Marin, René J, 1935- : A native of Northern Ontario, René J. Marin was appointed a member of the Ontario Municipal Board in 1966 (the first Francophone to occupy this position). He was made a Judge of the Ontario Provincial Court (Criminal Division) in 1967 and rose to the District Court. In 1973 he was appointed Local Judge of the Ontario High Court of Justice. In 1993 Marin was designated Deputy Judge of the Federal Court of Canada (Employment Insurance Act). He has been a Queen's Counsel (QC) since 1982.
Marin has held several significant positions within the Federal government including: Director of Research for the Law Reform Commission of Canada; Deputy Solicitor General of Canada; Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Museums of Canada (the driving force behind the construction of the Museum of Civilization, the National Gallery, and the Aviation Museum); first Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canada Post Corporation; Chair of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) External Review Committee; and a member and the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ottawa General Hospital (1979-1984).
He headed a number of investigations and studies including: the Continuing Education Committee of Algonquin College, Ottawa; the Commission of Inquiry Relating to Public Complaints, Internal Discipline and Grievance Procedure Within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1974); the Commission of Inquiry Relating to the Security and Investigative Services of the Post Office Department (1980); the Special Committee to Study Procedures Under the Pensions Act (1984); the External Review of the Special Investigation Unit of the Canadian Armed Forces (1990); the Board of Inquiry on Activities of the RCMP Related to Allegations Made in the Senate of Canada (1991); the RCMP External Review Committee (1987-92); the External Review of the Protective Services of Ports Canada (1992); the Review of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Service (1993); and the Audit of the Special Investigation Unit of the Canadian Armed Forces (1994).
Marin has been an important influence in the realm of French-English language issues. In 1989, he jointly headed the Study on Language Requirements (English-French) of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves. In 1994, he chaired the Advisory Committee on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. For a five-year period, he was designated the final arbiter of all union disputes at Ottawa's French-language newspaper Le Droit. In 1989, by order, he was appointed one of three final arbiters to settle the issue of division of assets among the English-language and French-language Catholic schools in the Outaouais region. From 1986 to 1991 he was honorary Co-President of the Fondation franco-ontarienne, which offers financial incentives to young French-speaking Ontario residents in the field of culture and the arts in Ontario.
René Marin is the author of two publications on the law of evidence in Canada: La recevabilité des déclarations extrajudiciaires (SOQUIJ, 1990) and Admissibility of Statements, 9th edition, (Canada Law Book, 1992). In co-operation with the School of Business Administration of the University of Canberra, Australia, he published Keeping the Peace (1994), a continuation of his Canadian compilation entitled The Police Function in Canada (Methuen). He is also the author of Policing in Canada: Issues for the 21st Century (Canada Law Book, 1997).
In May 1993, he was the guest lecturer at the Royal Institute on Public Administration of Australia, at Charles Sturt University in Sydney, Australia; in June 1994, he was guest lecturer for the International Association of Airport and Seaport Police in Taiwan, Republic of China; in February 1995, he was invited by NATO to be an international observer for the 1995 Strong Resolve exercise in Norway; in March 1995, he was the guest lecturer for a study workshop of the International Association of Airport and Seaport Police in Miami. In June 1998, he spoke at a symposium on policing in Singapore. In April 2000, he was one of two guest lecturers at the symposium of the Inter-American Development Bank held in Barbados: his topic was "The Challenge of Establishing a Rule of Law: Institution Strengthening and Institution Building", and this address was subsequently published by the International Development Bank (IDB).
In the field of peacekeeping, he has been consulted by civilian and police authorities from Quebec, Ontario, Italy, France, England, the United States, Australia, the colony of Hong Kong, Thailand, Belgium, and the Organization of American States (OAS). He is a part-time professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa, where he teaches Advanced Criminal Procedure and Advanced Criminal Law and was one of the persons who introduced the teaching of common law in French. He was the Advisor on Good Governance to the Human Rights, Judicial Reform and Administration of Justice and the Police Program of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Haiti; and was Advisor to the United Nations when it audited operations in Haiti.
He holds the rank of General in the Canadian Navy Reserve, was appointed Special Advisor to the Commander of the Canadian Fleet and a member of the Naval Board (the first Franco-Ontarian to hold this rank and this position). He was appointed vice-chancellor (2002-2005) and chancellor (2005-2008) of the Order of St. John, Priory of Canada. He has been decorated by Canada (Officer of the Order of Military Merit, Jubilee Medals, Canada 125 Medal, Canadian Decoration, and the Order of Canada); the Order of St. John (Knight); NATO (Service Medal); the Republic of Italy (Grand Officer of Merit), the Holy See (Commander of St. Gregory, and Order of Malta (Knight of Magistral Grace), for organization of the Pope's visit to Ottawa); the Conseil de la vie française en Amérique (Ordre de la Fidélité française en Amérique, in recognition of his dedication to the French language and culture in America), the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (Officier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade) and the Order of Ontario.
