Matthew Mendelsohn

Matthew Mendelsohn
Born	Canada
Residence	Canada
Nationality	Canada
Alma mater	McGill University, Université de Montréal
Occupation	Professor
Employer	University of Toronto

Matthew Mendelsohn is a Canadian public policy expert and civil servant. He is the deputy secretary to the cabinet (results and delivery) in the Privy Council Office of Canada. He was the founding director of the Mowat Centre, a Canadian public policy think tank. He also served as a deputy minister in the Ontario Public Service, a political science professor at Queen's University, and a senior advisor with the government of Canada. He serves on a number of not-for-profit volunteer boards, was a frequent commentator in print and broadcast media.

Mendelsohn lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.

Early life

Mendelsohn grew up in Montreal, QC, Canada. He received a B.A. in Political Science from McGill University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Université de Montréal. While attending university, Mendelsohn was president of the McGill University Debating Union and Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate, and won the award for Top Speaker at the 1987 Canadian National Debating Championship.

Public service and academic careers

In 2016, Mendelsohn was appointed to the Privy Council Office of Canada as deputy secretary to the cabinet (results and delivery).

After completing his Ph.D. in 1993, Mendelsohn spent a year at the University of British Columbia as a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow, before taking up a position as an assistant professor of political science at Queen’s University. From 1996 to 1998, he served as a senior advisor in Canada's Privy Council Office, directing public opinion research activities for the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs. He returned to Queen’s University, where he became an associate professor in 2000. In 2001, Mendelsohn was appointed Director of Canadian Opinion Research Archive at Queen’s University.

In 2004, Mendelsohn left Queen’s University to take up a position as Deputy Minister and Head of the Democratic Renewal Secretariat with the Government of Ontario. Mendelsohn was appointed the deputy minister of the Ontario government's Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs in 2005, and Associate Secretary of the Ontario Cabinet in 2007. As an Ontario Deputy Minister, he led the creation of Ontario's Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (Ontario).

In 2009, Mendelsohn founded the Mowat Centre, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think tank located at the School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Toronto.

Research publications and areas of expertise

Mendelsohn’s areas of research expertise include Canadian politics, Canadian federalism, democratic institutions, public opinion, and government transformation.

Mendelsohn is co-editor of Referendum Democracy: Citizens, Elites, and Deliberation in Referendum Campaigns (Palgrave, 2001) and Shifting Power: The New Ontario and What it Means for Canada (Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, 2013). His academic articles have appeared in the academic journals Canadian Journal of Political Science, Health Affairs, International Journal, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Canadian Public Policy, British Journal of Political Science, Political Communication, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, American Review of Canadian Studies, the Journal of Politics, Electoral Studies, Canadian Journal of Communications, and others.

At the Mowat Centre, Mendelsohn has supervised and provided expert advice and leadership on over 100 papers and reports. He has authored or co-authored 18 of the Centre’s reports, among them:

• Rebuilding Canada: Proposes a new framework for renewing Canada’s 20th century nation-defining infrastructure for the 21st century.
• Better Outcomes for Public Services: Looks at the growing global trend toward outcomes-based program funding and provides key recommendations for governments to realize the potential of outcomes-based funding.
• The Politics of Pipelines: Analyzes the political and economic context of pipeline development in Canada and outlines Ontario’s stake in the national debate.
• A Viable Path to Senate Reform?: Outlines a practical and realistic path for Senate reform that would lead to a more democratic and better functioning institution.
• Back to Basics: Argues that Canada’s system of fiscal arrangements is misaligned with current economic realities.
• Fiscal Sustainability and the Transformation of Canada’s Healthcare System: Analyzes how Canadian governments can improve their ability to deliver high-quality healthcare even in times of fiscal constraint.
• Voter Equality and Other Canadian Values: Identifies the constitutional, legislative and policy reasons why Canada so dramatically deviates from the principle of voter equality.
• Help Wanted: Assesses how well Canada’s Employment Insurance system performed during the most recent recession compared to previous recessions, focusing on regional inequities.
• The New Ontario: Examines the shifting attitudes of Canadians towards the Canadian federation.

Public appearances, expert consulting, and volunteer work

During his time as Director of the Mowat Centre, Mendelsohn was a frequent media commentator and was routinely invited to provide expert advice to public officials and politicians. Mendelsohn was part of a weekly panel of political experts on Toronto newstalk radio station CFRB 1010’s Moore in the Morning show with John Moore. On television, Mendelsohn has appeared on CBC’s The Exchange, TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin, CTV's Power Play with Don Martin, and others. On radio, Mendelsohn appeared on multiple CBC affiliates and newstalk radio stations across Canada. His op-eds have appeared in the Literary Review of Canada, the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, and the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal.

Mendelsohn served as an invited expert witness to the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ during its study of the Fair Representation Act, and to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities during its study on the renewal of labour market development agreements. He acted as a non-partisan advisor to then Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau on policy and platform development prior to the 2015 federal election campaign, and served on the Prime Minister Designate’s transition team following the 2015 elections.

Mendelsohn serves on the board of trustees of the United Way Toronto & York Region, the board of CIVIX, the steering committee of CivicAction, the advisory board of the Forum of Federations, and the academic advisory committee of the Canadian Opinion Research Archive. He had previously served as the chair of the board of the Council of the Great Lakes Region and in volunteer leadership and advisory roles on Serve!, the Council of the Federation, the Banff Forum, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Globe and Mail New Canada Series, Canada's Commission on the Future of Medicare, and the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network.