Marcel Aubut, (born January 5, 1948) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

lawyer, former president of the

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; ), also known as Team Canada, is a private nonprofit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee. It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization. History Cana ...

and former president and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He was a board member of many businesses and organizations. He is currently a Quebec City-based lawyer at M.A. Droit & Stratégie d'affaires inc. He previously worked at Heenan Blaikie and BCF.

Personal life

Born in

Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup () is a municipality in Quebec, Canada, in the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent and the regional county municipality of Rivière-du-Loup. Notable people *Leo Kerouac, father of author and poet Jack Ker ...

in Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality, Quebec, the son of Roland Aubut and Omérine Proulx, Aubut received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Académie de Québec in 1968, a Bachelor of Law degree from

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

in 1970, and a Master of Law degree in 1975 from Université Laval. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1972 and was created a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1987. In 1970, he married Francine Vallée. They had three children: Mélanie, Julie and Catherine.

Honours

In 1986, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and was promoted to Officer in 1993. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

. In 1999, he was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

Quebec Nordiques and hockey

He was a member of the

's Board of Governors. He is the former president of the

. He was also instrumental in the defections of Anton, Marian and

Peter Šťastný Peter Šťastný (; born 18 September 1956), also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a Slovak-Canadian former professional ice hockey player and politician who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. Š ...

from communist

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

to play for the

. When the Nordiques drafted future NHL superstar

Eric Lindros Eric Bryan Lindros (; born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals prior to being chosen first overall in the 1991 NHL entry d ...

in the 1991 draft, Lindros refused to play for the team. It was later revealed by Lindros in a 2016 interview that this decision was based entirely on Aubut, explaining, "The decision to not play for Quebec was based solely on the owner. It had nothing to do with language, culture, rcity. Keep in mind, my wife is French rom Quebec I was not going to play for that individual – period." Aubut was president of the Nordiques when the team was sold to an American communications company and moved to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1995, becoming the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. ''Maclean's'' magazine reported that Aubut personally made $15 million from the sale and that T-shirts reading "Marcel Aubut: Wanted Dead or Alive" were not an uncommon sight in Quebec City at the time. Recently, he proposed Quebec City as home of a new NHL team. Aubut argued that with the new NHL

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

and the coming

400th anniversary of Quebec City Quebec City's 400th anniversary, celebrated in 2008, commemorated the founding of Quebec City in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. Quebec City is the oldest French people, francophone city in North America. Along with Acadia, the city represents the ...

in 2008, the city could build a new arena or a stadium. On October 9, 2009 Aubut met with

NHL commissioner The National Hockey League commissioner () is the highest-ranking corporate title, executive officer in the National Hockey League (NHL). The position was created in 1993; Gary Bettman was named the first commissioner and remains the only person t ...

Gary Bettman Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the NHL commissioner, commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice preside ...

. The meeting reportedly dealt with plans for a brand new Quebec arena. The unofficial details were that the city of Quebec was a leading candidate for a new franchise or one for relocation. An agreement for a new arena was reached in March 2012.

Canadian Olympic Committee

Aubut was named a member at large of the

(COC) in 2000, and was elected to the Board of Governors and Executive Committee in 2005. In 2009, he was voted in as President-elect of the COC, taking over from Michael A. Chambers following the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in the spring of 2010. Aubut was the first francophone ever elected President of the COC. During his time as President, Aubut greatly raised the profile of Canada's Olympic athletes and expanded the COC's operations, with corresponding increases in revenues and expenditures supporting amateur sport. In 2014 Aubut was acclaimed to a second four-year term as President. He served as a member of the Board of the organizing committee for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

in Toronto, and was appointed to the International Relations Commission of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

. On September 25, 2015, the COC received a complaint from a staff member at the Canadian Olympic Foundation alleging sexual harassment by Aubut. One week later, two other women came forward with allegations and the investigation was expanded. The Foundation, a charitable organization that raises money for Olympic sport, shares office space with the COC in Toronto. On September 30, 2015, Aubut and the COC announced that he would step aside as President of the COC and Chair of the Foundation while the COC investigation into the matter was conducted. The COC engaged retired

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec () is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Quebec Court of Appeal. Jurisdictio ...

justice François Rolland as an independent investigator. After more allegations against Aubut appeared in the press, Aubut resigned as President of the COC on October 3, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubut, Marcel 1948 births Canadian ice hockey owners Ice hockey people from Bas-Saint-Laurent Lawyers in Quebec Living people National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners Officers of the National Order of Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada Quebec Nordiques executives Université Laval alumni Canadian King's Counsel Presidents of the Canadian Olympic Committee