Rainer Knopff

Rainer Knopff is a writer, professor of political science at the University of Calgary, Canada, and member of a group known as the Calgary School. He especially well known for his views about the influence of judicial decisions on Canadian public policy. In 2010, Knopff was appointed by then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Governor General Consultation Committee, a special committee to recommend a successor to Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean. The panel recommended David Johnston, who was installed as viceroy on October 1, 2010.

Affiliations Rainer Knopff is often described as a member of the Calgary School, which includes a group of conservatively inclined professors at the University of Calgary, such as Barry Cooper, F. L.(Ted) Morton, Tom Flanagan (political scientist), and history professor David Bercuson who are strongly committed to strategic and direct influence on public affairs with a long term vision.

By 1998, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a public policy research institution based in Washington, D.C., had already observed the ascendancy of the role of Calgary-based academics on Canadian public policy, specifically the Calgary School of political science (Rovinsky 1998:10). and, since 1982, has been particularly active in challenging the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, often with F. L. Morton.

In their book entitled The Charter Revolution & the Court Party Morton and Knopff (2000) argue that "the advent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has drastically increased the power of judges in Canadian society. In deciding to use their new powers in an activist way, judges have been urged on by what Morton and Knopff call "the Court Party," a loose coalition of feminists, civil libertarians, government lawyers, Supreme Court clerks, law professors, and social activists, many funded principally by government (Morton and Knopff 2000:55)".

Controversy Knopff participated in a highly controversial debate to defend a Calgary School colleague whose career ended abruptly when his comments on the consumption of child pornography were publicized. In a statement from Elizabeth Cannon, President of the University of Calgary, regarding remarks made by Tom Flanagan, the university sought to distance itself from Flanagan's comments by declaring that they "absolutely do not represent the views of the University of Calgary. In the university's view, child pornography is not a victimless crime. All aspects of this horrific crime involve the exploitation of children. Viewing pictures serves to create more demand for these terrible images, which leads to further exploitation of defenseless children" (Cannon 2013).