Douglas John Black (born May 10, 1952) is a lawyer and former Canadian senator and from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He was appointed to the Senate on Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

's advice on January 25, 2013, having won a Senate nominee election in 2012. He resigned from the Senate on October 31, 2021, in order to return to private life.

Early life and education

Black was born and raised in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta. In 1970, he graduated from

Ernest Manning High School Ernest Manning High School is a public senior high school located in the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, south of the Bow River. The school falls under the jurisdiction of the Calgary Board of Education. History The original Ernest Manning H ...

in Calgary. He attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, where he was actively involved in student government, and in 1975, graduated from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. He was called to the Newfoundland Bar in 1977 and the Alberta Bar in 1994.

Career

Black is a senior counselor for Dentons Canada LLP. His legal expertise is in corporate, commercial and energy law. He is former chairman of the board of the

Michaëlle Jean Foundation The Michaëlle Jean Foundation is an independent non-profit organization established by former Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean upon her retirement from that position in 2010. Its aim is to collaborate with other Canadian organizations acr ...

and was founder of the Lake Crest Independent School in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. He is Governor-Emeritus of the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, where he was National Co-chair of the centre's successful $130 million campus revitalization campaign. Black has been a proponent for responsible energy development and an advocate for diversifying Canada's energy markets. He was founding president of the

Energy Policy Institute of Canada In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat an ...

, a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the development of a Canadian energy framework. In August 2012, Black was named as one of Canada's 25 most influential lawyers for 2012 by ''Canadian Lawyer Magazine''.

Senate election

Black ran as one of three Progressive Conservative senate nominees in the

2012 Alberta Senate nominee election The 2012 Alberta Senate nominee election, formally the 4th Senate nominee election of Alberta, was held to elect three nominees for appointment to the Senate of Canada to represent the province of Alberta. It was to be held in the fall of 2010 b ...

. He finished first out of thirteen candidates in the province-wide vote, taking 428,791 votes. He was appointed to the Senate on January 25, 2013, and sat as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

until July 2016, when he changed his designation to Independent. He subsequently joined the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; french: Groupe des sénateurs indépendants) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group (ISG) is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the ...

and, on November 4, 2019, he joined the

Canadian Senators Group The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group, two from the Conservative Pa ...

. Black sat on the Senate Committees on Transport and Communications; and serves as chair on the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce.

Awards

He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2002 and was awarded the

Alberta Centennial Medal The Alberta Centennial Medal is a commemorative medal celebrating Alberta's first 100 years of participating in Canadian Confederation. History In 2005, the ''Alberta Centennial Medal Act'' established the Alberta Centennial Medal. Purpose The ...

in December 2005 for community leadership. Black has also received the designation of ICD.D from the

Institute of Corporate Directors Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) is primarily an institute of, for and by corporate directors established in the Philippines. It is made up mainly of individuals and reputational agents committed to the professional practice of corporate dire ...

University of Calgary

Prior to being appointed to the Senate of Canada, Black served as chair of the Board of Governors at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. In August 2012, he repaid $5,343.86 not covered by the University of Calgary expense policy. Black's total expenses were $28,030.88 over 18 months. Black stepped down from the Board and his roles in several other organizations prior to taking up his duties in the Senate.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Doug 1952 births Canadian King's Counsel Canadian senators-in-waiting from Alberta Canadian senators from Alberta Conservative Party of Canada senators Independent Canadian senators Living people Politicians from Calgary 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian Senators Group