Dr. J. Patrick Boyer, Q.C.

J. Patrick Boyer is a lawyer and historian who has written some nineteen books. His active involvement in democratic reform and the rule of law has led him into work as a journalist in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec, as a Member of Parliament, and as president of such public policy organizations as the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs and the Pugwash Commission in Nova Scotia. His initiatives on democratic renewal and parliamentary reform take place across Canada and overseas from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand to Ukraine and Bulgaria.
          He has been active in women's health issues, and was founding chair of the Corinne Boyer Fund for Ovarian Cancer Research and Treatment, today the National Ovarian Cancer Association.
          Patrick founded Breakout Education Network as a not-for-profit educational organization ten years ago to help Canadian citizens break free from old patterns of thinking and action in relation to government, and today continues as the organization's chair of education.
          Before election to the House of Commons he was a partner in the Toronto firm of Fraser & Beatty, today Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, where he specialized in communications law, electoral law, and corporate law. He helped launch Lawyer's Weekly, was on its editorial board, and wrote a weekly column in the publication.
          During his nine years in parliament Patrick chaired committees on electoral reform, equality rights, and the status of disabled persons. He was then parliamentary secretary for external affairs, and later for national defence.
          Patrick Boyer holds a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Carleton University, a master's degree in history from University of Toronto, and a doctor of laws from the Faculty of Law at University of Toronto. He also studied international law at the academy of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. At University of Toronto, he was a founder of the student international law society.
          His designation as Queen's Council recognized his "major contribution to Canadian law" by authoring nine books on Canadian electoral law. These include Political Rights, Lawmaking by the People, Money and Message, Election Law in Canada, Local Elections in Canada from Butter-worths, and Boyer's Ontario Election Law from Cars-wells.
          He is a frequent commentator on CBC radio, a writer of newspaper columns and magazine features, and on-air host at ichannel Television.