About John
The Honourable John Manley, P.C., O.C., became Chair of Jefferies Financial Canada on December 1, 2023, having served as Senior Business Adviser at Bennett Jones LLP since September 2019. He is best known as a former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the Canadian Parliament from 1988 to 2004 as M.P. for Ottawa South. From 1993 to 2003 he was a Minister in the governments of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, serving in the portfolios of Industry, Foreign Affairs and Finance, in addition to being Deputy Prime Minister.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Manley was named Chair of a Cabinet Committee on Public Security and Anti-terrorism, serving as counterpart to Governor Tom Ridge, the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. In recognition of the role he played following 9/11, which he refers to as his “moment of fame”, TIME Canada named him “2001 Newsmaker of the Year” (and gave him some free copies of the magazine).
After a 16-year career in politics, Mr. Manley returned to the private sector in 2004 where he has continued to be active in public policy, as a media commentator, speaker and adviser to governments of differing political stripes. He is Fellow of the CD Howe Institute, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and the Institute of Corporate Directors. He is a founding member of the Wilson Center Global Advisory Council, a past member of the Brookings Institution International Advisory Council and served as Chair of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI) Advisory Council from 2012-2023. He joined the Advisory Council of the MacDonald Laurier Foundation in 2023.
