Nathalie Des Rosiers (born 1959) is a lawyer, academic and former politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. She is the 6th and current Principal of

Massey College Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mode ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. She was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

representing the riding of

Ottawa—Vanier Ottawa—Vanier (formerly known as Ottawa East) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. Previous to that date, it was part of the Ottawa electoral district ...

from 2016 to 2019. During her tenure as a Member of Provincial Parliament, Des Rosiers served in the cabinet of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

as Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Background

She was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, studied law at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

and received a

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Des Rosiers clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and practised law in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

with Lerners LLP. She also was a law professor at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. She then served as dean of the civil law section at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

. She was president of the

Law Commission of Canada The Law Commission of Canada was an independent law commission that gave advice to the Canadian government on matters of law. The body was created in 1971 as the Law Reform Commission of Canada and was disbanded in 1992. The body was reestablished ...

from 2004 to 2008. Des Rosiers served as general counsel for the

Canadian Civil Liberties Association The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA; french: Association Canadienne des Libertés Civiles) is a nonprofit organization in Canada devoted to the defence of civil liberties and constitutional rights.Dominique ClementCase Study: Canadian ...

(CCLA) from 2009 to 2013, when she returned to serve as dean of the common law section at the University of Ottawa until 2016. During the 2010 G20 Toronto summit, Des Rosiers uncovered a provision invoked by the provincial government which greatly expanded police powers near a security fence on the perimeter of the summit's location. She brought this issue to the attention of the Canadian press and ensured that CCLA volunteers monitored the Toronto police for civil liberties violations during the conference. She also helped to discourage the practice of "

carding Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving su ...

", where police stop people who are not suspected of any criminal activity, ask for their identification and record that information for later review.

Honours

Des Rosiers was inducted into the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

in 2012, and was inducted as 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 2013 for her work in civil rights and Francophone advocacy, and was accepted as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 2014. She was named one of Canada's 10 "nation builders" by the ''Globe and Mail'' in 2014 and was named one of Canada's 25 most influential lawyers by ''Canadian Lawyer'' in 2011 and in 2012.

Politics

She was chosen as

candidate for a November 2016

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to be held in the Ontario riding of

following the resignation of

Madeleine Meilleur Madeleine Meilleur (born November 22, 1948) is a Canadian nurse, lawyer and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2016. She represented the riding of Ottawa—Vanier. ...

. In that by-election she defeated Progressive Conservative challenger and former Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin. Des Rosiers served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. She was later appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. She was re-elected in the 2018 general election. She announced on May 16, 2019 that she would resign her seat in the legislature to become Principal of

at the

effective August 1, 2019.

Election results

Cabinet positions

References

External links

*
Order of Canada citation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Des Rosiers, Nathalie 1959 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian lawyers 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian women lawyers Franco-Ontarian people Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers in Ontario Living people Massey College, Toronto Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Ottawa Université de Montréal Faculty of Law alumni University of Ottawa faculty University of Western Ontario faculty Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario 21st-century women lawyers