John Manley - Post-political Career

Post-political Career

Shortly after Manley announced his retirement from federal politics, Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario and close friend of Manley, appointed him to chair a royal commission on the energy system of Ontario in the wake of the eastern North American blackout of 2003.

On May 18, 2004, he joined the law firm McCarthy Tetrault as counsel, working in their Toronto and Ottawa offices. On May 26, 2004, Manley was named to the Board of Directors of telecommunications firm Nortel Networks. On January 27, 2005, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He is also chair of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, a project of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. In March 2005, the Task Force released a report that advocated a North American union, an economic union between Canada, Mexico and the United States which would resemble the European Union.

In an interview with La Presse published on January 24, 2005, he openly declared his ongoing interest in the Liberal leadership. In what was seen by political followers as an unusually frank admission, Manley said he would be a candidate to replace Paul Martin if he were to step down in the next three to four years and was maintaining a cross-country organizational network for this purpose. Although he denied the existence of a formal pact with former cabinet-mate Martin Cauchon, he indicated that in a later leadership race he would probably throw his support to the younger man. On January 25, 2006, Manley sent a letter to supporters indicating that he was not going to contest the Liberal leadership after the resignation of Paul Martin.

On October 12, 2007, Manley was appointed by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to head an independent, non-partisan panel reviewing Canada's mission and future role in Afghanistan, a position he had discussed with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion beforehand. Both Dion and Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae had encouraging words for the panel.

Manley's panel reported on Canada's Afghanistan mission to Prime Minister Harper on January 28, 2008. Harper accepted the findings, which argued for an indefinite extension of the mission beyond February 2009, but also pointed to logistical and equipment shortfalls, communications challenges with telling the mission's story to Canadians, and a coming manpower strength shortage. The report's recommendations were accepted by the house when the Liberals backed them along with the Conservatives.

Manley had been mentioned as a possible contender for the leadership of the Liberal Party after Stéphane Dion's resignation following the 2008 election, but on November 4, 2008, he announced that he would not be a candidate.

In the December 6, 2008 edition of the Globe and Mail, Manley demanded Liberal leader Stéphane Dion step down so the party can find another leader before Christmas and to "rebuild the Liberal Party, rather than leading a coalition with the NDP. He added, "the notion that the public would accept Stéphane Dion as prime minister, after having resoundingly rejected that possibility a few weeks earlier, was delusional at best Mr. Dion had seemed to accept responsibility for the defeat (although somewhat reluctantly), and should have left his post immediately.". Dion did, in fact, step down as party leader shortly after Manley's letter was published, however this was a result of internal party pressure and the significance of Manley's letter to this end is debatable.

In June 2009, Manley was named the new President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, effective January 2010.

On July 1, 2009, Manley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to Canadian politics, notably as a cabinet minister, and as a business and community leader who had played an important role in the promotion of international aid and co-operation.

He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission