- Purdy Crawford
Purdy Crawford, CC (born 1931) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist.
Purdy Crawford, the "dean emeritus of Canada's corporate bar" is a native of Five Islands, Nova Scotia, and a graduate of Mount Allison University, Dalhousie Law School and Harvard Law School. He pursued his legal career with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, practising primarily in the corporate/commercial area. He joined Imasco as C.E.O. in 1985 - retiring as C.E.O. in 1995 but continuing as non-executive Chairman of Imasco Limited, CT Financial Services Inc. and Canada Trustco Mortgage Company until February 1, 2000.
Mr. Crawford sits on the boards of several large Canadian companies. He is Chair of the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee for Third-Party Structured Asset Backed Commercial Paper, is the former Chair of the Five-Year Review Committee, appointed to review securities legislation in Ontario, and is also the former Chair of the Securities Industry Committee on Analyst Standards. In 1996 he became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of Nova Scotia in 1997 and became a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors in 1999. In 2000 he was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and named Ivey Business Leader of the Year. He is Chancellor Emeritus of Mount Allison University.
Education
Born in
Five Islands, Nova Scotia , he received aBachelor of Arts degree fromMount Allison University in 1952, aBachelor of Laws degree fromDalhousie Law School in 1955, and aMaster of Laws fromHarvard Law School in 1956. He was called to the Bar ofNova Scotia in 1956 and the Bar of Ontario in 1958. He was created aQueen's Counsel in 1968.Law career
In 1956, he joined the law firm of
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt as a student. Specializing in corporate and commercial law, he became an Associate Lawyer in 1958, Partner in 1962, and a Senior Partner from 1970 to 1985. He articled withRoland Ritchie and studied labour law withArchie Cox . From 1964 to 1968, he was a Special Lecturer at theOsgoode Hall Law School ofYork University and taught at theUniversity of Toronto Law School from 1969 to 1971.Business career
In 1985, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of Imasco Ltd., becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1986, and Chairman, President and CEO in 1987. He retired as CEO in 1995 and as Chairman OF Imasco Ltd. in 2000.
Recent years
He re-joined Osler as Counsel in 2000.
He was the Chairman of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), Chancellor of Mount Allison University, and Chairman of
AT&T Canada Corporation. He was a corporate director for Canadian National Railway and is currently a member of the board of theMaple Leaf Foods, Inc. . He is a former Governor of the University of Waterloo.He was chairman of the Ontario Government's Crawford Panel on a Single Canadian Securities Regulator. Crawford is acting as the lead negotiator for resolution of the Canadian financial institutions' crisis in Asset-Backed Commercial Paper, which was primarily caused by the collapse in the
subprime mortgage market in theUnited States in 2007.Honours
In 1996, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada "as the quintessential corporate philanthropist" and "as a caring and sensitive leader". [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=3570] In 2007, he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada. [http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5131] In 1997 he was inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame and theCanadian Business Hall of Fame in 2000.The Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre at Mount Allison University is named in his honour. Dalhousie University's Faculty of Law established the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law in his honour.
References
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