Dr. James McAllister

James is an experienced public policy analyst, manager and university teacher. He grew up in Brandon and enrolled in Brandon College, where he majored in Political Science and History, founded its first New Democratic Party Club on campus and led the party in the Model Parliament. He also was President of the International Relations Club and Coordinator of the Annual Peace Gardens Conference.

After James received his BA he was employed by the federal government in Ottawa, obtained an MA from Carleton University and became a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Brandon University. He returned to graduate studies at Carleton to complete his PhD and McGill-Queen’s University Press later published a revised version of his doctoral dissertation as The Government of Edward Schreyer: Democratic Socialism in Manitoba.

James also worked for the Manitoba Government in the Department of the Executive Council and taught at the universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg before moving to Toronto in 1979. There he worked for the Council of Ontario Universities where he published dozens of reports and articles on university finances. He also taught at Ryerson and Trent universities.

He joined the Ontario Ministry of Finance in 1998 and became its Manager of Federal-Provincial Relations. After his retirement in 2009 he began teaching at several universities, including Toronto, Ryerson and York. He continues to do academic research and most recently has had an article published in the Journal of Canadian Studies.

James has received various awards for his work and volunteer activities, including a special recognition award from the Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario; a Stella award from the Ontario Ministry of Finance for Intergovernmental Partnership; and a Life Membership Certificate from the Ontario New Democratic Party. His community activities have included serving Knox United Church in Agincourt, Ontario as Chair of their Congregation and governing Council, Chair of the Leadership Development Committee and Treasurer of the Outreach Committee.

James received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Career Achievement in 2022.