I am very pleased to announce my faculty appointment to the Department of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario.  I will be teaching, writing, and generally loitering at the London, Ontario university.  I will be teaching mainly courses associated with Canadian politics, and I look forward to discussing the practical experience of being part of our wonderful parliamentary democracy.

Many people have been wondering what I’ve been up to this summer.  The answer is that I took some time off to reconnect with my family.  It may sound cliché when recovering politicians say they ‘want to spend more time with their families,’ but it actually does accurately reflect what happens.  Being an elected official is an all-encompassing job, and you never really know what kind of toll it takes on your family until you’re not doing it anymore.  Now, it’s time to get on with returning to my life.  It starts with this appointment at Western.  I will also be continuing my public service in other ways, whether it be by joining boards of directors and consulting.  I’m looking forward to it!

The path to Western isn’t an unfamiliar one for former politicians.  Perrin Beatty, the former MP and cabinet minister during the Mulroney years, joined the Department of Political Science in 1994 after the 1993 election in which he lost his seat.  Beatty spent much of his time writing about government and politics while at Western.  He later went on to be President and CEO of the CBC, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, and now the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.  Twenty years later, I find myself following a similar path as Beatty.  Of course, I’m not going to pretend that 20 years from now, I’ll be as successful as Perrin.  Everyone has their goals though!

For now, the focus will be on teaching and writing about things I have observed in my almost 3 years of being part of the action.  I’ll be using this blog to post these thoughts, but you will see some columns published in newspapers too.  I look forward to returning to the classroom where I’m sure the quality of discussion will be a welcome change from what seems to pass for debate in the legislature these days.  I’m grateful for the opportunity Western is providing me, and I look forward to my first day back at school!