Sean Speer
{{Short description|Canadian academic and political commentator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sean Speer
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| caption = Sean Speer
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| birth_place = Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
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| education = {{ubl|Lakehead University (B.A)| Carleton University (M.A.)}}
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| known_for = {{hlist | Public Policy | columnist}}
| party = Conservative Party
}}
{{Conservatism in Canada|Commentators}}
Sean Speer is a Canadian academic, commentator, and public policy analyst. He is senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy,{{Cite web|title=Sean Speer {{!}} Public Policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy {{!}} University of Toronto|url=https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/publicpolicy/sean-speer/|access-date=2021-04-30|language=en-US}} Fellow in strategic competitiveness at the Public Policy Forum,{{Cite web|title=Sean Speer|url=https://ppforum.ca/person/sean-speer/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=Public Policy Forum|language=en}} Editor-at-large at The Hub,{{Cite web|title=Sean Speer|url=https://thehub.ca/author/seanspeer/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=thehub.ca}} and a regular contributor to the National Post.{{Cite web|title=Sean-Speer {{!}} National Post|url=https://nationalpost.com/tag/sean-speer/|access-date=2021-05-01|website=nationalpost|language=en-CA}} He has been published in The Globe and Mail,{{Cite web|title=Search Results|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Globe and Mail|language=en-CA}} Maclean's,{{Cite web|last1=Boessenkool|first1=Ken|last2=Speer|first2=Sean |date=2015-12-01|title=Stephen Harper's open federalism changed Canada for the better|url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/how-stephen-harpers-open-federalism-changed-canada-for-the-better/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Macleans.ca|language=en}} C2CJournal,{{Cite web|last=Speer|first=Sean|title=Sean Speer, Author at C2C Journal|url=http://c2cjournal.ca/author/sean-speer/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=C2C Journal|language=en-US}} National Review,{{Cite web|title=Sean Speer|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/author/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=National Review|language=en-US}} and Policy Options.{{Cite web|last1=Boessenkool|first1=Ken|last2=Speer|first2=Sean|date=2015-12-01|title=Ordered Liberty|url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2015/12/01/harper/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Policy Options|language=en}}
Career
= Political Career =
In 2007, Speer was convinced to put off finishing his PhD studies in economics to join President of the Treasury Board Vic Toews' office as a policy adviser.{{Cite web|date=2012-01-06|title=Wright reorganizes PMO, Curran now director of stakeholder relations|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2012/01/06/wright-reorganizes-pmo-curran-now-director-of-stakeholder-relations/19194|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}} In 2009, he joined the Prime Minister's Office as a policy adviser, responsible for the Finance portfolio. By 2010, he began also serving as a manager in stakeholder relations while maintaining a role as policy adviser. The Hill Times reported that he was "rumoured to have disliked the stakeholder relations position", and in 2012, he was named the PMO's senior economic policy adviser, responsible for the Finance and the Treasury Board portfolio.
In 2012, Speer became Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Director of Policy.{{Cite web|date=2012-04-27|title=Minister Flaherty hires Speer as director of policy, Minister Aglukkaq has a new chief of staff|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2012/04/27/minister-flaherty-hires-speer-as-director-of-policy-minister-aglukkaq-has-a-new-chief-of-staff/20578|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}} Before the July 2013 cabinet shuffle, he announced his resignation and joined the Fraser Institute as director of the Centre for Fiscal Studies.{{Cite web|date=2013-08-29|title=Bonokoski PMO's new deputy director of strategic communications|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2013/08/29/bonokoski-pmos-new-deputy-director-of-strategic-communications/25776|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}} In November 2014, he rejoined the PMO as a special adviser, while also working with senior Conservatives on the party's 2015 election platform.{{Cite web|date=2014-11-24|title=Speer back in PMO, Fast has new chief of staff|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2014/11/24/speer-back-in-pmo-fast-has-new-chief-of-staff/30376|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}} In 2015, he was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful & Influential People in Government and Politics by The Hill Times as a PMO{{clarify|What is a PMO?|date=February 2023}} advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.{{Cite web |date=2015-01-19 |title=The Top 100 Most Powerful & Influential People in Government and Politics: 2015 |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2015/01/19/issue-01-07-2002-41/30785 |access-date=2021-05-01 |website=The Hill Times |language=en-CA}}
= Think Tank Career =
Following the election, he joined the Macdonald-Laurier Institute as a Senior Fellow, authoring a series of articles and policy recommendations for the Trudeau government entitled "From A Mandate For Change To A Plan To Govern" with Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley.{{Cite web|title=MLI launches "From A Mandate For Change To A Plan To Govern" series|url=http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs188/1102955222472/archive/1123260275907.html|access-date=2021-05-16|website=archive.constantcontact.com}}{{Cite web|date=2015-12-02|title=From a mandate for change to a plan to govern|url=https://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/from-a-mandate-for-change-to-a-plan-to-govern/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Macdonald-Laurier Institute|language=en-US}} In March 2018, Speer launched Ontario 360, a think tank at the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance, with Peter Loewen, an associate professor at the university.{{Cite web|title=Ontario 360 Launches {{!}} Public Policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy {{!}} University of Toronto|url=https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/publicpolicy/announcing-ontario-360/|access-date=2021-05-16|language=en-US}} In April 2019, he joined the Public Policy Forum as a Fellow in Residence, and in August he was announced as the 2019 Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow to study urban and rural differences.{{Cite web|title=Sean Speer joins PPF as Fellow in Residence|url=https://ppforum.ca/articles/sean-speer-joins-ppf-as-fellow-in-residence/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Public Policy Forum|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Announcing PPF's 2019 Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow|url=https://ppforum.ca/articles/announcing-ppfs-2019-prime-ministers-of-canada-fellow/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Public Policy Forum|language=en}}
Brian Lee Crowley, a Canadian author, and public policy commentator, called him "one of the brightest intellectual lights of his generation."{{Cite book |last=Crowley |first=Brian |title=Fearful Symmetry - The Fall and Rise of Canada's Founding Values |publisher=Key Porter Books |year=2013 |isbn=9781456605520}} Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "an impressive thinker in [...] the areas of modern conservatism, economics, history, and public policy."{{Cite book |last=Harper |first=Stephen |title=Right Here, Right Now |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |year=2018 |isbn=9780771038648 |pages=239}} In 2021, he was ranked 38th on Maclean's power list, earning the nickname as "the thinking man's Conservative."{{Cite web |date=January 18, 2021 |title=The Power List: 50 Canadians who are shaping how we think and live |url=https://www.macleans.ca/rankings/canadas-most-powerful-people-2021/ |access-date=2021-05-01 |website=Macleans.ca |language=en}}
= Commentary Career =
On April 21, 2021, Speer launched The Hub, a news and commentary website focused Canadian policy and governance, with Rudyard Griffiths, Luke Graeme Smith, Stuart Thomson, and Ken Whyte.{{Cite web|last=Speer|first=Sean|title=The politics of gerontocracy in Canada|url=https://politi.co/3tVgBqI|access-date=2021-05-20|website=Politico|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2021-04-12|title=Getting back to the future: A statement of The Hub's mission and purpose|url=https://thehub.ca/2021-04-12/getting-back-to-the-future-the-hubs-mission-and-purpose/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hub|language=en-CA}} Its stated goal is to "reorient popular debate in Canada to the big ideas that will propel us collectively towards a different and better future." The site is a project of the Centre For Civic Engagement, who also organizes the Munk Debates, which co-founder Griffiths chairs.{{Cite web|title=What Is The Hub?|url=https://thehub.ca/about/|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Hub|language=en-CA}}
References
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Category:Conservatism in Canada
Category:Canadian political commentators