John Robert Stobo Prichard, (born 1949) is a Canadian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, economist, and academic. He is the past president and chief executive officer and former director of

Torstar Corporation Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Nia ...

. He is now the chairman of the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

Academia

Born in London, England, Prichard attended prep school at Upper Canada College before studying economics at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

at the University of Chicago, and law at the University of Toronto and Yale Law School. Prichard joined the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at the University of Toronto in 1976. He served as dean of the faculty from 1984 to 1990. Prichard was appointed the thirteenth president of the University of Toronto in 1990, a position which he held until 2000. During his ten years as president, the U of T's endowment rose to $1.4 billion, the most of any

Canadian university Universities in Canada are established and operate under provincial and territorial government charters, except in one case directed by First Nations bands and in another by federal legislation. Most public universities in the country are memb ...

''Toronto Star''

Upon leaving the University of Toronto, Prichard became the president of the

Star Media Group Daily News Brands, formerly Star Media Group, is a Canadian media organization and a division of Torstar Corporation. Its flagship publication is the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper, which is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of ...

and chief operating officer of the

in May 2001. In 2004, Prichard pushed out

John Honderich John Allen Honderich, (July 6, 1946 – February 5, 2022) was a Canadian businessman, journalist, and editor who was publisher of the ''Toronto Star'' from 1994 to 2004. He previously served as its editor from 1988, the same year his father, B ...

as publisher of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' because he resisted making the deep cost cuts that Prichard demanded. However, in 2006, Honderich, a Torstar director who chairs a voting trust comprising five families that control Torstar, instigated a "coup" among the five families that resulted in the termination of Prichard's chosen publisher

Michael Goldbloom Michael Goldbloom (born 1953) is a Canadian lawyer, publisher, and academic administrator. He is the former publisher of the ''Toronto Star'', Canada's largest newspaper by circulation. Early life and education Born in Montreal, Quebec, as th ...

and editor-in-chief

Giles Gherson Giles Gherson is a Canadian civil servant and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the ''Edmonton Journal'' and ''Toronto Star'' newspapers. He has worked as a civil servant in the Ontario government since 2007 and is currently the Deputy Min ...

. Some have suggested that Torstar's financial woes have been caused by Prichard's distraction by his presence on several boards, including Onex and Four Seasons. Prichard has also been a member of Imasco's board of directors since 1993. Imasco owns and controls Imperial Tobacco, the largest tobacco manufacturer in Canada. Prichard's involvement with Imasco was the subject of criticism, due to a perceived

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

for his role as university head. During Prichard's term as president, the University of Toronto accepted $2 million from Imasco between 1997 and 1999. In 1998, Imasco contributed just over $2.5 million to educational institutions across the country. Similar conflict of interest concerns have been raised about the 2005 deal engineered by Prichard by which Torstar acquired a 20 per cent stake in broadcaster and rival publisher

Bell Globemedia Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

Inc.

Political work

Prichard served on the transition teams of three Ontario premiers of three different parties: Liberal David Peterson in 1985, New Democrat

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

in 1990, and Progressive Conservative Mike Harris in 1995. Prichard was deemed by several political insiders to be a contender in the race to become Liberal Party Leader, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Business career

Prichard is past president and chief executive officer and former director of

, and also sits on the boards of George Weston Limited,

Onex Corporation Onex Corporation is an investment manager founded in 1984. The firm manages capital on behalf of Onex shareholders, institutional investors and high net worth clients around the world. As of September 30, 2022, Onex had approximately US$47.2 ...

, and is the chairman of the board of the

Current work

Prichard is the chair of the board of

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union Sta ...

and Penguin Group Canada, as well as the chair of Toronto law firm

Torys LLP Torys LLP is a Canadian international corporate law firm with offices in Toronto, Calgary, New York, Montreal and Halifax. The firm acts for a wide range of commercial clients and financial institutions in Canada, the United States, and globall ...

References

External links

Order of Canada Citation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prichard, Robert 1949 births Living people Canadian economists Lawyers in Ontario Canadian legal scholars Canadian university and college faculty deans Directors of Bank of Montreal Directors of George Weston Limited English emigrants to Canada Deans of law schools in Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Presidents of the University of Toronto University of Toronto Faculty of Law faculty Yale Law School alumni Swarthmore College alumni Upper Canada College alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni Canadian chief executives Torstar people Directors of Onex Corporation Chief operating officers