John Sewell is a lawyer by training, but has spent most of his working life involved in different aspects of local politics: Toronto city councillor 1969-84, Mayor of Toronto 1978-80; community organizer and activist 1966-present; urban affairs columnist for The Globe and Mail 1984-6; chair of the Toronto public housing authority 1986-8; chair of the (Royal) Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario 1991-3; advisor to East London city council, South Africa, 1994-9; advisor on the re-establishment of local government in Malawi 2000 - 1; urban affairs columnist for Toronto's NOW Weekly 1988-99, and for eye weekly, 1999-2007; an organizer of fight against the megacity in Toronto, 1996 - 7; member of Charter City Toronto; co-ordinator of Toronto Police Accountability Coalition (www.tpac.ca); author of a dozen books about city politics; frequent speaker on local politics and land use planning issues. Awarded Order of Canada, 2005.