Leslie Raymond Peterson, CM, OBC (6 October 1923 – 14 April 2015) was a lawyer, politician, and university chancellor in

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. He was born in

Viking, Alberta Viking () is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is at the intersection of Highway 14 (Poundmaker Trail) and Highway 36 (Veterans Memorial Highway), approximately east of Edmonton. The town also lends its name to the Viking Formation, an ...

, the son of Herman S. Peterson, a native of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Peterson was called to the British Columbia bar in 1949 and set up practice in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. In 1950, he married Agnes Rose Hine. In 1956, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly for

Vancouver Centre Vancouver Centre (french: Vancouver-Centre) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It is the riding with the biggest Japanese community in Canada. As ...

and served for just under 17 consecutive years. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Education and Minister of Labour and then was

Attorney General of British Columbia The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general ...

from 1968 to 1972. In 1978 he first became a member of the Board of Governors of

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. He was elected the University's Chancellor in 1987. He was appointed to the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier ...

in 1990. He was also appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 2000.''Canada Gazette,'' March 31, 2001

References

1923 births 2015 deaths British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Chancellors of the University of British Columbia Members of the Order of British Columbia Attorneys General of British Columbia Members of the Order of Canada People from Beaver County, Alberta Canadian people of Norwegian descent {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub