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 the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Professional Associate at the University of British Columbia Research Group for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies, and an Adjunct Professor at the Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, where he teaches constitutional law.  He is 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 and was formerly a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He is the Editor of Constitutional Democracy Under stress: A Time For Heroic Citizenship (Mosaic Press),  The Notwithstanding Clause and the Canadian Charter: Rights, Reforms, and Controversies (McGill-Queen’s University Press), and Imperfect Ideal: Essays on Liberal Democracy in the Real World (Dundurn 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. He has been featured CBC Radio’s IDEAS with Nahlah Ayed, and TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin and on numerous other broadcasts and podcasts.