He attended Holy Angels Catholic School and Sault Collegiate Institute (Class of 1943), and entered St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario.

He was named president of the North Atlantic Assembly in 1971,[3] and also attended meetings of a group nicknamed "the Nine Wise Men", which had been formed to review NATO policy and organization.

The group consisted of one representative from each of the NATO countries, including former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, and later West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

[4] In October 1970, Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proclaimed a state of "apprehended insurrection" under the War Measures Act in response to the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Cross by Quebec separatists.

Regulations under the act permitted arrest and detention without charge and banned the kidnappers' organization, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ).