25th Donner Prize Jury Announced

Gregory Belton, Chair of the Board of the Donner Canadian Foundation, announced today the jury for the 25th annual Donner Prize, the award for the best public policy book by a Canadian. He remarked that “during this special anniversary year, we are honoured that such an illustrious group of individuals will be bringing their experience and knowledge to the task of selecting the 25th Donner Prize shortlist and eventual winner.”

With the retirement of past Jury Chair David Dodge, Louise Fréchette takes on the Chair. Fréchette served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1998 to 2006. She recently completed a term as Chair of Care International and is currently on the Board of the Global Leadership Foundation.

New to the jury this year is Maureen O’Neil, board chair of WaterAid International and a member of the boards of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

Also joining the jury is Jack Mintz, the President’s Fellow of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, after serving as the Palmer Chair and founding Director of the School from 2008 to 2015. Mintz’s 2001 book Most Favoured Nation was shortlisted for the Donner Prize.

Returning jurors include Jean-Marie Dufour, O.C., O.Q., the William Dow Professor of Economics at McGill University, Karen Restoule, CEO at Shared Value Solutions, an environmental and community development consulting firm supporting Indigenous communities, and Dr. Frederick Wien, Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University, and former Deputy Director of Research at the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

The foundation is grateful to departing jurors David Dodge and Brenda Eaton for their contributions to the Donner Prize over their years of service.

The Donner Canadian Foundation, one of Canada’s oldest foundations, created the prize to encourage and honour the best public policy thinking, writing, and research by a Canadian, and the role it plays in determining the well-being of Canadians.

The shortlist will be announced in Spring 2023, and the winner will be announced in May 2023.