Duffy, John 1963-

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DUFFY, John 1963-

PERSONAL: Born 1963; married Jill Presser (a criminal lawyer); children: Martine. Education: University of Toronto, B.A. (with honors), 1986. Politics: Liberal.

ADDRESSES: Home—Toronto, Ontario. Offıce— Strategy Corp., Inc., 150 John St., 10th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3C3, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Political and business consultant. Strategy Corp. Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founder. Previously worked in Ontario government ministries of employment, environment, immigration, labor, and skills development, and in the office of the provincial Premier.

WRITINGS:

Fights of Our Lives: Elections, Leadership, and theMaking of Canada, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Globe and Mail, National Post, Saturday Night, and Idler.

SIDELIGHTS: John Duffy is a Canadian political consultant who has advised a wide range of clients on public affairs policy and has served as a writer and strategic planner for the Liberal party during national and provincial elections. He was a key figure in the 2003 campaign of M.P. Paul Martin, who won his bid for Prime Minister. A frequent guest on political television programs, Duffy spent the early part of his career working in various government posts, including service in the Ontario office of the Premier and in the provincial ministries of labor, employment, immigration, environment, and skills development.

In 2002, Duffy wrote Fights of Our Lives: Elections, Leadership, and the Making of Canada, an examination of five critical elections in Canadian history and the issues and personalities that shaped them. The elections include Liberal Sir Wilfrid Laurier's election as Prime Minister in 1896, Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's second-term election in 1926, Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker's election as Prime Minister in 1957, Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's loss in 1979 and political rebound in 1980, and Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's battle with John Turner over North American free trade in 1988. A Maclean's reviewer judged the book "both fascinating and instructive," and Christopher Moore, writing in Beaver, commented that Duffy has "produced a very substantial electoral history with a lot of sass and flair."