Paul Wells
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Wells is a Canadian journalist, currently working as a columnist for Maclean's. His column used to appear in the back page slot famously occupied for many years by Allan Fotheringham, but is now kept at the front of the magazine, with its other columnists.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Wells was born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1966 and is a graduate of Sarnia Northern. He was an undergraduate student at the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1989 with a BA in Political Science. While at UWO, Wells spent a lot of his time working on The Gazette, the undergraduate student newspaper. Wells was a News Editor at The Gazette, and after graduation landed an internship at The Montreal Gazette. Midway through his tenure at The Montreal Gazette, Wells took a year off and moved to France to study politics and improve his French, hoping that this would help him move to the political beat.
In 1994 the Gazette assigned Wells to Ottawa as a political columnist. His work for the Gazette and his occasional pieces in Saturday Night magazine during this period brought him to the attention of editors and political writers, and in 1998 Wells moved to the new National Post daily newspaper as a political columnist. Wells became frustrated at the Post after its sale to the Asper family and the severe downsizing that followed, and in 2003 he moved to Maclean's. Wells supplements his weekly Maclean's columns with his blog, Inkless Wells hosted on the Maclean's website.
Wells' first book, Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism, debuted in late 2006. [1]
[edit] Interests
Wells is particularly concerned with the state of higher education in Canada, and devotes many of his columns to this issue. He argues that Canada could gain enormously from the current decline in international graduate student applications to the United States, but is not doing enough to encourage potential graduates to apply to Canadian universities. While Wells argues for an increase in funding for higher education, he also argues that tuition fees should be allowed to increase.
Wells has spent much of his space attempting to promote politics of substance over personality. He was particularly critical of former Prime Minister Paul Martin, and regularly railed at unsubstantial announcements coming from the Prime Minister's Office. While most of his attention (and criticism and sarcasm) has focused on the formerly governing Liberals, Wells appears to be generally unbiased towards or against any of the national parties. With regard to the national unity issue, he is strongly in favour of the Clarity Act, and a staunch supporter of its author, Stéphane Dion.
Wells is an avowed fan of jazz music, a topic that frequently shows up in his blog.
[edit] External link
[edit] Related Video
- Appeared on CBC News: The Hour, where he answered the host's "five election questions", 28 November 2005.
