Allan Rock
Biography:
The Hon. ALLAN ROCK, P.C., C.M., O.Ont., Q.C., has had extensive experience in law, politics, diplomacy and academe.
As a lawyer (1973-1993), he was recognized as one of Canada’s leading trial and appellate advocates. His practice involved a broad range of civil, commercial and administrative litigation. He represented both major corporate interests and pro bono clients. He appeared as counsel in a wide variety of cases before courts at all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He taught throughout his years at the bar and was Head of Section and Principal Lecturer (1988-1993) for Civil Litigation in the Ontario Bar Admission Course. He occupied both elected and appointed positions of leadership in the legal profession.
In politics, Allan Rock served for a decade (1993-2003) in both social and economic portfolios in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, including Justice, Health and Industry. As Minister of Justice, (1993-1997) he introduced important improvements to Canada’s Human Rights Act and significant reforms to Canada’s Criminal Code including a modernization of Canada’s sentencing regime, strict gun control and effective anti-gang provisions. As Minister of Health (1997-2002), he was responsible for the Canada Health Act, the foundation of Canada’s public health care system. As Minister of Industry (2002-2003) his focus was the economy and he introduced Canada’s Innovation Strategy aimed at spurring the nation’s productivity and competitiveness.
In diplomacy, Allan Rock was Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations (2003-2006) during a period that involved responding to several complex regional conflicts, managing intensive efforts to modernize the United Nations through institutional reforms, and participating in the negotiations that led to the 2005 Leaders’ World Summit. In particular, Allan Rock led the successful Canadian effort at the Summit to secure the unanimous adoption by world leaders of The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Following the conclusion of his term as Ambassador to the United Nations, Allan Rock served as Special Advisor on Sri Lanka to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Children and Armed Conflict (July 2006-March 2007).
In academe, Allan Rock served from July 1, 2008 until June 30, 2016 as the 29th President of the University of Ottawa. One of the U15 Group of Canada’s most research-intensive universities, uOttawa is among the largest universities in Canada (with over 50,000 students, faculty and staff), and is also the largest bilingual (French-English) university in the world. During his tenure, uOttawa made major strides towards the ambitious objectives in its strategic plan, Destination 2020: enriching the student experience; deepening and broadening its research excellence; engaging globally through partnerships with top universities on every continent; and taking full advantage of its unique bilingual character.
Following the completion of his mandate as President, Allan Rock was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, associated with its Program on International Law and Armed Conflict.
From 2017 until 2022, Allan Rock was a Full Professor in uOttawa’s Faculty of Law, where he taught, among other subjects, International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict in International Law.
Activities:
- 2020-09-08 – CCR2P — The Future of Global Humanitarianism