2018, she finished a 22-month term as Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for International Migration, where she guided the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
A deserving honour
Peggy Cunningham is professor and R.A. Jodrey Chair in Commerce at the Rowe School of Business. She chairs the award鈥檚 selection committee, composed of students, faculty and a representative from Scotiabank.
鈥淪tudent voices are primary in the decision process,鈥� she explains. 鈥淔rom the first when she was called to the bar, Mme. Arbour has taken on controversial and difficult issues. It鈥檚 not popularity that drives her, but deep moral conviction. It says a lot about her as a person that she would give her time to come and interact with young people here.鈥�
Student committee member Nivashini Sabeshan just graduated with an MBA and took part in Ethics in Action case competitions in 2017 and 2018.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to celebrate the impact Mme. Arbour has made, not just in Canada but worldwide,鈥� she says. 鈥淎 lot of people ask themselves, 鈥榃hat difference can I make?鈥� But all the people who鈥檝e received this award are people like us 鈥� and look at what they鈥檝e been able to accomplish! It鈥檚 so inspiring to us as young adults. If one person can make such an impact, what could we do together?鈥�
A special honour
Mme. Arbour has received at least 40 honorary doctorates and many international prizes, but the Ethics in Action award feels special.
鈥淚t means a huge amount because I started my career as a law teacher. I want young people to know that I鈥檓 extremely confident in them and their capacities. Hard as the challenges are around issues like climate change 鈥� and a lot of it is profoundly distressing and depressing 鈥� but in all the dark and gloomy things I鈥檝e done, the friendships I鈥檝e developed with like-minded and committed people have been so exhilarating. The rewards are vastly positively disproportionate to the work involved.鈥�
Mme. Arbour鈥檚 most important message to students? 鈥淭hey have a lot of choices, and there are a lot of people in this world with zero choices. Don鈥檛 turn your choices into a liability because you鈥檙e lost. Just go! If you make a mistake, you can go back. As Yogi Berra used to say: If there鈥檚 a fork in the road, take it!鈥�
The Faculty of Management established the student-led Ethics in Action case competition and conference with a $1.5 million donation from Scotiabank. The Scotiabank Ethics in Action Ethical Leadership Award recognizes a Canadian leader from a corporate, non-profit or public organization who has demonstrated and maintained outstanding ethical leadership. Past recipients include Sir Graham Day, Richard Pound, Chief Phil Fontaine, Irwin Cotler, Anna Tudela, Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella and Lieutenant-General (Ret鈥檇) Rom茅o A. Dallaire.
The public is invited to the award presentation at the Ethics in Action Gala at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax on November 23. Tickets can be purchased at dal.ca/ethicsinaction.