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 vision is "good policy for a better Canada, where everyone has an opportunity to flourish individually and toge ...

, an Ottawa-based

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, 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 in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta.

Education, writings

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

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

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 In ...

, 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 records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

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 functions within a framework of Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy and a federation, federal system of Parliament of Canada, parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutio ...

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, and is the larg ...

'' 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 Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett remains the longest-serving premier ...

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

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

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 procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...

and legislative processes as Deputy Clerk of the

Saskatchewan Legislature The Saskatchewan Legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor as representative of the King of Canada, and the unicameral assembly called the Legislative Assembly. The legislature has existed since Saskatchewan was formed out of ...

(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 Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

, 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. For example, while the political systems ...

, in the riding of West Vancouver-Garibaldi. He was the party's House Leader, 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 Watchdog, 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 (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

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, 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 Fr ...

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, cl ...

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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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. It has dedicated itself to spreading a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada, i ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, David J. 1954 births Anglophone Quebec people BC United 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 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia