Nigel S. Wright

Nigel S. Wright (born May 18, 1963) is a Canadian businessman and lawyer. He served as the thirteenth Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, from September 2010 to May 2013 and is a Managing Director in the London office of Onex Corporation. Wright resigned from the Prime Minister's Office after it was reported that he had given his own money to help Senator Mike Duffy repay the government for ineligible housing expenses.

Early life

Wright was born in Hamilton, Ontario. He was adopted by an engineering technician, was raised in Burlington and spent some time in England. His parents were not wealthy. He graduated "With High Distinction" from the University of Toronto's Trinity College with a B.A. degree in Politics and Economics, where his classmates included Jim Balsillie, Malcolm Gladwell, Tony Clement, Andrew Coyne, Patricia Pearson, and author and political strategist John Duffy (not related to Mike Duffy). Wright was noted early on as a talented student. A political opponent and former classmate said that "back in the day, the question was 'Will Nigel be on the Supreme Court or be prime minister?’ He worked harder than anybody and he was pretty much the smartest guy in the room." Jim Balsillie, the co-founder of BlackBerry Ltd, remembered thinking that he would have to "seriously up [his] inspiration levels if [he was] going to keep up with this kid." English-Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell recalls him as “an exceedingly decent, sweet and good-natured person”, who appeared more mature and directed than his peers. “He just seemed like he had a much clearer sense of who he was than the rest of us.”