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Foresight Committee
Pierre Marc Johnson
Lawyer and Physician
Former Prime Minister of Quebec
Biography
Pierre Marc Johnson trained as both a physician and a lawyer, has distinguished himself above all through his political career (member of cabinet in numerous postings from 1976 to 1985 before becoming Prime Minister of Quebec) and since going back to private life, his involvement in public policy issues related to sustainable development. He is currently Senior Counsel with the law firm of Heenan Blaikie and serves on numerous corporate boards as a Director. He acts in commercial negotiations and the setting up of international partnerships. Former Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the National Round Table on Environment and the Economy in Canada (1990-1997), he regularly publishes articles on the workings of globalization.
He frequently participates in international negotiations on environmental and developmental issues: he was Rapporteur General of the Bergen Conference (Norway, 1991), special advisor to the Secretary General at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio, 1992), chair of a working group and mediator on financial issues at the Conference of Parties for the International Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 1993-1997, Chargé de mission for the UN in Africa in the early implementation stages of the UNCCD; he chairs the Ten Year Review Committee of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (2003). He has acted as an expert advisor for various G7 and later G8 preparatory meetings dealing with sustainable development issues. He was Council member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He lectures in Universities and is an invited speaker to professional, business and NGO gatherings in the Americas and Europe.