Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History

In Memoriam: Bill Graham (1939-2022)

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 19:31:55 +0000

In Memoriam: Bill Graham (1939-2022)

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 08/09/2022 - 15:31

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Trinity College Chancellor William C. Graham was a lawyer, professor and widely respected politician. He leaves behind a legacy of exceptional leadership.

Advancement Staff

Topic

Our Community

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Alumni

Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History

Faculty of Arts & Science

The �ؿ�ζSM has lost a visionary leader and generous supporter: the Honourable William (Bill) C. Graham, chancellor of Trinity College, a U of T alumnus and honorary degree recipient.

An internationally respected politician and legal mind, Graham served Canada in several high-profile federal government positions before devoting his time and experience to Trinity College.

“Bill Graham’s dedication to our country and to the �ؿ�ζSM was an inspiration,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “Everyone who had the privilege of knowing Bill will miss his friendship, his devotion to fairness and justice, his insight, and his leadership.

“On behalf of the �ؿ�ζSM community, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife Catherine, daughter Katy and son Patrick.”

An outstanding legacy of support for causes from bilingualism to contemporary international history

Graham’s generosity of spirit and abundant goodwill made him a natural volunteer and philanthropist in areas that captured his passions. Throughout Graham’s career as a litigator, professor and politician, he made French-English bilingualism central to his practices and his understanding of the country.

His love of French culture and devotion to francophone Canada led to his involvement in Alliance Française Toronto, which made Graham its president for 10 years, beginning in 1978. In recognition of this work, Graham received France’s most esteemed accolade, l’ordre national de la Légion d’honneur.

At U of T, the Grahams’ generous philanthropy supported initiatives across the university, including, most recently, a significant donation to the Living Trinity campaign for the Lawson Centre for Sustainability – Trinity College’s new sustainable academic and residence building. In 2000, family and friends honoured Graham’s commitment to public life by establishing the William C. Graham Chair in International Law and Development at the Faculty of Law.

When Trinity College and the Munk School of Global Affairs (now the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy) launched the Centre for Contemporary International History in 2011, the Grahams were early supporters. In 2013, Trinity College renamed it the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History to honour a lifetime of leadership at Trinity College. The Grahams also helped create a new faculty position in contemporary international history at Trinity College in collaboration with the department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“Chancellor Graham’s lifelong devotion to Trinity College has left an indelible mark on our institution,” said Mayo Moran, provost and vice-chancellor of Trinity College. “His generosity and vision, along with his commitment to advancing our understanding of international affairs and law, will inspire and shape the views of generations of students to come.”

The spirit of adventure in an international youth

Graham was born on March 17, 1939, in Montreal, and he enjoyed a childhood split between Toronto and Vancouver in a large family with 12 siblings. His father, Francis Graham, was a Canadian sugar baron and financier. He and Graham’s mother, Helen Graham (née Bailey), settled the family in Vancouver when Graham was four years old.

Graham grew up with regular exposure to an interesting cast of international characters, including Indian physicist Homi J. Bhabha, Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris and musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Glenn Gould. As an undergraduate, he joined the Royal Canadian Navy through the University Naval Training Division and put his diplomatic skills to their first test while attempting to drive from England to India in the summer of 1960, navigating a coup d’état in Turkey and suspicious Iraqi border guards.

After completing his undergraduate degree at Trinity College in 1961, Graham enrolled in U of T’s Faculty of Law, where he became editor of the Law Review and graduated with the 1964 gold medal. He completed a doctorate in international law at the Université de Paris and then began a practice in international law with Toronto firm Fasken.

In 1980, Graham’s sterling reputation as a litigator earned him an offer from Frank Iacobucci, then dean of U of T’s Faculty of Law, to return to the university as a professor of international law. The subject had become vitally important to teach, and Graham stood out as one of Canada’s leading practitioners.

A principled public servant who helped Canada re-envision its place in the world

As Graham adapted to academic life, he also began exploring public service in federal politics, becoming a member of Parliament in 1993 – a seat he held until retiring from politics in 2007. During that time, he held several prominent positions, including minister of foreign affairs, minister of defence, and briefly, leader of the official Opposition and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

As an MP, Graham was early supporter of LGBTQ2S+ rights. He called for federal HIV-AIDS funding and advocated for prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. And in 2003, as minister of foreign affairs, Graham won nationwide respect for his principled refusal to involve Canada in the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Graham returned to Trinity College as chancellor after retiring from politics in 2007, and received an honorary doctorate from U of T at the 2018 Spring Convocation.

“Bill Graham’s extraordinary life of public service helped Canada re-envision its place in the world,” said David Palmer, U of T’s vice-president of advancement. “As Chancellor of Trinity College, and through philanthropic leadership with Catherine, Bill has had an enormous impact elevating research and teaching at Trinity College and the Faculty of Law.

“Thanks to Bill and Catherine’s generosity at U of T, a new generation of leaders will benefit from excellence in research and education in international history and law.”

Canadian drive and audacity needed to tackle world problems, U of T conference told

lavende4 — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:02:08 +0000

Canadian drive and audacity needed to tackle world problems, U of T conference told

lavende4 Mon, 11/07/2016 - 15:02

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Maria Banda (right): Canada needs to be radical again (photo by Richard Fitoussi)

Terry Lavender

Author legacy

Terry Lavender

Topic

Global Lens

Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History

Refugees

Land Mines

Trinity College

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Global

Climate Change

International

Twenty years ago, a group of Canadian diplomats, politicians and civil servants used some very undiplomatic pressure tactics to get a landmark treaty banning landmines through the United Nations.

The drive and audacity that led to that treaty is desperately needed today to help the world find a solution to problems such as climate change and displaced people, �ؿ�ζSM researchers told a conference in Toronto last week.

The conference, The Ottawa Process Twenty Years Later, was organized by U of T’s Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History. It was held to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.

Speakers at the two-day conference included Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and many of the key players in what was called the Ottawa Process, such as former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.

U of T participants included Faculty of Law research associate Maria Banda; Erin Mooney, a senior research associate at U of T’s Trinity College who is also a senior protection adviser to the United Nations, Protection Capacity (ProCap); and Robert Bothwell, a history professor at the Faculty of Arts & Science and U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs.

Watch video highlights of the conference

Banda, who also practises international law in Washington, D.C., said Canada should lead the drive to help vulnerable countries deal with the effects of climate change.

“Canada used to be good at helping because we were able to come up with innovative, creative ideas for some of the big challenges of the day,” Banda said. “We need to be a bit radical again.”

Climate change is the most urgent issue of the day, she said, because it is more than an environmental problem. It’s also a threat to peace and security, especially in countries less resilient to shocks than our own, she said, noting that Syria’s civil war, for example, is rooted in a drought that has lasted for a decade.

“If Canada wants to help, it needs to think bigger, think long-term," she said. "How do we prevent another Syria? How do we help hundreds of millions of people keep their homes? Because even if we win this particular battle, we’re still at the risk of losing the larger war because climate-induced disasters will keep sending more refugees, more migrants every year.”

While acknowledging the current refugee crisis, Mooney said the current focus on refugees is ignoring internally displaced people – those who have been forced to leave their homes because of wars and other upheavals, but who aren’t classified as refugees because they haven’t crossed international borders. Sixty-five million people around the world have been displaced, she said.

“It’s a global crisis."

She added that countries producing mass displacement are found in every region of the world: Africa, Middle East and South America.

Displaced people are in considerable danger, she said.

“Displacement, whatever its causes, exposes people to a wide range of risks: loss of home, loss of livelihood and separation of families. They are also exposed to protection risks – child trafficking, forced recruitment, sexual violence and so forth.”

Thanks to its international reputation and success with the Syrian refugee resettlement program, Canada has the moral authority to urge the world to adopt more stringent protection policies for internally displaced people. But policies aren’t enough, Mooney acknowledged. They need to be backed up with support and security for humanitarian workers and the displaced people they are working with. And here, Canada can play a role as well.

“This is an opportunity for Canada’s plan to resume peacekeeping operations,” she said. “Wherever we choose to deploy a peacekeeping operation, there are bound to be displaced persons and bound to be a need for a protection mandate.”

But “we need a full-court press, a messianic drive” similar to the Ottawa Process, Mooney added.

“This is an urgent challenge, one of epic and ever increasing proportions, and it has massive repercussions for international peace and security.”