Born in New York, Mr. Simpson came to Canada when he was 10 years old and studied at the University of Toronto Schools, Queen’s University and the London School of Economics. In 1972-73, he received a parliamentary internship scholarship in Ottawa. A year later, he joined The Globe and Mail.
His career with the newspaper began at City Hall in Toronto and with coverage of Quebec politics. In 1977, he became a member of the paper’s Ottawa bureau, and eighteen months later he was named The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau chief. From 1981-1983, Jeffery served as The Globe’s European correspondent based in London, England. He began writing his national affairs column in January, 1984.
Simpson has published multiple books — including Discipline of Power (1980); Spoils of Power (1988); Faultlines, Struggling for a Canadian Vision (1993); The Anxious Years (1996); Star-Spangled Canadians (2000); The Friendly Dictatorship: Reflections on Canadian Democracy (2001); Hot Air: Meeting Canada’s Climate Change Challenge (2007) and Chronic Condition (2012).
Millions of Canadians read his highly respected national affairs column in The Globe and Mail and watch his commentary on CBC Television news.
Simpson’s presentations are alive with the same unique and thought-provoking insight as his columns. With clarity and detail, he offers a concise interpretation of Canada and the world around us.
He also acts as senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Simpson meets health care head on and explores the only four options we have to end this growing crisis: cuts in spending, tax increases, privatization, and reaping savings through increased efficiency.
He examines the tenets of the Medicare system that Canadians cling to so passionately. Here, he finds that many other countries have more extensive public health systems, and Canadian health care produces only average value for money. In fact, our rigid system for some health care needs and a costly system for other needs—drugs, dentistry, and home care—is really the worst of both worlds.
Simpson provides an alarming description of the climate threat to our country. He touches on the role of by our politicians, industrialists and environmentalists.
Simpson lays out in convincing and easily understood terms the few simple policies that Canada must adopt right away in order to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades, and shows how it can be done with minimal negative impacts.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge as the Globe and Mail’s National Affairs Columnist, Simpson takes a look at the current state Canada finds itself in. Areas of coverage include the economy, business, foreign affairs and U.S. Relations.
Simpson suggests that although Canada has a number of advantages in establishing strong relationships globally, we are falling short in several key areas on the international scene. He believes we are in danger of becoming too complacent, too inward looking, too focused on domestic policy and federal-provincial issues.
