Yves Fortier is a Canadian diplomat, trial and appellate lawyer, arbitrator and corporate director. From 1988 to 1991, Maître Fortier was Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, which was the last time Canada had a seat on the UN Security Council.

In this podcast, Yves Fortier is interviewed by Valerie Hughes (former director of the Legal Affairs Division of the World Trade Organization from 2010 to 2016) about a range of topics that span his illustrious career in international law. The interview was recorded in Ottawa in April 2017 at the initial Exploratory Workshop for CIGI’s project on Canada in International Law at 150: Our Past, Present and Future. 

The topics for this workshop, and the book project that has emerged from it, cover a range of discrete international legal subjects that includes sources of international law, the intersection of Indigenous and international law, international economic law, international environmental law, international intellectual property law, and international human rights and humanitarian law. Viewed as a whole, these topics are an exploration of Canada’s place in the making of international law as well as the legal consequences of Canada’s work in international organizations at home and abroad.