John D. McKellar

Lawyer John McKellar is partner emeritus at WeirFoulds LLP. In the course of a busy commercial law, he is or has been a director or officer of various corporations, including the Giffels and NORR (now “Ingenium”) group of architects and engineers, Fruit of the Loom Canada Ltd., General Mills Canada Ltd., CHUM Ltd., Uniroyal Ltd., Musique Plus Inc., SportsNet Inc. and Netstar Communications Inc.  He has been an advisor to the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Canadian Tax Foundation.

McKellar is known for the many performing artists and arts organizations he has advised, counselled and supported. He is now the chair of the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and the Young Centre for the Performing Arts; vice-chair of the Ontario Arts Foundation; and director of the Tarragon Theatre, Off-Centre Musica Salon and the Glenn Gould Foundation. He is a past-president of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and a former director of the Canada Council for the Arts. He has, alone or with others, produced theatrical shows across Canada and in the United States and has several theatrical projects now in development. 

He became a member of the Order of Canada in 1996, being described as a “lawyer, volunteer, and impresario.” In 2011, he was awarded the Edmund C. Bovey Award, which is presented by Business for the Arts for demonstrating a lifetime of significant support or leadership in arts and culture in Canada. He is also a recipient of the 2002 and 2012 Queen’s Jubilee Medals.