The first order of business for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's new chief of staff is to sharpen the communications strategy and tell voters what the leader and the party stand for, and there isn't a lot of time, say top Liberals.

Peter Donolo, who served as former prime minister Jean Chrétien's director of communications in both opposition and government, was recently brought in to head up Mr. Ignatieff's (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ont.) office following the firing of former chief of staff Ian Davey. The change in the top OLO spot came after months of tanking poll numbers, and a scattered communications strategy. An Ekos poll released last week had the Liberals at 26.6 per cent support, while Prime Minister Stephen Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Ont.) Tories were at 36.6 per cent, the NDP were at 16.8 per cent, the Greens were at 11.2 per cent, and the Bloc Québécois were at 8.8 per cent support.

Mr. Ignatieff's rapid decline in popularity has been largely attributed to his declaration at the end of August that he would defeat the government at the earliest opportunity, a pledge from which he has since backed away.

But in this era of volatile minority Parliaments, an election could come at any time, and as things stand the Liberals could fare even worse than they did last time, which was one of their worse results ever.

"The conventional wisdom is that the election will be after the next budget. So if you work backwards from there there's a tremendous amount of work to do and [the byelections] brought that home to anyone who didn't understand it," said one Liberal source who didn't want to be named.

Caucus and rank-and-file Liberals said Mr. Ignatieff's office, and particularly his communications strategy, were poorly handled under Mr. Davey and his girlfriend, former director of communications Jill Fairbrother. The well-liked couple played a seminal role in Mr. Ignatieff's rise since entering politics in 2005, but ultimately they reaped some of the blame for his recent fall. And though it was reported last week that they would be returning to Toronto and would not have any official role in the OLO, they still speak to Mr. Ignatieff on a regular basis.

Ms. Fairbrother's successor will have a tough job, said the Liberal source.

"The toughest job in the world would be to be a comms director under Donolo. He's a comms guy, that's why he's such a good fit because the first couple of months of this is reframing the communications around who Ignatieff is and what the Liberal Party offers."

The thinking under Mr. Davey was that the job of the official opposition is to attack the government, and many in the party felt one of former leader Stéphane Dion's (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.) biggest mistakes was releasing the party's platform too soon before an election, leaving it susceptible to Conservative attacks. Since Mr. Ignatieff took over in December the party's policy proposals have been closely guarded secrets, but there are signs that is starting to change.

"To be a government in waiting you have to provide credible opposition, you also have to provide policies and you have to get those policies out so that people clearly understand it. That is the job of every opposition and that's the job we've got to do better," said Liberal MP Marc Garneau (Westmount-Ville-Marie, Que.), the party's new Quebec lieutenant who spoke to The Hill Times last week following the party's poor showing in four federal byelections.

Mr. Donolo was most recently a pollster with the Strategic Counsel before signing onto the Ignatieff team, and in a series of interviews over the last six months he's said repeatedly the Liberal leader needs to take more risks, including more clearly articulating what he would do in government.

Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella, who has been assisting the OLO with rapid response communications, said Mr. Donolo will be effective at drawing out Mr. Ignatieff's skills as a communicator.

"Peter is considered to be one of the best communicators around. ... And I can guarantee you that things are going to get even better on that front. Michael is a big part of that. I've worked with amazing communicators, like Chrétien and McGuinty, and I regard Ignatieff as top-notch, too. He has a clear, crisp way of communicating that respects the intelligence of his audience—and never dodges the question," Mr. Kinsella said.

Mr. Donolo doesn't officially start until Nov. 17 in Ottawa, although he's been working behind the scenes mainly on the structure of the office, said one Liberal insider. When Mr. Davey left there were 90 staffers between the OLO and its supporting entity, the Liberal Research Bureau. Last week nine junior staffers were let go and over the next two weeks a handful of senior staffers handpicked by Mr. Donolo will join the team. The new personnel will be a mix of Ignatieff loyalists, and senior party people. Those that managed to survive the transition include deputy chief of Staff Sachin Aggarwal, Strategic Communications Adviser Leslie Church, and speechwriter Adam Goldenberg. Mr. Aggarwal and Ms. Church are in their early 30s, and Mr. Goldenberg is in his early 20s, which will make them among the youngest members of a team that is expected to be comprised of more senior operatives.

Sources close to the OLO told The Hill Times that the team is still in transition. "They're going through a process of trying to figure out, (a), what's going on now, and (b), where we want to go, and (c), how do you get there?" one Liberal source said, noting that bringing in Peter Donolo was a "fantastic move" but is likely not boosting morale because of all the changes happening.

"I think they're headed in the right direction. I think there's been a lack of organizational structure for a long time," the source said. "It's happened over time. You can't staff that office with political operatives because the chances of finding the skill sets you need among the people you used to storm the castle are slim and none. So you have to put people in the jobs that they're competent in. People have to have the skills for the job and they need to know what the job is and they need to be evaluated against clear objectives. This isn't a think tank. It's 90 per cent logistics, 10 per cent strategy, not the reverse."

Another source said, however, that the morale is positive in the OLO and that the staffing changes were a "good pill to swallow" because there's more clarity and discipline.

In the past month there have been operational changes to try and make things run more smoothly. For instance, Mr. Ignatieff's so-called "Kitchen Cabinet," comprised of senior Liberal MPs, has stopped meeting every morning for half-an-hour and instead now meets weekly for two hours. Also, responsibility for preparation for the daily Question Period has been moved out of the OLO and is now overseen by Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale's (Wascana, Sask.) office.

Mr. Garneau lamented the uneven playing field between opposition and government, but said the key for the Liberal Party going forward is to help the public imagine how it would be if the roles were reversed.

"There are challenges when you are the opposition, but there is also a challenge that we must rise to as a party and that is to clearly present alternatives where we don't agree with the government. We've got to say not only do we think this is wrong but this is how we would do it, and that's the task ahead of us. We're going to take the time to do that so that people do have a clear idea of what it is that differentiates us. I think they'll be in a better position to make an enlightened choice."

—With files from Bea Vongdouangchanh

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