Paul Wells joins as Max Bell Foundation Senior Fellow

As the first Max Bell Foundation Senior Fellow, Wells will lead a public policy and politics podcast, host national events, and mentor students.

Renowned Canadian journalist and author Paul Wells has been appointed as a Senior Fellow at ’s Max Bell School of Public Policy. A leading voice in Canadian politics and public affairs, Wells has written for major publications such as the Toronto Star, and the National Post. For 19 years, he served as the lead political writer at Ѳ𲹲’s magazine, and more recently, he was a Journalist in Residence Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Wells is also the host of the widely followed Paul Wells Show podcast, which features in-depth interviews with prominent figures in Canadian politics and society. He won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing in 2014 for his book The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006-.

“I am delighted that we were able to bring Paul into the Max Bell School community,” said Max Bell associate professor Andrew Potter, who was Interim Director of the Max Bell School when Wells approached him about a collaboration. “He is probably the one truly national journalist in Canada, fully comfortable in both official languages, with a deep understanding of public policy and higher education.”

As part of his role at , Wells will oversee a podcast series sponsored by the Max Bell School that delves into pressing public policy issues in Canada and around the world. His fellowship will include hosting three events across Canada, one of which will be a live recording of the podcast at , offering Master of Public Policy (MPP) students the opportunity to engage directly in discussions on journalism and public policy. He will also collaborate and co-host events with Professor Rees Kassen, Director of the Trottier Institute of Science and Public Policy at . More broadly, Wells will be available for student mentoring, providing guidance on writing, reporting, and policy analysis, and offering support to the student-run newsletter and podcast initiatives at the Max Bell School of Public Policy.

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