Press Release | Former Ontario Government Policy Architect Joins the Wilson Center Canada Institute

Former Ontario Government Policy Architect Joins the Wilson Center Canada Institute

WASHINGTON – The Wilson Center’s Canada Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Mitchell Davidson as a Global Fellow. Says Canada Institute Acting Director Jim Dickmeyer: “Mitchell Davidson has been instrumental in shaping policy in Ontario. His research focus on cross-border trade and energy markets, along with his political experience at Queen’s Park, were key to forming many policy initiatives of the Doug Ford administration. The Canada Institute will benefit greatly by bringing this emerging thought leader into our group of Global Fellows."



Mitchell Davidson is the Executive Director of the StrategyCorp Institute of Public Policy and Economy, based in Ontario. Mitchell previously served as the Executive Director of Policy for the Ontario Government. There he developed an expertise in Canada's cross-border energy trade and was key to proposing reforms of the province's alcohol system. Mitchell’s expertise in Canada’s cross-border energy trade and environmental policy, along with his tenure in the Government of Ontario bring a unique public policy outlook to the U.S.-Canada bilateral relationship.

Recognized as the #1 think-tank in regional studies, the Wilson Center is a nonpartisan public policy forum based in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to advancing dialogue and the free flow of ideas on emerging policy issues. The Canada Institute at the Wilson Center founded in 2001 is currently the only think-tank dedicated to exploring and strengthening the Canada – U.S. relationship. 

For more information, please contact Mariana Sanchez Ramirez at Mariana.Sanchez@wilsoncenter.org or 202.691.4032.

Biographical Notes:

Mitchell Davidson is the Executive Director of the StrategyCorp Institute of Public Policy and Economy, a new venture designed to contribute to thought leadership on important public policy issues in Ontario and Canada. Mitchell brings a unique cross-section of public policy experience and political expertise from his nearly six years at Queen’s Park, culminating as Executive Director of Policy to the Premier of Ontario. In government, Mitchell served as the government’s lead policy architect, including responsibility for the 2019 Budget and 2018 Fall Economic Statement. Prior to that, Mitchell was the co-author and lead policy architect of both recent Ontario PC Party Platforms – The Plan for the People and The People’s Guarantee. Mitchell’s research will focus on the future of cross-border markets in carbon, energy, and alcohol policy. Mitchell’s interests emanate from his time in the Ontario government where he quarterbacked the province’s withdrawal from a cross-border cap-and-trade system and the province’s ongoing reform of their retail alcohol system. Mitchell also serves as a Visiting Lecturer for the Master of Public Service program at the University of Waterloo and is an Expert Adviser to the Leadership Lab at Ryerson University in Toronto. He hails from the small town of Oro-Medonte, Ontario and holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Masters of Arts in political science from the University of Western Ontario.

Jim Dickmeyer is the Canada Institute's Acting Director. From 2016 - 2017, he was the Wilson Center’s North American Competitiveness Fellow, detailed from the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Dickmeyer served as U.S. Consul General in Toronto from 2012 to 2015.  He was Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. embassy in Mexico, where he served from 2002 to 2007. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Dickmeyer served in six countries – Brazil, Guatemala, Paraguay, Bolivia, Mexico and Canada – during his 33 years of diplomatic service.