{{short description|Canadian politician and lawyer}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | honorific_prefix = | name = Ted McWhinney | honorific_suffix = {{Post nominals|country=CAN|QC|size=100%}} | caption = | parliament = Canadian | riding = [[Vancouver Quadra]] | term_start = October 25, 1993 | term_end = November 26, 2000 | predecessor = [[John Turner]] | successor = [[Stephen Owen (politician)|Stephen Owen]] | birth_name = Edward Watson McWhinney | birth_date = {{birth date|1924|5|19}} | birth_place = [[Lismore, New South Wales|Lismore]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|5|19|1924|5|19}} | death_place = [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada | party = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] | spouse = }} '''Edward Watson McWhinney''' {{Post nominals|country=CAN|QC}} (May 19, 1924 – May 19, 2015) was a Canadian lawyer and academic specializing in constitutional and international law. He was a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] Member of [[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]] from 1993 to 2000 for the electoral district of [[Vancouver Quadra]].
==Life and career== Born in [[Lismore, New South Wales]], [[Australia]], McWhinney, received his secondary education at [[North Sydney Boys High School]], which he followed by study at the [[University of Sydney]], becoming President of the [[Sydney University Liberal Club]] and [[University of Sydney Students Representative Council|Student Representative Council]]. McWhinney was a [[professor emeritus]] at [[Simon Fraser University]] and an expert on the [[Canadian Constitution]] who was often called upon to advise the Canadian government. He reportedly advised successive [[Prime Minister of Canada|Canadian prime ministers]] since [[John Diefenbaker]], as well as several [[Governor General of Canada|governors general]].
He held professorships at [[Yale University|Yale]], the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], [[University of Toronto|Toronto]], [[McGill University|McGill]], [[Indiana University|Indiana]], the [[Collège de France]], and at the [[Meiji University]] in [[Tokyo]].<ref>[http://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ls/McWhinney_bio.pdf Biography of McWhinney on the website of the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law.]</ref> He was a legal consultant to the United Nations; constitutional adviser to the Premier of [[Ontario]] and to the Premier of [[Quebec]]; chief adviser to the Canadian government's Task Force on National Unity (the Pepin-Robarts Commission); Royal Commissioner of Enquiry to the Government of Quebec; Special Commissioner of Enquiry for the Government of [[British Columbia]]; special adviser to the Canadian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, as well as constitutional and international law adviser to a number of foreign governments.
The author of 24 books (two of them in French and one in German), editor of 11 symposium volumes, and author of several hundred scientific articles, he was the first jurist from Canada to be elected to the century-old [[Institut de Droit International]]. He was a member of the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]] in [[The Hague]] and was a member of the Institut Grand-Ducal of Luxembourg, and of the Académie Internationale de Droit Comparé in Paris. He died on May 19, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/vancouversun/obituary.aspx?pid=174922113|title=Edward McWHINNEY Obituary|work=The Vancouver Sun}}</ref>
==Legal theory== In 2005, in anticipation of the publication of his book, ''The Governor General and the Prime Ministers'', Canadian media sources reported that McWhinney, a professor of constitutional law and former [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]], had suggested that a future government of Canada could begin a process of phasing out the monarchy after the eventual demise of [[Elizabeth II]] "quietly and without fanfare by simply failing legally to proclaim any successor to the Queen in relation to Canada". This would, he claimed, be a way of bypassing the need for a constitutional amendment that would require unanimous consent by the federal parliament and all the provincial legislatures.<ref>Barbara Yaffe, "Ditching royals is easy, expert says When Queen ends her reign, Canada can just fail to proclaim Charles as the king", ''The Vancouver Sun'', February 17, 2005</ref> However, Ian Holloway, Dean of Law at the [[University of Western Ontario]], criticised McWhinney's proposal for its ignorance of provincial input and opined that its implementation "would be contrary to the plain purpose of those who framed our system of government."<ref>{{Citation| last=Holloway| first=Ian| year=2005| editor-last=Ed. Staff| editor-link=Monarchist League of Canada| title=Liberal Stalking Horse for Stealth Ending of Monarchy?| periodical=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Spring 2005| issue=23| page=2| publication-place=Toronto| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf| accessdate=18 May 2009| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226172807/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf| archivedate=26 February 2009}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://legal.un.org/avl/faculty/McWhinney.html Lectures and writings by Ted McWhinney published on the website of the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law] *{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=6488}} *[http://www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline/20060113b.html Audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McWhinney, Ted}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2015 deaths]] [[Category:People from Lismore, New South Wales]] [[Category:Politicians from Vancouver]] [[Category:Australian emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:Lawyers in British Columbia]] [[Category:Canadian legal scholars]] [[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]] [[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia]] [[Category:Members of the Institut de Droit International]] [[Category:Yale University alumni]] [[Category:Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration]] [[Category:People educated at North Sydney Boys High School]] [[Category:Canadian judges of international courts and tribunals]] [[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]