Ron Ritchie

Ronald Stuart Ritchie, CM (July 4, 1918 - August 18, 2007) was a Canadian economist, business leader, public servant, writer, and politician. He is best known for his role in founding the Institute for Research on Public Policy, but also served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada during the Joe Clark government. He graduated from the Central Collegiate High School in London, Ontario, before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. He then earned a Master of Arts from Queen's University.

Ritchie served on the Canadian Wartime Prices and Trade Board during the Second World War. In 1947, he joined Imperial Oil, where he remained into the 1970s, eventually reaching the level of senior vice president and member of the board of directors. During his time with Imperial Oil, he continued to publish papers on subjects ranging from petroleum economics to military policy and higher education.

From 1960 until 1962, he was the executive director of the Royal Commission on Government Organization (the Glassco Commission), which recommended a decentralized organizational model for the federal government. He served on the University of Guelph board of governors from 1965 until 1971 and as the body's chair for the last three years.

The Institute for Research on Public Policy In his first Speech from the Throne, Pierre Trudeau committed to conducting a feasibility study into establishing a new public affairs research institute in Canada. He asked Ritchie to prepare a report on the subject.

Trudeau sat on the report for several years, during which time Ritchie said that he was considering acting on it himself until he was dissuaded by Clerk of the Privy Council Gordon Robertson, who assured him that the report was receiving consideration. He also served as a member of the Canadian Ditchley Foundation.

In 1990, Ritchie published Canadian Pacific's Montreal Lakeshore Commuter Service, Volume One , a history of commuter trains used on Montreal.

In 2002 he received the first Roland Lutes Memorial Award for extraordinary service to the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

He was admitted as a member of the Order of Canada on June 10, 2005.

Ronald Ritchie died August 18, 2007.

Selected writings

Oil in World affairs. Toronto, 1951. NATO, the Economics of an Alliance, Toronto, Ontario: Ryerson Press, 1956. Problems of a Defence Policy for Canada. International Journal, Vol. XIV, No. 3 (Summer, 1959) Viewpoint: The Need for Continuing Education, Canadian Personnel & Industrial Relations Journal. August, 1961. An Institute for Research on Public Policy. Toronto: Information Canada, 1971. Public Policies Affecting Petroleum Development in Canada, Canadian Journal of Economics, 1(1), Winter 1975, pp. 66–75 Oil Self-Sufficiency for Canada?, Canadian Journal of Economics, 6(3), Summer 1980, pp. 463–471. Canadian Pacific's Montreal Lakeshore Commuter Service, Volume One, British Railway Modellers of North America, 1990,