Jacques Courtois

Background

Courtois was born in Montreal.

Career

Courtois was appointed chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee on December 23, 1992, the third person ever to chair the body responsible for oversight of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. During World World War II he served with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and called to the Quebec bar in 1946. He practiced law with the firm of MacDougall, MacFarlane, Scott & Hugessen, which later became Courtois, Clarkson, Parsons & Tétreault, until 1982.

Following his retirement from his law firm he served on several board including as chair of the educational publishers McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

He was also president of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Incorporated, vice-president of the Bank of Nova Scotia and also of the Canadian Life Assurance Company as well as on several other boards of directors. He was appointed Queen"s Counsel in 1963.

Courtois was the President of the Montreal Canadiens from 1972 until 1979. He succeeded J. David Molson and was succeeded by Morgan McCammon.

Courtois Junior fled to Bogota, Colombia, where he was a fugitive for several years before pleading guilty to insider trading charges in New York in 1983.

Achievements

• He won 5 Stanley Cups with Montreal in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979.

Membership

Upon being appointed to SIRC he became a member of the Queen"s Privy Council for Canada which entitled him to the honorific "The Honourable".