• John Ratchford

    Senior Consultant & General Counsel

About John

John Ratchford is a Senior Consultant and General Counsel at Navigator with over twelve years experience in the practice of law, and providing communications and strategic advice to premiers and cabinet ministers. John’s legal background is primarily in commercial litigation. His public and government affairs experience has included serving as Counsel to the Premier of Ontario; Chief of Staff to the Deputy Premier of Ontario; and Campaign Press Secretary and Director of Media Events to Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm.

Before joining Navigator, John directed a corporate acquisition project for a major mobile telephone company in Prague, Czech Republic, with particular emphasis on the communications aspects of the transaction. John has pursued similar work at Navigator, managing communications projects involving corporate mergers and acquisitions. John practised law with a leading law firm in Halifax Nova Scotia, Stewart McKelvey, before coming to Toronto in 2000 to join one of Canada’s largest law firms, Gowlings LLP.

John has served on numerous political campaigns, and as a member of the boards of directors of the Arthritis Society, the United Way (Halifax), the Parkinson Society and on the executive of the PC Party of Nova Scotia. He is also active in the St. Francis Xavier University alumni association and the PC Party of Ontario.

John received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and his LL.B. from the University of New Brunswick. John was called to the bar in Ontario in 2000 and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Navigator Insights

  • Political Traction looks at the common threads in the conversation happening in Ottawa and across the country. Navigator is monitoring a variety of mediums 24 hours a day, seven days a week to aggregate data on what is being talked about, where it’s being talked about, and who is talking about it. Using a standardized methodology, we’ve created a point-based system to weigh conversation on public affairs topics, and build a weekly profile of what’s being said.
  • It takes a hardened individual not to pity poor Murphy, from whom the eponymous “fourth law of thermodynamics” takes its name. However, those of us that deal with crisis see the adage in practice on a surprisingly regular basis. Which brings me to a conundrum. Twitter. 

In Canada there are 413 parliamentarians (including the house [...]

Contact

8 Wellington Street East
British Colonial Building
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5E 1C5

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Direct: (416) 640-1579
Email: jratchford @ navltd.com