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Ron Atkey
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{{Short description|Canadian lawyer, professor and politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]] |honorific-suffix = [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|PC]] | name = Ron Atkey | image = |parliament1=Canadian | riding1 = [[St. Paul's (electoral district)|St. Paul's]] | term_start1 = 1979 | term_end1 = 1980 | predecessor1 = [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]] | successor1 = [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]] | term_start2 = 1972 | term_end2 = 1974 | predecessor2 = [[Ian Wahn]] | successor2 = [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]] | office3 = [[Minister of Employment and Immigration (Canada)|Minister of Employment and Immigration]] | term_start3 = June 4, 1979 | term_end3 = March 2, 1980 | predecessor3 = [[Bud Cullen]] | successor3 = [[Lloyd Axworthy]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1942|02|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Saint John, New Brunswick]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|05|9|1942|02|15|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] | profession = Lawyer, law professor | party = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] | party colour = | alma_mater = [[University of Western Ontario]], [[Yale University]] | residence = Toronto, Ontario | religion = | spouse = }} '''Ronald George Atkey''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|QC}} (February 15, 1942 – May 9, 2017) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] lawyer, law professor and politician. ==Background== Atkey graduated in 1962 from the [[University of Western Ontario]], and was a member of the [[Kappa Alpha Society]] while in university. He also obtained law degrees from [[Yale University]] and the University of Western Ontario. ==Politics== Atkey was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] as the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] (Tory) [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Toronto]] [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[St. Paul's (electoral district)|St. Paul's]] in the [[1972 Canadian federal election|1972 election]].<ref name="1972 results">{{cite news |title=How the 1,117 candidates fared across Canada |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=October 31, 1972 |page=15}}</ref> He was defeated by [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]] in the [[1974 Canadian federal election|1974 election]].<ref name="1974 results">{{cite news |title=How the party candidates fared across the country |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=July 9, 1974 |page=A12}}</ref> Atkey defeated Roberts in the [[1979 Canadian federal election|1979 election]] that brought the Tories to power under [[Joe Clark]].<ref name="1979 results">{{cite news |title=Counting the votes: The Liberals watch from their Quebec fortress ... as Conservatives sweep most of the West |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=May 24, 1979 |pages=10β11}}</ref> Clark appointed Atkey to the [[Canadian Cabinet]] as [[Minister of Employment and Immigration (Canada)|Minister of Employment and Immigration]]. Clark's [[minority government]] was short-lived, however, and Atkey was defeated in the [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980 election]].<ref name="1980 results">{{cite news |title=Federal general election results listed riding-by-riding |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ha4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2698%2C1032477 |date=February 19, 1980 |pages=29β30}}</ref> During his time as Minister, Atkey was instrumental in the decision to grant 50,000 [[Vietnamese boat people]] asylum in Canada in 1979, during the Southeast Asian refugee crisis. Atkey was influenced by an early manuscript copy of the book ''None is Too Many'', which revealed Canada's racist attitude toward Jews trying to enter Canada during [[the Holocaust]]. As a result, Canada's participation in resolving his crisis was a model for the world.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/politician-ron-atkey-opened-canadas-doors-to-boat-people/article35108399/ Politician Ron Atkey opened Canadaβs doors to boat people] Globe and Mail obituary by Ron Csillag, 2017 May 24</ref> ==Later life== After his defeat, Atkey returned to his law practice. He became a senior partner in the firm of [[Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt]], LLP. From 1984 to 1989, he served as Chairman of the [[Security Intelligence Review Committee]] which oversees the activities of the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]].<ref name=remembered>{{cite news |title=Ron Atkey remembered for response to Vietnamese refugee crisis |newspaper=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/19/ron-atkey-remembered-for-response-to-vietnamese-refugee-crisis.html |date=May 19, 2017}}</ref> He taught law at the University of Western Ontario, [[Osgoode Hall Law School]] and the [[University of Toronto]]. He wrote ''Canadian Constitutional Law in a Modern Perspective'', which was a popular constitutional law textbook in the 1970s. In 1994, he wrote a novel, ''The Chancellor's Foot''. He lectured on [[national security]] law and international [[terrorism]], and was an expert on communications and cultural law. He wrote on the exemption from [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] of Canadian cultural industries. In 2004, he was appointed [[Amicus Curiae]] to the [[Arar Commission]] in order to act as an independent counsel with the responsibility of testing government requests made on the grounds of national security confidentiality.<ref name=remembered/> Atkey served as legal counsel to [[Warner Communications]], and played a role in the company's merger with [[America Online]]. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=8898}} {{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box| before=New position| title=[[Security Intelligence Review Committee|Chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (Canada)]]| years=1984β1989| after=[[John W. H. Bassett]]}} {{s-end}} {{Clark Ministry}} {{CA-Ministers of Employment and Immigration}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkey, Ron}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:2017 deaths]] [[Category:Canadian legal scholars]] [[Category:Canadian King's Counsel]] [[Category:Lawyers in Ontario]] [[Category:Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry]] [[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]] [[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]] [[Category:Academic staff of the Osgoode Hall Law School]] [[Category:Politicians from Saint John, New Brunswick]] [[Category:Politicians from Toronto]] [[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law]] [[Category:University of Western Ontario alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario]] [[Category:Yale Law School alumni]] [[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
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