About Andrew
Andrew Frank is an award-winning communications and media relations consultant, and university instructor, working with Indigenous nations, law firms and non-profit organizations to help achieve their communications goals.
A settler of mixed Scottish, English and Irish origin, Andrew grew up in the South Okanagan, on unceded Syilx Okanagan Nation Territory. He now lives with his family on unceded Musqueam and Kwantlen Territory, near the Salish Sea. He supports restitution for Indigenous nations, and hopes to contribute to reconciliation over time.
Award-winning Communications Consulting
Through his consulting practice, Andrew produces award-winning communications and media relations strategies and campaigns, and his writing has been published in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and Huffington Post, among others.
He has helped to raise public awareness and persuade decision-makers to act on a wide range of topics including Indigenous Rights and Title, racial profiling, environmental legislation, oil spills and pipelines, prison reform, internet surveillance, climate change, and environmental conservation.
In 2013, the Gitga’at First Nation named Andrew a “Friend of the Great Bear Rainforest” for his work publicizing opposition to oil tankers in their marine territory.
Teaching
Andrew teaches public relations, applied communications and environmental protection courses at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where he works to create inclusive and supportive learning environments that help students develop the skills and confidence to achieve their goals.
He served as Chair of the Public Relations Diploma program for six years, and led the redesign of the diploma to include Indigenous studies and learning objectives related to awareness of Indigenous Nations, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), in communications planning.
Education
Andrew has a Master of Arts in Communication from Simon Fraser University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Radio & Television from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), where he was the recipient of the Gold Medal for the Faculty of Communication and Design.
Whistleblower and Ally to Indigenous Nations
In January 2012, Andrew acted as a whistleblower, exposing the Harper government's pressure tactics against a registered intervenor in the National Energy Board review of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, including the use of the word "enemy" to describe critics of the oil sands pipeline and oil tanker project.
Andrew acted, knowing he would likely lose his job, because he believed the pressure tactics of the Prime Minister’s Office represented illegal interference in the pipeline review process, and Indigenous nations deserved to know, as the Joint Review Panel was the government’s official mode of consultation and was legally required to be done in good faith.
The event (dubbed the “#enemygate” scandal by Margaret Atwood) sparked national media coverage (Canadian Press, CBC, Globe and Mail and others), and was a watershed moment in raising public concern about the integrity of the pipeline review process, as well as the government's audits against environmental charities.