Tom Flanagan

Who is Tom Flanagan?

Thomas Eugene "Tom" Flanagan, CM FRSC is an American-born author, conservative political activist, and was a political science professor at the University of Calgary. Flanagan is on "research and scholarship leave" from the University of Calgary since January 2013. He also served as an advisor to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper until 2004. Flanagan has focused on challenging Native and Métis rights. In connection with his multi-year research and publications on Louis Riel, Flanagan published a reinterpretation of the North-West Rebellion, defending the federal government's response to Métis land claims. He began publishing works on Louis Riel, leader of the 1885 North-West Rebellion in the 1970s which evolved into a multi-year Louis Riel Project that he coordinated. During the 2012 provincial elections he served as the campaign manager of the Wildrose Party, an Alberta libertarian/conservative provincial party. As an offshoot of his political activism, Flanagan began to write as a columnist in 1997, publishing in media such as the Globe and Mail, National Post, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Maclean's, and Time. He appeared regularly on Canadian TV and radio as commentator.