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'Deborah Margaret Ryland Coyne,' (born 1955), LLB , MPhil is a Canadian constitutional lawyer, professor and author. Her education includes a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University in international relations.

Contents

Early Career

Opposition to the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords

Recent Career

Family

Published Works

References

Early Career

She was a staffer in the Prime Minister's Office of John Turner, before spending two years teaching constitutional law at the University of Toronto Law School; she has also worked for the Business Council on National Issues and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Opposition to the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords

Deborah Coyne's role in the debate over the Meech Lake Accord is notable. Meech Lake was a comprehensive package of constitutional amendments designed to gain the province of Quebec's formal acceptance of the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. Coyne was among many prominent Liberals who disagreed with the Accord, including Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Donald Johnston and Jean Chretien, although the issue split the federal Liberal caucus. She was a founding member of the Canadian Coalition on the Constitution, a grass-roots group that opposed the Accord. From 1989 to 1991, Coyne served as constitutional advisor to Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells. Among the premiers, Wells was the staunchest opponent of the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord. Following the death of the Accord, partly at the hands of the Newfoundland House of Assembly, she opposed the Charlottetown Accord, a subsequent attempt to amend the Canadian constitution. The Charlottetown agreement was submitted to a national referendum in 1992 and was ultimately rejected by a majority of Canadian voters. Coyne campaigned actively for the "no" campaign.

Recent Career

Until the 2006 federal election was called she was a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.^[1] In that election, she ran in the electoral district of Toronto—Danforth as a Liberal Party candidate against New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton. Coyne finished second to Layton with 17,256 votes, or 34.2%. In the next federal election, Coyne intends^[2] to again compete against Layton^[3] and Green Party candidate Charles Battershill.^[4]

Family

Deborah Coyne is the cousin of journalist Andrew Coyne and actress Susan Coyne, and the niece of former Bank of Canada governor James Coyne. She has two children: Sarah (born in 1991) is the daughter of Pierre Trudeau, whom she dated at the time but did not mary; and a son, Matthew from her later marriage to Canadian journalist Michael Valpy. Vaply and Coyne have since divorced. Deborah Coyne now lives with her family in Toronto.

Published Works

''Roll of the Dice: Working with Clyde Wells during the Meech Lake Accord'', Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., 1992.

''Seven Fateful Challenges for Canada: A Viable and Dynamic Canada in an Interdependent World'', Montreal/Toronto: Robert Davies Publishing, 1993.

References

★ deborahcoyne.ca
1. Constitutional expert may run for Liberals
2. Notes for remarks by Deborah Coyne on the occasion of her nomination as the federal Liberal candidate for the riding of Toronto Danforth
3. Election fever gripping parties: Liberals and NDP hold nomination meetings in case Tories call vote Susan Delacort
4. Town Crier article by Karolyn Coorsh