April 27, 2017
Mr. Pierre Deschamps graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Université de Montréal in 1972 where he obtained a degree in Religious Studies. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at McGill University in 1975. He has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1976. For more than 20 years, he was an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law at McGill University where he taught tort law and human rights law while practicing in the areas of civil liability and class actions.
Mr. Deschamps served as a judge on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for 10 years (2000 to 2009). He was a member of the Panel of Experts set up by the three federal granting agencies to revise the Tri-Council Policy Statement (2001 to 2008). Mr. Deschamps also served as an expert on the Experts Committee on Accreditation created by national organizations and federal agencies to assess the need in Canada for an accreditation system for organizations conducting research on humans (2006 to 2007).
Mr. Deschamps is the author of a number of articles on end-of-life care and has delivered many lectures on the subject. He is a member of the Legal and Human Rights Committee of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. In 2016, he was appointed to the Quebec End-of-Life Care Commission.
In 2000, Mr. Deschamps was made a member of the Order of Canada for his volunteer work and his contribution to research ethics. In 2003, he was made a chevalier of the Order of the French Academic Palms by the French Government. In 2013, he was awarded the honorary distinction of Lawyer Emeritus by the Quebec Bar.