Norman Spector (born March 6, 1949) is a Canadian journalist and former diplomat, civil servant, and newspaper publisher. Early life and career Born in Montreal, Quebec, Spector received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Political Science, from McGill University in 1970. Awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science from Columbia University in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1977. In 1974, as a Newhouse Fellow, he received a Master of Science degree in Television, Film and Radio from Syracuse University. In 1974–1975, Spector was a lecturer at St. Paul's College of the University of Ottawa. Civil service In 1975, he joined the Ontario civil service in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and held the positions of Manager, Director, and Executive Director. In 1980, he joined the British Columbia civil service serving as Deputy Secretary, Policy for the Ministry of Intergovernmental Relations. From 1981 to 1986, he was Assistant Deputy Minister and then Deputy Minister in Bill Bennett's Office of the Premier, where he advised during the 1981 constitutional discussions, and later negotiated an end to the BCGEU strike of 1982 and to a looming BC general strike in 1983. From 1986 to 1990, he was Secretary to the Cabinet for Federal-Provincial Relations in Ottawa, where he was responsible for managing relations with the provinces during the Canada-US free trade negotiations, the first ministers conference on aboriginal constitutional matters, and the Meech Lake accord in April, 1987. From 1990 to 1992, he was Brian Mulroney's Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister during the First Gulf War and the ending of the Oka Crisis. From 1992 to 1995, he was Ambassador of Canada to Israel, the first Jewish Canadian to hold the post, and High Commissioner to Cyprus. After the in Gaza-Jericho agreement was signed between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 1994, he became Canada's first Representative to the Palestinian Authority. From 1995 to 1996, he was President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Corporate career, TV pundit and newspaper columnist Spector resigned from the public service in 1996, and upon his departure The Globe and Mail editorialized: "The last veil was stripped from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency last week with the departure of Norman Spector. The veteran public servant had been appointed president of the federal government's East Coast regional development body last year in order to