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November 04, 2025
Universal Human Rights: The case for strengthened domestic implementation in Canada with Alex Neve
In collaboration with the Masters of Human Rights (MHR) program, the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) will be hosting Alex Neve for a lecture titled Universal Human Rights: The case for strengthened domestic implementation in Canada.
The event will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 2:00 pm in 108 St. John’s College, University of Manitoba. For information on getting to the University of Manitoba, see: https://umanitoba.ca/about-um/our-campuses/getting-here
This is a free event. No registration is required.
About the lecture:
There is a tendency, certainly on the part of governments, to downplay the relevance of international human rights obligations within Canada. The norms are instead primarily seen as being applicable to other countries and therefore part of our foreign policy. As a result, the domestic framework for implementing those obligations by federal, provincial and territorial governments is notoriously ineffective. Alex Neve will consider the implications of that “implementation gap” and why Canada’s international human rights obligations can and must be taken seriously.
In collaboration with:
About the Presenter
Alex Neve is a renowned human rights advocate and the former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. He has a Masters of International Human Rights Law, With Distinction, from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Dalhousie University in Canada.
Alex is presently an adjunct professor teaching in the area of international human rights with the law faculties at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a Fellow with the Atlantic Human Rights Centre at St. Thomas University. He is a Barrister and Solicitor, and member of the Law Society of Ontario. Since June 2022 he has been serving as a Commissioner with the Ottawa People’s Commission on the Convoy Occupation.
He has worked extensively for Amnesty International in Canada and globally in a number of different roles. He has served as a Member of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board; worked at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada; been a visiting professor at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University; practiced as a lawyer, primarily in the area of refugee law, in private practice and as staff lawyer with a community legal aid clinic; and was a member of the inaugural staff team that established the Sojourn House shelter for refugee claimants.
Alex has honorary Doctorate of Laws Degrees from the University of New Brunswick, University of Waterloo and St. Thomas University in Canada. He has served as a Trudeau Foundation Mentor and has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Alex is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
