Peter is the Founder and President of SECTION 1. Lawyer, educator, writer, democracy scholar and advocate, businessman and community leader, he is a passionate advocate for the causes of liberal democracy, civil liberties, human rights, wildlife conservation and animal welfare. He is a Senior Fellow of Massey College, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Law and School of Graduate Studies, a Centre Associate at the University of British Columbia Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Chair Emeritus and Past-Chair of the Jane Goodall Institute, Global (Global Secretariat), and member of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation Council For Hope, and of the Canadian International Council Advisory Board.  For two decades, Peter was a leading member of the litigation and employment bars in Ontario and was a partner at two distinguished full service “Bay Street” law firms.  Following his time in private practice, he led Newcon Optik as Chief Exectuive Officer for over a decade before devoting himself full-time to the mission of Section 1.  He has served as a Governor of the University of Haifa and as President of Canadian Friends of Haifa University. He is the Editor of Constitutional Democracy Under stress: A Time For Heroic Citizenship (Mosaic Press), and of The Notwithstanding Clause and the Canadian Charter: Rights, Reforms, and Controversies (McGill-Queen’s University Press).

Following his undergraduate and graduate education in political science (University of Guelph, McMaster University and University of Toronto), Peter studied law at McGill University where he obtained degrees in both the common law and civil law. Peter has written and lectured frequently on law, government, political theory and global affairs and has appeared on television, radio and in other media to comment on news stories of special interest and on developments in the law and politics.