Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Axworthy, Lloyd
Parallel form(s) of name
- Norman Lloyd Axworthy
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1939-
History
Norman Lloyd Axworthy was born at North Battleford, Saskatchewan on the 21st of December 1939. He received a B.A. from United College in Winnigpeg. He attended Princeton University, receiving a Masters (1963) and a Ph.D (1972). He taught at the University of Winnipeg and directed its Institute of Urban Affairs before serving as a member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1979. He entered federal politics in May 1979 as a Liberal MP. He held several Cabinet positions, including minister of employment and immigration (1980-83), minister responsible for the Status of Women (1980-81) and minister of transport (1983-84). Following the Liberal defeat by the Progressive Conservatives in the 1984 election, Axworthy became Liberal critic for regional and industrial expansion, the Canadian Wheat Board (1984), trade (1985-1990) and external affairs (1990-1993). He was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien as minister of human resources development (1993-96). He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1996-2000. At the United Nations (UN), Axworthy became a strong advocate on behalf of women and children caught in the midst of armed conflict. His determination that state sovereignty could no longer shield abuses committed against civilians in a global society was the context for Canadian leadership over a treaty establishing an International Criminal Court (ICC) that came into force in July 2002. The ICC and child soldier campaigns earned Axworthy the North-South Institute's Peace Award. He became chair of the advisory board to the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) immediately following his term as foreign minister.
Upon retiring from political life, Lloyd Axworthy became the director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues and in 2004 was named president of the University of Winnipeg, which her retired from in 2014. His work on global issues continued as a member of the International Academic Council for the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE), as honourary chairman of the Canadian Landmine Foundation and as a member of the High Level Commission for the Legal Empowerment of the Poor at the United Nations. In January 2006, Axworthy was appointed by the Organization for American States (OAS) to head an OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Peru. As a UN envoy, Axworthy worked at resolving the Eritrean-Ethiopian War and was also an active proponent of the deployment of a hybrid UN-African Union force to the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.
Lloyd Axworthy was made an Officer of the ORDER OF CANADA in 2003.