Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he has a DCL from McGill University, a Master of Laws from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario. As well he has diplomas from Hague Academy of International Law in The Hague and La Sorbonne in Paris.\n', '

As a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons he represented the riding of Willowdale in Toronto. Peterson ran as a candidate for the Liberal Party in the 1979 election but was defeated. He ran again in the 1980 election and won. He served as a backbencher under Pierre Trudeau and as a parliamentary secretary from 1981 to 1983. He supported John Turner\'s successful bid to succeed Trudeau in the 1984 Liberal leadership contest but lost his seat in the 1984 election. He was returned to Parliament as a result of the 1988 election and was re-elected in each subsequent election until his retirement in 2007.\n', '

In 1997, Jean Chrétien appointed him to the Ministry as the Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions), but Peterson was sent back to the backbench in 2002. He returned to serve in the cabinet of Paul Martin, whom Peterson had long supported.\n', '

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