Trudeau should let cabinet ministers in on the limelight
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has begun his second annual townhall tour across Canada, speaking to Canadians off the cuff in campaign-style events that are sure to generate headlines and photos of him with shirt sleeves rolled up, surrounded by regular Canadians, before Parliament returns at the end of this month. Canadians have seen a lot […]
PMO scoops up ex-national manager for ministers’ regional offices
Katherine O’Halloran has exited her role as the national manager of ministers’ regional offices in Public Services and Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough’s office to instead serve as the Atlantic regional desk adviser in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office. Ms. O’Halloran was tapped early last year to serve as the national manager overseeing ministers’ regional offices […]
2017: The Hill Times’ year in pictures
Independent Senators chief calls budget process ‘opaque,’ ‘unfair,’ demands more money
The Independent Senators Group is asking for a $200,000 budget boost next year beyond the $1.06-million allotted to it, citing an “opaque and unfair” process that members say should be determined by proportionality. The facilitator of the growing Independent caucus says its slated budget won’t be enough to cover its operations. “We believe that proportionality should […]
New parliamentary affairs lead for Heritage Minister Joly
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly recently promoted a new director of parliamentary affairs, Elliott Lockington, from within her ministerial office. A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Mr. Lockington has been working for the heritage minister as a special adviser for policy and Ontario regional affairs since March 2016. Before that, he’d spent the last nearly […]
Infrastructure Minister Sohi hires new chief of staff O’Leary, who’s set to start in the new year
Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi has tapped one of his staffers to officially take over the currently vacant role of chief of staff in his ministerial office in February. Leslie O’Leary, who’s been on maternity leave from her role as director of issues management to the minister since May 1, has been lined up […]
Environment Minister McKenna plucks new D. Comms from think-tank
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna has bolstered her communications team, hiring Julia Kilpatrick to serve as her director of communications as of Dec. 1. Before then, Ms. Kilpatrick was communications director for Clean Energy Canada, a think-tank under Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue that focuses on “work to accelerate our […]
On the road to 2019: Singh, Scheer needs to steal Trudeau’s sunshine
OTTAWA—It’s hard to believe, but Canada’s 150th anniversary is almost done; it seems like it has gone by in a flash. It has been a year of significant change on the federal political front: for the first time since he has been prime minister, Justin Trudeau now knows who will compete against him in the […]
Easy pickings for tow-truck operators and politicians alike
Re: “Despite Ontario law, some operators blowing it when towing it,” (The Hill Times, Dec. 6, 2017, p. 11). Sadly, legislation and policies around automobile accidents turn out to be window dressing at election time, with no real benefit to the public at large. The tow-truck legislation is toothless from the start, as tow trucks sit roadside like […]
Conservatives have ‘brand problem’ among female voters, pin hopes on Scheer, star women MPs to reverse trend
The Conservatives continue to trail badly among women and have what one pollster is calling a “gender issue,” despite pulling nearly even with the federal Liberals among male voters in polls over the last few months. Weekly polls from Nanos Research show a double-digit advantage for the Liberals over the second place Conservatives, nearly every week […]
