Graham Flack - Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs)

Photo of Graham Flack

Graham Flack was appointed Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs) at the Privy Council Office on January 28, 2013.

He was most recently Associate Deputy Minister then Acting Deputy Minister at Public Safety Canada whose mandate is to build a safe and resilient Canada by addressing risks such as natural disasters, crime and terrorism.

Graham began his career with the Government of Canada in 1995 in the Privy Council Office where he worked on intergovernmental issues and became its Director of Strategic and Legal Affairs. Following 9/11, he became Director of Operations responsible for developing and implementing the Canada-US Smart Borders Declaration and Action Plan. He also headed the team which developed Canada's first National Security Policy - Securing an Open Society.

In 2005, he joined Natural Resources Canada as Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Energy Policy where he supported negotiations around the Mackenzie and Alaska pipelines and worked on files ranging from climate change to the response to the North American electricity blackout.

In 2006, he joined the Department of Finance as Assistant Deputy Minister, International Trade and Finance where he worked on international development, trade and finance issues including the G7 and G20 response to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Graham is Deputy Minister Champion for the Federal Youth Network and for Dalhousie University and is co-chair of the Deputy Minister Committee on Social Media and Policy Development. 

He also developed and coordinated a government-wide recruitment program which has attracted several hundred exceptional Canadians to the federal public service and is a recipient of the Public Service Award of Excellence.

Graham received degrees in political science and economics from Dalhousie and Oxford University. He is a former law clerk of the Supreme Court of Canada and graduated with an LL.B. from Dalhousie University and an LL.M. from Harvard University.

He is married to a fellow Bluenoser and has two children who enjoy trying to teach him how to skimboard and understand the deeper wisdom of Harry Potter.