Research Fellows

Wendell Cox, Senior Fellow, is principal of Wendell Cox Consultancy, an international public policy, demographics and transport consulting firm. He has developed a leadership role in urban transport and land use and the firm maintains three internet websites: www.demographia.com, www.publicpurpose.com and www.rentalcartours.net . Wendell Cox has completed projects in Canada, the United States, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Africa. He is author of "War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life" and a co-author with Richard Vedder of "The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy." He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission which oversaw highways and public transit in the largest county in the United States. He was also appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council. Wendell Cox is visiting professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (a national university) in Paris.

Tom Harris is Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition. For the past thirteen years Harris has been working intensively with a growing team of independent scientists and engineers to promote a sensible approach to a range of energy and environmental issues. He has thirty-five years of experience working as a mechanical engineer and project manager, science and technology communications professional and media and S&T advisor to a former Opposition Senior Environment Critic. Harris has Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Mechanical Engineering (thermo-fluids and energy focus).

Tom Adams is an independent energy and environmental advisor. He has held a variety of senior responsibilities including Executive Director of Energy Probe from 1996 until 2007, membership on the Ontario Independent Electricity Market Operator Board of Directors, and membership on the Ontario Centre for Excellence for Energy Board of Management. He has been a media commentator for over 20 years. His guest columns have appeared in most major Canadian newspapers. He has been a lecturer in energy studies at University of Toronto and has published several peer-reviewed papers in a range of fields. He has presented expert testimony before many regulatory tribunals in Canada on gas and electricity-related subjects. He has made presentations to Legislative Committees in Ontario and New Brunswick, academic, regulatory and trade conferences, the Atomic Energy Control Board, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. His profile appears in the Canadian Who’s Who.

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David MacKinnon, a native of Prince Edward Island, was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree (honours economics) from Dalhousie University and an MBA from York University. He was awarded a Centennial Fellowship by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and York University to study at York, Harvard and Oxford Universities as well as the European Institute of Business Studies. Mr. MacKinnon served as Director, Planning and Economics and Executive Director, Development Strategy in the Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development from 1976 to 1981. He later served in several senior capacities in the Ontario Public Service, the Bank of Montreal and as CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association from 1996 to 2003. Mr. MacKinnon is a Public Member of the Council of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and is the Chair of its Finance Committee and a member of its Executive, Complaints and Outreach committees. He serves on several Boards of Directors, including the West Park Health Centre. He recently finished my five year term on the Standards Council of Canada and was subsequently elected to the board of the Canadian Standards Association. He has advised the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and other Ontario organizations on fiscal federalism issues particularly on the impact of regional subsidies on recipient and source provinces. He is currently the Chair for the Ontario Institute for Public Policy www.oipp.ca.

Elizabeth Nickson is Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.  She is an accomplished communicator, journalist, author and novelist.  She was European Bureau Chief of Life Magazine in the late 80's and early 90's. Prior to her appointment at Life, she was a reporter at the London bureau of Time Magazine for two years. Nickson has written for The (London) Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Tatler, The Sunday Telegraph, Vogue, Femme, Vogue Hommes, The Spectator (UK), Saturday Night, Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and Harper's Magazine. 

Nickson’s latest book Eco-Fascists, How Radical Conservationists Are Destroying Our Natural Heritage (Harper Collins, 2012), chronicles her experience with subdividing her 30-acre forest on Salt Spring Island in half and examines the excesses of the conservation movement.  The subdivision is now taught in local colleges and universities as a case study in “good green development”.  She is also author of the novel The Monkey Puzzle Tree (1994).  She has interviewed Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, the Dalai Lama, and dozens of other leaders, politicians and royalty. Nickson earned an MBA from York University in Toronto.

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Aruna Papp, Research Felow MA, ADR, MEd., has worked as a counsellor for 30 years, counseling families dealing with domestic violence. She holds two Masters degrees. She is employed as Family Counsellor at Family Services York Region; she also has a private practice in the York Region. She conducts Cultural Competency workshops, for frontline services providers and her clients include the Regional Police across Ontario, area hospitals and school boards, as well as several non-profit agencies. She has volunteered on numerous boards and committees including the Centennial College Board of Governors and the Centenary Hospital in Toronto. Ms. Papp’s memoir Unworthy Creature, published by McClelland & Stewart, is due in the spring 2012.  She is also the author of Culturally-driven violence against women: A growing problem in Canada’s immigrant communities, a study published by the Frontier Centre.

Ms. Papp provides commentary and is a sought-after speaker on culturally-driven violence and intercultural affairs. She has been interviewed by national and international media, and her columns have appeared in local and national newspapers. Ms. Papp is the recipient of eleven awards from the South Asian community and community at large for her work with victims of abuse.

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Mary-Jane Bennett is a research fellow at the Frontier Centre. She is a lawyer and an established transportation consultant. She began her career with the Ontario Ministry of Justice and has since practised law in Manitoba and British Columbia. In 1997, Bennett received an appointment by the Governor in-Council to the newly formed Canadian Transportation Agency where she was involved in a broad range of transportation issues, including grain freight issues. Mary-Jane Bennett served as a Board Member with the Canadian Transportation Agency from 1998 to 2007. Bennett is author of Grain Freight Regulation in Canada and A New Policy is Required for Airport Transportation published by Frontier.

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Larry Mitchell, Senior Fellow is a New Zealander though a Canadian by birth. He has over 30 years active experience of commerce, chartered accounting and since the mid-nineties an immersion in local government finance and policy practice. He services the New Zealand local government sector with extensive financial and policy advice primarily through his "Base Stats with Trendz" statistical reports to over 30 New Zealand Councils. Larry is working with the Frontier Centre to lead, develop and deliver the Canadian Local Government Index a major initiative designed to assist with performance improvements of the Canadian local government sector. Larry graduated B Com, (Auckland University) in 1967. He served as a pilot in the RNZAF before taking up public accountancy practice. Following over twenty years experience as a partner in Coopers and Lybrand's Auckland office in 1996 he graduated Master of Public Policy (Victoria University) majoring in public sector finance. He operates his own international local government consultancy business from Puhoi, 40 km north of Auckland, New Zealand.

Peter Shawn Taylor, is currently Editor at Large of Maclean’s magazine. He earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Alberta in 1989; and was senior analyst for the Alberta Liberal Caucus in the early 1990s under Liberal Leader Laurence Decore. Since then he has worked extensively in journalism. He has been a staff member of Alberta Report, Canadian Business and the National Post, where he was a founding member of the editorial board in 1998, as well as Maclean’s. In addition, he has written widely for publications including Reader’s Digest, Saturday Night, Equinox, MoneySense, Canadian Geographic, Prospect, Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun and National Post Business. He has given presentations and is a frequent media commentator on public policy issues including daycare, family taxation and poverty.

Roland Renner , Telecom Policy and Regulation, has worked in telecommunications, broadcasting and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). He has participated in the transition of telecommunications and broadcasting from monopoly to competitive policy and regulatory environments, and has been involved in numerous regulatory proceedings. He held management positions at Bell Canada and Telesat Canada. As a consultant he worked with PwC Consulting and Nordicity Group, he advised clients on new market opportunities in a changing regulatory climate. He has worked for both public and private sector clients in Canada, Germany, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Michael C. Zwaagstra is a research fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy who specializes in education policy. He has extensive teaching experience at a variety of grade levels and currently teaches high school social studies in Manitoba. He received his B.Ed., P.B.C.E., and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Manitoba where he won several academic awards such as the A. W. Hogg Undergraduate Scholarship, the Klieforth Prize in American History, and the Schoolmaster’s Wives Association Scholarship. As an educator, Michael is a strong proponent of raising academic standards, holding schools accountable for their results, and expanding the educational options available to parents. His columns promoting common sense education reform have been published in major daily newspapers including the National Post, Winnipeg Free Press, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, and Calgary Herald. He is also a frequent guest on radio stations across the country. His best-selling first book, What's Wrong with Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them, was released in mid-2010.

Tim Ball, Senior Fellow