David Lametti

Lametti was born on August 10, 1962, in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, to Italian immigrants. Lametti earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the University of Toronto in 1985, and his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees at McGill University in 1989. He then served as a clerk to Justice Peter Cory^[5] of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989–90. In 1991, Lametti completed a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and in 1999, he completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree in law at Exeter College, Oxford,^[6][7] with a thesis, The Deon-Telos of Private Property: Ethical Aspects of the Theory and Practice of Private Property.^[8] At Oxford, Lametti served as co-captain of the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club alongside Mark Carney.^[9]

In 1995, after having been a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, Lametti accepted a lecturing position at the Faculty of Law, McGill University, where he taught and conducted research.^[10] He became an assistant professor in 1998, an associate professor in 2003, and was promoted to full professor with tenure in 2015.^[11] He lectured and wrote on subjects related to civil and common law property, intellectual property, property theory and ethics. His work led to the creation of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy, which he co-founded in 2003^[12] and for which he served as director from 2009 to 2011. He was Associate Dean (Academic) of the McGill Faculty of Law between 2008 and 2011, was a member of McGill University's Senate from 2012 to 2015, and was formerly a Governor of the Fondation du Barreau du Québec.^[13] During his parliamentary and ministerial service, he was on leave from McGill.

Lametti is the author of academic publications on the subjects of property, intellectual property, and social norms.^[14]

Lametti became interested in politics as a teenager, when he worked as a volunteer for the Liberal Party in the 1979 Canadian federal election, and then subsequent provincial and federal elections for Liberal candidates, including former MP and speaker, Gilbert Parent. Lametti co-founded the Erie Riding New Liberals, the youth wing of the Liberal Party of Canada in southern Niagara.

On June 16, 2014, Lametti launched his bid to become the Liberal Party candidate in the new riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. Lametti won the contested nomination race on February 8, 2015,^[15] and won the riding's seat in Parliament in the 2015 Canadian federal election.^[16] On December 2, 2015, Lametti was named parliamentary secretary to Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland.^[17] On January 26, 2017, Lametti was shuffled to become parliamentary secretary to Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains.^[18]

On January 14, 2019, Lametti was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and on April 15 of that year, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.^[19] Lametti was dropped from cabinet in July 2023 as the result of a cabinet shuffle. On January 25, 2024, he announced his resignation from parliament effective February 1, 2024, in order to join law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin where he will specialize in Indigenous law.^[20]

In June 2025, Lametti was reportedly chosen by Prime Minister Carney as his Principal Secretary.^[21] Prior to the appointment, he had helped with Carney's transition into office and as an informal advisor.^[22][23] In September 2025, it was reported that Lametti was leaving the Prime Minister's Office for a diplomatic posting. On September 18, he was named Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, taking over from Bob Rae on November 17.^[24][25] In 2026, Carney also named Lametti as Canada's representative to the Ismaili Imamat.^[26]