John Robert Stobo Prichard OC OOnt (born 17 January 1949) is a Canadian lawyer, economist, and academic.
[1] Upon leaving the University of Toronto, Prichard became the president of the Star Media Group and chief operating officer of the Torstar Corporation in May 2001.
Prichard's involvement with Imasco was the subject of criticism, due to a perceived conflict of interest for his role as university head.
Similar conflict of interest concerns have been raised about the 2005 deal engineered by Prichard by which Torstar acquired a 20 per cent stake in broadcaster and rival publisher Bell Globemedia Inc.[5] Prichard served on the transition teams of three Ontario premiers of three different parties: Liberal David Peterson in 1985, New Democrat Bob Rae in 1990, and Progressive Conservative Mike Harris in 1995.
[6] Prichard was deemed by several political insiders to be a contender in the race to become Liberal Party Leader, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Paul Martin.