Director of Research - Professor Craig Forcese

Professor Craig Forcese has been appointed Director of Research for Part 2 of the Commission of Inquiry, the policy review. As Director of Research, Professor Forcese will provide advice on formulating the parameters of the policy review to ensure that the Commission has before it the necessary studies and input from experts, parties and members of the public.

Professor Forcese is an associate professor, Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), University of Ottawa. He teaches administrative law, public law/legislation, national security law, and public international law. He is co-author of Laws of Government: The Legal Foundations of Canadian Democracy (Irwin Law, 2005) and co-editor of Public Law: Cases, Commentary and Materials (Emond Montgomery, 2006). He is also the author of National Security Law: Canadian Practice in International Perspective (Irwin Law, 2008) and co-author of International Law: Doctrine, Theory and Practice (Irwin Law, 2007).

Prior to joining the law school faculty, Professor Forcese practiced law with the Washington D.C. office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP for two years, specializing in international trade and commercial law. He has an LL.M. from Yale University (2001), an LL.B. (summa cum laude) from University of Ottawa (1997), an M.A. from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University (1997), and a B.A. from McGill University (1992).

He is a member in good standing of the bars of Ontario, New York and the District of Columbia.

Policy Researcher - Greg Levine

Greg Levine practices law in London, Ontario. He is a member of the Law Societies of Upper Canada and British Columbia and has an LL.B. from the University of Toronto. He also has a Ph.D. in cultural geography from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Greg Levine is an expert in government ethics law. He has lectured widely in the area at various professional conferences and has taught courses on this area of law in the Faculty of Law at UBC, in Political Science at Western and in Political Science at King's University College. His book, The Law of Government Ethics: Federal, Ontario and British Columbia, published by Canada Law Book, provides a comparative look at ethics law in Canada. He maintains a web site on government ethics law in Canada which may be found at here. More background information on his law practice may be found here.

Policy Researcher - Professor Lori Turnbull

Lori Turnbull is an assistant professor of political science at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She was educated at Acadia University (Honours BA) and Dalhousie (MA and PhD). Her main areas of research are political ethics, parliamentary governance and electoral systems. She has published articles in Canadian Public Administration, Canadian Political Science Review, Canadian Parliamentary Review and the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law. Most recently, Prof. Turnbull has been focused on civic engagement and electoral reform in the Maritime provinces.

Policy Researcher - Professor Paul Thomas

Paul G. Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the University of Manitoba where he has taught for over 30 years.

Over his career he has received numerous types of recognition for his scholarship and contributions to public policy. In July 2007 he was inducted into the Order of Manitoba which annually recognizes twelve Manitobans for their outstanding contributions to the province, Canada and abroad. In May , 2007 he was awarded the Public Service Citation by the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada for his contribution to promoting understanding of the role of the public service.

In 2003 he was awarded the Vanier Medal for exceptional achievement in the field of public administration and in the same year the Queen's Jubilee Commemorative Medal for Public Service. In 1994 he was awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Distinguished public service by the Manitoba Chapter of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Professor Thomas has chaired or served on numerous committees appointed by the federal, provincial and city governments. From 1984 -1986 he was a member of the City of Winnipeg Act Review Committee. From 1987 to 1989 he served as the chairman of the Manitoba Telephone System's Board of Directors. Since 1996 he has been a member of the National Statistics Council which provides advice to Statistics Canada. During 2000-2001, he chaired the Review and Implementation Committee for the Report of the Manitoba Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest. From 2001-2003 he chaired the Regional Planning Advisory Committee which in October 2003 made over 70 recommendations on land use planning in Manitoba's Capital Region. From 2000-2004 he chaired the Advisory Committee for the Order of Manitoba, the highest recognition that the Government of Manitoba bestows on its citizens. From 2004 to 2008 he chaired the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety and since 2005 has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

He is the author of approximately 100 articles and chapters in books on a wide range of topics: federalism, constitutional reform, parliamentary reform, party caucuses, budgeting, crown corporations, accountability in government and organizational change in the public sector. Earlier in his career, he was the co-author of the best-selling textbook "Canadian Public Administration", Prentice Hall, 1987. His article "Debating a whistleblower protection act for employees of the Government of Canada" which appeared in Canadian Public Administration 42,2 Summer, 2005 received the J.E. Hodgetts Award for the best English article in the journal that year. From 1993 to 1999 he served as editor of "Canadian Public Administration", the journal published by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Professor Thomas has twice won university-wide teaching awards and the community outreach award given by the University of Manitoba. In August, 2007 he was awarded the national Pierre DeCelles Award for excellence in teaching in public administration by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. He holds B.A. (Honors) and M.A. degrees from the University of Manitoba and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.