Andrew P. W. Bennett is a Canadian public intellectual. He was the first and only Canadian Ambassador for Religious Freedom, as the head of the

Office of Religious Freedom The Office of Religious Freedom was an agency of Global Affairs Canada that was established by the Government of Canada on 19 February 2013 to monitor religious persecution and protect freedom of religion internationally. It closed on 31 Marc ...

, from the office's formation in 2013 to its closure in 2016.

Early life

He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

in 1995, a Master of Arts in History from McGill University in 1997, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Politics from the University of Edinburgh in 2002. He is a member of the clergy in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and serves as a Deacon at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian-Catholic Shrine in Ottawa. He is the past Vice-President and Chairman of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute Foundation.

Career

Before being appointed to lead Canada's

on February 19, 2013, Andrew Bennett worked for the Privy Council Office, Export Development Canada and Natural Resources Canada in a variety of analytical, research, and corporate roles. He has also held roles as Professor and Dean at Augustine College in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, as a Scholar Expert on the Americas Desk with Oxford Analytica and as a Researcher with the University of Edinburgh's Institute on Governance where he focused on the process of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

in Scotland. He currently is a Senior Fellow at Cardus, a Canadian faith-based think-tank as well as the Chair of the Cabinet of Canadians, an element of Faith in Canada 150 -a signature initiative of Cardus that seeks to emphasise the importance of religious faith in the lives of Canadians today and indeed throughout Canadian history as Canada marks its 150th birthday in 2017.faithincanada150.ca,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Andrew 1972 births Living people 21st-century Canadian civil servants Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Canadian civil servants Dalhousie University alumni McGill University alumni Canadian members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church People from Toronto