David Joseph Mitchell (born March 15, 1954) is a Canadian writer, former politician, university and college administrator, businessman and political commentator. He is a former President & CEO of the

Public Policy Forum The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is an independent, non-profit Canadian think tank for public-private dialogue. The organization's stated aim is "to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy." The Forum was founded in ...

, an Ottawa-based

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, which he abruptly left on August 20, 2015. His current position is Vice President, College Advancement and Chief External Relations Officer at

Bow Valley College Bow Valley College is a public, board-governed college operating as a comprehensive community institution under the Post-Secondary Learning Act of Alberta. The branch campuses are: Airdrie, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, and S ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta.http://davidjmitchell.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Calgary-Herald-062016.pdf

Education, writings

Mitchell holds a master's degree in Canadian and American history from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

, British Columbia. He served as Editor and

Archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

at the British Columbia Provincial Archives. He is a self-confessed 'political junkie', who is a frequent commentator on

Canadian politics The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In pr ...

and public life on radio and television. He has won awards for his writing, and is a former newspaper columnist (''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' 1996–98; ''Business in Vancouver'' 1995–98). He has authored a number of books about politics and history in BC: *''W.A.C. Bennett and the rise of British Columbia'', Vancouver 1983, Douglas & McIntyre, (). A biography of

W. A. C. Bennett William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadians, Canadian politician. He was the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-s ...

. *''Succession: the political reshaping of British Columbia'', 1986 (). A synopsis of the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

administrations since W.A.C. Bennett. *''All aboard!: the Canadian Rockies by train'', 1995 () *''The Hongkong Bank of Canada Story – Origin & Early Years'', 1996 *''British Columbia's business leaders of the century'', 1999 (editor)

Family, business career

He is the father of two daughters, and is married to author and women's advocate, Shari Graydon. Mitchell has also worked as an executive in the forestry industry and in resource industries in western Canada (1984–1990).

Political career

He gained experience in

parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or t ...

and legislative processes as Deputy Clerk of the Saskatchewan Legislature (1981–84). He was elected in 1991 to the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

, for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, in the riding of

West Vancouver-Garibaldi West Vancouver-Sea to Sky (name in effect from April 2009 onwards, previously West Vancouver-Garibaldi from 1991 to 2009) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. For other current and histori ...

. He was the party's

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

, but resigned his position as a result of a rift over the Charlottetown constitutional accord. He sat the remainder of his term, until 1996, as an "Independent". During his term, he was a

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

on a broad range of issues including resource management, labour relations, advanced education, and parliamentary reform.

University/College administrator

He served as Vice President of External Relations at

from 1997 to 2002, where he was responsible for fundraising, alumni relations, media and public relations, and government affairs. SFU raised over $65 million under his direction and significantly expanded its campus in downtown Vancouver. He became Vice President of University Relations at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

in September 2002. He led the university through a major re-branding initiative, and helped launch the largest fundraising campaign in the university's history, which exceeded its $200 million objective a year ahead of schedule. In September 2007, he moved to

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, assuming the post of Vice Principal (Advancement). In January 2009, he returned to Ottawa to take a new position as president and CEO of the

, an independent, non-partisan NGO that specializes in convening Canadian leaders on issues of public service and governance. In April 2016, he commenced his new role at Bow Valley College as Vice President, College Advancement and Chief External Relations Officer.

Community service

Mitchell has served on the boards of the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

Vancouver Aquarium The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Vancouver, the aquarium is a centre for marine research, ocean literacy education, cli ...

and Marine Science Centre, the Ottawa Symphony, the Great Canadian Theatre company, the Parliamentary Centre and on the advisory committee of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University. He is a Governor and Fellow of the

Royal Canadian Geographical Society The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, David J. 1954 births Anglophone Quebec people British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Businesspeople from Montreal 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian nonprofit executives Canadian male non-fiction writers Living people Politicians from Montreal Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston Simon Fraser University alumni Academic staff of Simon Fraser University Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Writers from Montreal