Rob Gillezeau

Rob Gillezeau is an assistant professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the economic history of the Indigenous peoples of North America and the intersection of discrimination, protest, and state institutions. His research in Indigenous economic history has investigated the impact of the near-extermination of the bison on long-run outcomes, and the economic impacts of historical treaty-making. His research on protest and policing has investigated the interaction of social programs and uprisings and the causes of disproportionate killings of African American civilians by law enforcement in the United States. Gillezeau is co-director of the Canadian Economics Association’s Indigenous Economics Study Group and a founding member of the Canadian Economics Diversity Committee.

Prior to his academic appointment, he served as the chief economist in the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition in Ottawa. He has also served as the senior aide to the minister of finance and deputy premier of British Columbia.

He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan in 2015 and his undergraduate degree from McMaster University in 2006.