Mark M Persaud

Mark M. Persaud is a Canadian lawyer and public figure. He is a former Federal Prosecutor. He is currently a Senior Counsel at the Persaud Law Group.

Persaud was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) in South America where he grew up and attended high school. He was active in politics as a student and eventually departed to Canada alone as a youth in the early 1980's as a result of civil and political unrest in his country of birth. He started life in Canada as a homeless youth on the streets of Toronto in winter from where he was rescued by the Scott Mission, a Christian outreach organisation.

Dr. Persaud attended York University where he read political science. He then attended Osgoode Hall Law School for his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B. in 1991) and Master of Laws (LL.M. in 2001). He also studied at the Center for Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard University. On June 17th, 2016, he received a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) honoris causa from the Law Society of Upper Canada.

He was the founder and director of several non-governmental organisations providing advocacy and services for refugees, immigrants and others. Much of his work with refugees was initially funded by the United Church of Canada.

He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1993. He worked as a legal counsel and federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice (Canada) for approximately ten years. During this period, he was also seconded to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as legal counsel.

He subsequently worked in a private law firm in Toronto where he practised in both civil, criminal and regulatory law before starting the Persaud Law Group in 2011.

He was twice elected to the National Executive of the Liberal Party of Canada. He served as an Advisor to a Federal Cabinet Minister. He has also chaired and advised on political campaigns at the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels. As a result of internal disagreements with senior staff to Prime Minister Paul Martin regarding the unequal treatment of minorities in the party he left the Liberal Party of Canada and publicly supported the Conservative Party of Canada[1] in the 2008 election. He is currently not affiliated to any political party.

In 1986, three years after arriving in Canada, he was nominated and short listed for the Toronto Man of the Year for his work with refugees. He was also the founder, director, advisor and volunteer with non-profit organisations and has won awards and recognitions for his public service. These achievements include the 2007 Alumni Public Sector Law Gold Key award from Osgoode Hall Law School, both the Queen Golden and Queen Diamond Jubilee medals for leadership and service to Canada. He was nominated by the diplomatic community for the 2006 Seoul Peace Prize and recognised by the The Law Society of Upper Canada as an exceptional lawyer (1941–present) as part of their Lawyers Make History Project.

He has been an active human rights activist for over three decades. He has worked on refugee protection, racial and gender equality and homelessness. He publicly exposed racism and discrimination at the Department of Justice when he was invited to testify before the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights.

Persaud is the founder and president of the Canadian International Peace Project (CIPP), an organization that promotes inter-community goodwill through personal relationships between community members.