Jacques Courtois

Who was Jacques Courtois?

Edmond Jacques Courtois, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and public official. 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.

Courtois was born in Montreal. During 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 CIIT Inc, 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. 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".

Courtois was the President of the Montreal Canadiens from 1972 until 1979. He succeeded J. David Molson and was succeeded by Morgan McCammon. He won 5 Stanley Cups with Montreal in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979.