International Trade Minister Ng locks in senior staff team
International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng recently confirmed her senior staff team, with all directors in her office—all of whom are women—continuing in their pre-shuffle posts. Lesley Sherban is deputy chief of staff and director of operations to the minister. She’s been working for Ms. Ng since March 2018, […]
Quebec Liberal MP Shanahan running for national Liberal caucus chair
Three-term Quebec Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan, who won her seat in the last election by just 12 votes, is running to serve as the chair of the Liberals’ national caucus at this week’s first post-election national caucus meeting. “Given the national caucus chair is the only major caucus leadership role to be elected by the […]
End of 2021 will be a boom time for lobbying, say GR consultants
A slow September for lobbying activity is likely to be followed by some of the busiest months for government relations in 2021, as organizations try to take advantage of a new Liberal cabinet filled mostly with senior ministers in new posts, according to some lobbyists. “When I look at the makeup of the cabinet, I […]
Claire Seaborn named chief of staff to Natural Resources Minister Wilkinson
New Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is making headway in getting his office into shape, and recently hired Claire Seaborn to serve as his chief of staff. Ms. Seaborn has spent most of the last three years working for now former Liberal minister Catherine McKenna, starting in September 2018 as a senior adviser for legal and […]
Chiefs of staff on the move: will they stay or will they go?
It’s a busy time on Parliament Hill, as ministers work to settle their political staff teams after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his new front bench on Oct. 26, and so far, the fates of more than 10 chiefs of staff during the last Parliament have been confirmed. Settling on a chief of staff is […]
The party’s over—the Liberal Party, that is
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—“I did not leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.” That was Ronald Reagan in 1962, when he became a Republican. It is what I have been thinking for the past few weeks. The Liberal Party left me long ago and was replaced by a cult around Justin Trudeau. As a former […]
Former Liberal Party president Gainey could run for Liberal nomination in coveted Quebec riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, say Liberal sources
Former Liberal Party president Anna Gainey could run for the Liberal nomination in the safe and coveted Quebec Liberal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, Que., say several Liberal sources, but she told The Hill Times she has no plans to run “at this time.” The riding is currently represented by five-term Liberal MP and former foreign affairs […]
Cabinet chips have fallen, with symbolism in the settling
OTTAWA—So, how did you make out in that cabinet speculation game we played last week? Did you make enough money to retire? The cabinet was unveiled yesterday and here are some quick takes. Other than Chrystia Freeland, two of the big winners are Mélanie Joly and Steven Guilbeault. Joly is Canada’s new minister of foreign […]
Swearing-in ceremony more than just a signature for new, returning MPs
For Conservative Marilyn Gladu, the date that she was sworn in as an MP this year was one imbued with bittersweet melancholy. The Sarnia-Lambton, Ont., representative chose Oct. 20 because it was the day her mother died last year. “I did it in person on this particular anniversary of my mother’s death, I felt like […]
PM Trudeau makes changes in senior ranks of PMO, according to an internal PMO memo
Only a day ahead of unveiling his cabinet after the Sept. 20 election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made changes in the senior ranks of his Prime Minister’s Office. According to an internal memo obtained by The Hill Times, Brian Clow, a senior PMO staffer, and Marjorie Michel, who served as the Quebec director of […]
