Finally! Reforming Politics: The BC Blueprint
A Fraser Institute Conference,
November 22, 2001, Vancouver, BC, Canada
[Contents]
Speaker Biographies
Barry Cooper
Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary
Barry Cooper, a fourth generation Albertan, was educated at Shawnigan Lake School, the University of British Columbia and Duke University (Ph.D. 1969). He taught at several universities in eastern Canada before moving to the University of Calgary in 1981. He has published over twenty books and numerous articles in political science and public policy. He is a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His weekly column in the Calgary Herald is reprinted in the Saskatoon Leader Post, the Regina Star-Phoenix, and other newspapers in the Southam chain. His articles have also appeared in the Globe and Mail and the National Post. Barry has been a guest on many radio and television programs across the country and has appeared as an expert witness before the House of Commons and in several Charter-based court cases.
David Elton
Vice Chair, Canada West Foundation
David Elton is a professor emeritus of the University of Lethbridge, where he was a faculty member for 27 years. From 1980 to 1997, he served as President of Canada West Foundation, which is a Calgary-based public policy think tank. He continues to serve on the Boards of a number of national research and public-policy oriented organizations.
Peter C. Dobell, CM
Founding Director, Canadian Parliamentary Centre
Mr. Dobell was born in Montreal in 1927. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1952 and served in Ottawa, Czechoslovakia (1954-1957) and at the united nations (1960-1965). He resigned in 1968 in order to set up the Parliamentary Centre, an NGO dedicated to strengthening the role of Parliament. Mr. Dobell is the author of many studies and books including Canada’s Search for New Roles; Canada in World Affairs 1971-73; Parliament and the Control of Public Expenditure commissioned by the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability; Comments on Parliamentary Reform prepared for the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada; Anger at the System assisted by Byron Berry. He also assisted in form the institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) in 1971 and serves on the Institute’s Board. Mr. Dobell is a Member of the Trilateral Commission and a Member of the Order of Canada.
Herbert G. Grubel
David Somerville Chair in Canadian Fiscal Studies, The Fraser Institute
Herbert G. Grubel is Professor of Economics (Emeritus) at Simon Fraser University and a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute in Canada. He has a B.A. from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University (1963). He has taught full-time at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has held temporary appointments at universities in Berlin, Singapore, Cape Town, Nairobi, Oxford, and Canberra. Herbert Grubel was an elected member of the Parliament of Canada from 1993 to 1997 and served as the Minister of Finance in his party’s shadow cabinet. He has published many books and articles on economics and finance.
Nick Loenen
Fair Voting BC
Nick Loenen is a former Richmond City Councillor (1983-87), and former Member of the British Columbian Legislature (1986-91). He obtained his Masters Degree in political science from UBC in 1995. His book, Citizenship and Democracy, A Case for Proportional Representation was published by Dundurn Press in 1997. He is a member of the Canadian Study of Parliament Group, and travelled to Gabon, Africa as one of four Canadians to observe and monitor the elections there on December 6, 1998. Nick chaired the Reform Party of Canada’s Task Force on Electoral Reform in 1997. He is co-founder of Fair Voting BC, a citizens organization dedicated to changing the way British Columbians elect their MLAs. He serves on the national board of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Andrew Petter
Acting Dean of Law, University of Victoria
Andrew J. Petter was called to the Bar of Saskatchewan in 1983. Professor Petter joined the Faculty as Assistant Professor in 1986 and was promoted to Assiciate Professor in 1988. Prior to joining the Faculty, he served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and held numerous cabinet portfolios, including Attorney General. His major fields of interest are constitutional law, legal and political theory, legislative and regulatory processes and contracts. He has written extensively on these topics and has contributed chapters to several works on constitutional law. Professor Petter teaches Constitutional Law, Contracts and Legal Process. Professor Petter is currently the Acting Dean of Law at the University of Victoria.
The Honourable John Reid
Information Commissioner for Canada
John Reid was born on February 8, 1937 in Fort Frances, Ontario. He is married to the former Marie E. Balcaen and they have four children. He received a B.A. in 1959 and an M.A. (History) in 1961 from the University of Manitoba. He continued his studies in History at the University of Toronto from 1960 to 1963.
In 1984, he started John Reid Consulting, a public policy and government affairs consulting business. He also became the part-time Executive Director of the Forum for Young Canadians, a position he held for 5 years. From 1987 to 1990, he held the position of Founding Chairman for the Association of Former Members of Parliament. Mr. Reid was the President of the Canadian Nuclear Association in Toronto from 1990 to 1995. In 1996, he represented Canada as a senior member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a member of the Provisional Election Commission with responsibility for the writing of an Election Act and its implementation. In 1997, he joined the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slovenia (Southern Croatia), where he was Political Advisor to the Chief Electoral Officer. On July 1, 1998, Mr. Reid began his seven-year term as Canada's Information Commissioner.
Scott Reid
Member of Parliament, Lanark/Carleton
Scott Reid was born in 1964 in Hull, Quebec. He received his BA in Political Science (1985) and his MA in History (1989)from Carleton University in Ottawa. Since aquiring his degrees he has been an Assistant Editor for Liberty Magazine, a Senior Researcher for the Reform Party of Canada, a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Canadian Studies, University of Western Sydney, Australia, as well as an Author, Editor and Journalist in Ottawa. Among his many publications are "The Quebec Question: Debt Division and the Rule of Law" in William Gairdner, ed., After Liberalism (Toronto: Stoddart, pp.193-212) in 1998, his books Lament for a Nation: The Life and Death of Canada's Bilingual Dream (1993) and Canada Remapped: How the Partition of Quebec will Reshape the Nation (1992), as well as numerous articles in the National Post.
Currently, Mr. Reid sits on the Board of Directors, Giant Tiger Stores Ltd., Ottawa and Civitas, Toronto as well as a Contributing Editor for Liberty Magazine. He has several works in progress about the state of the nation.
Ted White
Member of Parliament, North Vancouver
Although Ted spent the early part of his life in New Zealand, he and his wife Sue immigrated to Canada in 1979 and have lived in North Vancouver for 22 years. Ted played an active role in the development of the Reform Party. He submitted amendments to the Party Constitution that were passed at the Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Vancouver National Assemblies and has served as a Director of the Riding Association in North Vancouver.
Ted was elected as the MP for North Vancouver in 1993 and was re-elected with increased majorities in 1997 and 2000. His main goals are to work for reform of the political system to permit truly free and representative votes in the House of Commons, and to legislate for Canadians the right to citizens' initiatives, referendum and recall. He is a member of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.
[Contents]
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