PMO’s Purchase, McNair welcome babies
The luck of the Irish came for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s director of communications Kate Purchase who gave birth to baby boy Xristos Thomas Periklis Tsergas on St. Patrick’s Day. “Befitting a Greek Irish boy, our Son Xristos (but we call him Kit) Thomas Periklis Tsergas as born this morning, on St Patrick’s Day at […]
Feds shell out $250K to bureaucrats for Phoenix-related financial losses
The government has doled out nearly $250,000 since September 2016 to cover financial losses public servants have incurred because of the Phoenix pay system, according to the Treasury Board, which unions say indicates the program is working well despite seemingly low engagement. From September 2016 to January 31, 2018, 1,452 claims have been processed government-wide, […]
Conservative leader Scheer hires new stakeholder relations aide
Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer recently bolstered his official opposition staff by one, having hired Stephanie Keron as a special assistant and stakeholder relations adviser. Ms. Keron was previously working as executive assistant to Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs on the Hill since the 2015 federal election, before which she’d been executive assistant to then-Conservative MP Chris […]
Environment Minister McKenna hires a new press secretary
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna has found a new press secretary to help handle her various media requests and interactions, after her press secretary Marie-Pascale Des Rosiers was scooped up by the Prime Minister’s Office in late February. Caroline Thériault officially started on the job as Ms. McKenna’s new press secretary on March 6, having […]
Two more promoted in PMO after operations team split
Two more staffers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office have been promoted as a result of a January decision to split up the office’s operations unit ahead of former operations director John Zerucelli’s impending departure. Geoff Hall, who until recently had been working in the Prime Minister’s Office as Mr. Trudeau’s scheduler since January 2016, […]
Ageism on the Hill means experience doesn’t count for much
OTTAWA—Many years ago, the late Liberal Senator Keith Davey, known as “the rainmaker” for his success in getting his party elected, penned the “Ten Commandments of Canadian Liberalism.” Among them was Commandment Nine: “Recruit new, bright young people.” In an attempt to renew the Liberal brand, the new government embraced this commandment in 2015, hiring […]
Poor issues management plaguing Trudeau’s team, say strategists
The public relations problems that plagued Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent India trip are part of a pattern of poor issues management that politicos say will dog this government if it doesn’t change course quickly. Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and his team are prone to self-inflicted wounds and not responding fast enough to nip an […]
Upcoming gun bill ‘scaring the hell out of the Liberal caucus,’ and Trudeau’s response to Harvey’s concerns puts a chill on backbenchers, say Liberals
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s angry response to a rural MP’s concerns raised at a recent national caucus meeting on the Hill over the government’s upcoming gun legislation did not go over well with some Liberal MPs who say it will have a “chilling” effect on their ability to speak candidly at the closed-door meetings. According to […]
“The 2018 federal budget is out. What are your top three takeaways?”
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “Justin Trudeau is failing middle-class Canadians, women, and business operators—the very people the prime minister claims to help. His economic policies are failing to make a difference in the lives of Canadians. His budget completely failed to address the real possibility that we could see our most important free trade agreement […]
New policy director, press secretary for International Development Minister Bibeau
International Development and La Francophonie Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has hired a couple of new political staffers in her ministerial office, including new director of policy, Suzanne Taylor. Ms. Taylor marked her first official day on the job on the Hill on Feb. 28. Before that, she was a senior partnership officer with the International Development […]
