John Matheson

Principal, Toronto

matheson@strategycorp.com

John has been a principal at StrategyCorp since 1998. Since that time, he has managed successful policy and issue management projects relating to:

• Capital financing of transportation and health care projects
• Land use planning and environmental regulation
• Property tax policy

John has a particular expertise in the politics of municipal governance and restructuring, and has acted as a consultant to most of the major municipalities in Ontario.

John's policy expertise is grounded in his legal background. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1993 and practiced Commercial and Insurance law in Toronto with a major Bay Street firm. As a result, John has frequently been engaged to support legal professionals in issue management and government relations activities.

Prior to joining StrategyCorp, John served as Chief of Staff to Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. In that capacity, he was instrumental in the design and management of the most significant overhaul of the province's municipal sector in a generation, including initiatives such as the amalgamation of the City of Toronto, the creation of a new municipal taxation and assessment regime and key reforms to the Municipal Act and the Planning Act.

John is a volunteer Progressive Conservative Party activist at both the federal and provincial levels. He has extensive experience in every aspect of political organization and, has played a central role in policy platform development for mayoral and party leadership candidates. He also led the program that trained all provincial PC candidates in policy and media relations skills in the last three general elections.

A frequent public speaker and commentator in the news media, John appears regularly on television and radio. He holds a BA (Hons) in political studies from Queen's University in Kingston and an LLB from the University of Toronto.