Paul Wells

Paul Wells
Wells at the 2014 Manning Networking Conference
Born	1966 (age 50–51) Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario
Occupation	Political journalist
Employer	Toronto Star (since 2016), Maclean's, National Post, The Gazette

Paul Wells (born 1966) is a Canadian journalist and pundit, currently working as national affairs columnist for the Toronto Star.

Prior to May 18, 2016, he was a columnist for Maclean's; his column originally appeared in the back page slot famously occupied for many years by Allan Fotheringham, but was subsequently moved to the front of the magazine with other columns.

Wells was born in Sarnia, Ontario, the son of Seigrid Eleanor (Wedin) and Allen Rollins Wells. His mother's family was Swedish. He attended Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School where he played trumpet in the school's jazz band and captained a winning Reach for the Top team. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1989 with a BA in political science. While at UWO, Wells spent a lot of his time working on The Gazette, the undergraduate student newspaper, where he was news editor. After graduation, he landed an internship at the Montreal Gazette. Midway through his tenure there, Wells took a year off and moved to France to study politics and improve his French, hoping that this would help him move to the political beat.

In 1994 the Gazette assigned Wells to Ottawa as a political columnist. His work for the Gazette and his occasional pieces in Saturday Night magazine during this period brought him to the attention of editors and political writers, and in 1998 Wells moved to the new National Post daily newspaper as a political columnist. Wells became frustrated at the Post after its sale to the Asper family and the severe downsizing that followed, and in 2003 he moved to Maclean's. Wells supplements his weekly column with his blog, Inkless Wells hosted on the Maclean's website.