Everyone’s family built Canada
Most Canadians aspire to what Martin Luther King Jr. famously desired for his own country: to be judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
That’s why I’ve always looked at people as individuals. It is also why I have:
- Fought for taxpayers, free enterprise, and equal opportunity;
- Argued for spending on the poor and not the politically-connected;
- Advocated for the equal treatment of all and special privileges for none;
I’ve also tried to help others advance a freer, more flourishing Canada.
For example, I once commissioned a study on “honour killings.” It was a ground-breaking analysis about a new threat to freedom and how it affected the most vulnerable, i.e., immigrant women. It went viral and it found a champion in then-federal cabinet minister Rona Ambrose.
That type of innovative work is what the Aristotle Foundation will advance. That’s because we want to tackle modern-day problems.
We face new challenges today from those who see only past problems but not Canada’s virtues, or think Canada was created out of “privilege.”
But all our families built Canada from scratch: Just before the Great Depression, my grandmother cleaned homes in Edmonton to help her immigrant family stay afloat. In the depths of the early 1980s recession, my mom worked at a Sears coffee shop in Kelowna to pay the bills.
That’s how my family helped build Canada. Your family likely has similar stories.
If you want to help advance reason, informed history, and smart policy, please sign up, support our efforts with a charitable donation, and share our work.
Thank you,
President, The Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy
Mark Milke Ph. D. is the founder and president of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. Mark is a public policy analyst and author with six books, over 70 studies, and over 1,000 columns published in the last 25 years. His policy work has been published by numerous think tanks in Canada and internationally, including the Fraser Institute, the Montreal Economic Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Brussels-based Centre for European Studies. He is editor of the Aristotle Foundation’s first book, The 1867 Project: Why Canada Should Be Cherished–Not Cancelled. Mark is also currently president of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Calgary and a past-president of Civitas. His sixth book, The Victim Cult: How the culture of blame hurts everyone and wrecks civilizations is an Amazon bestseller. You can find Mark’s columns in media across Canada including in the National Post, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s and also in the United States in National Review.
Robin Varma is Research Director at the Aristotle Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Carleton University, and has taught at Concordia University. He is the author of Ruling Bodies: A Study of Coercion and Punishment in Plato’s Republic, Laws, and Gorgias (Lexington Books, 2022). Varma specializes in Classical Greek philosophy and philosophies of crime and punishment. His Ph.D. research focused on concepts of power in ancient and modern thought, and was supervised by Professor Waller R. Newell. Varma also worked as a Communications Officer at Health Canada, and currently lives in Long Sault, Ontario, with his wife and son.
Tamara Rosenblum helps out with the Aristotle Foundation’s marketing of its research. Tamara was the co-owner of the 45-person marketing company, Mantaray Creative, for 15 years where she was the senior strategist and creative director in charge of brand engagement initiatives, brand story development, marketing, and communications strategies. Tamara also served as the Director of Marketing and Media Relations for the Canadian Energy Centre, and has also served as the senior strategist and Chief Marketing Officer contractor for various industries including cannabis, software, hospitality and real estate. Her work for the Aristotle Foundation includes marketing and communication strategies, planning, implementation and integration; B2B and B2C.
Joanne Birce is the Aristotle Foundation’s part-time administrative coordinator and helps keep the Foundation’s work and finances organized.
As the Aristotle Foundation releases research including reality check fact-sheets, longer studies, and columns, authors will include work from a variety of scholars and research fellows including those on our Issues & Ideas Advisory Committee:
Dr. Rima Azar is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick.
Dr. Peter Baehr, Fellow at the Center of Social and Political Thought, University of South Florida; formerly Research Professor in Social Theory and Dean, Head of Department, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Mr. Ahmad Banki is a Lecturer, Department of Economics, Dawson College Montreal.
Ms. Vivian Bercovici is the founder and publisher of stateoftelaviv.com, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel and former lawyer.
Dr. David Bercuson is Director Emeritus of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
Ms. Anita Bromberg, LLB, is Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and former National Director of Legal Affairs for B’nai Brith Canada.
Mr. Troy DeSouza is a founder and Managing Partner of Dominion GovLaw LLP.
Mr. Nadeem Esmail is an economist, entrepreneur, and policy analyst.
Dr. Janice Fiamengo is a Professor of English at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Tom Flanagan is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Distinguished Fellow of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
Mr. Michel Jacques Gagné is a tenured lecturer in the Humanities department of Champlain College Saint-Lambert near Montreal.
Ms. Marjorie Gann, M. Ed., is the author of history books for children and young adults and the co-author of Five Thousand Years of Slavery and Speak a Word for Freedom: Women Against Slavery.
Dr. Bruce Gilley is a Professor of Political Science and Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University.
Dr. David M. Haskell is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts, at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Mr. Jamil Jivani is an author, visiting professor and scholar at Osgoode Law School.
Dr. Patanjali Kambhampati is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at McGill University.
Dr. Borys M. Kowalsky is a former professor of liberal arts at Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology
Mr. Matthew Lau, CFA is a financial analyst and adjunct scholar at various think tanks.
Dr. Patrick Malcolmson is Professor Emeritus Department of Political Science St. Thomas University.
Dr. Martin Mrazik is Associate Chair of the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Waller R. Newell is a Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Carleton University and Adjunct Fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Bruce Pardy is a professor of law at Queen’s University.
Mr. Greg Piasetzki is a Toronto-based intellectual property lawyer, a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and a citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario.
Mr. Joseph Quesnel is policy analyst with a focus on indigenous issues.
Ms. Rupa Subramanya is an economist and National Post columnist.
Dr. Jim Swaffield is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business at Athabasca University.
Dr. Ven Venkatachalam is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Energy Centre.
Dr. L. Daniel Wilson is an Associate Professor at Grant MacEwan University, and a former Supreme Court of Canada clerk to (now retired) Justice Gérard La Forest.
Mr. Adam Zivo is a policy analyst and journalist.
Mr. Troy DeSouza, founder, Dominion GovLaw LLP
Ms. Elan Harper, consultant, StrategyCorp.
Mr. David Hood, CEO of geoLOGIC systems
Dr. Mark Milke, President and Executive Director, Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy
Dr. Jack Mintz, economist and founder of the University of Calgary School of Public Policy
Mr. Kim Moody, founder and CEO, Moodys Tax / Moodys Private Client
Mr. Roy Ratnavel, executive vice-president, CI Global Asset Management
Mr. Patrick Ward, President and CEO, Aqua Solutions Inc.
