Whoville and the Grinch: a cautionary tale for opposition politicians
CHELSEA, QUE.—It is time someone who isn’t a Liberal said it: the Trudeau government has done a pretty good job managing the pandemic. Not perfect, never perfect. But hardly the train wreck of corruption and incompetence depicted by opposition critics. Despite recent claims by Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and his health critic, MP Michelle Rempel […]
New comms director, regional advisers for Minister LeBlanc
Intergovernmental Affairs and Queen’s Privy Council Minister Dominic LeBlanc has seen a number of staffing moves in his office of late, including welcoming Kelly Ouimet back to Parliament Hill to serve as his director of communications. Ms. Ouimet has been working in the private sector for the last decade plus. She was last on the […]
New press secretaries for ministers Garneau, Fortier
Transport Minister Marc Garneau has a new press secretary on his team, following Livia Belcea’s recent exit to work for the National Arts Centre. Ms. Belcea had been working for Mr. Garneau since February, before which she’d spent roughly four years as press secretary to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, including serving as head of communications […]
On COVID, Conservatives are getting outflanked by Liberals
OTTAWA—On Dec. 8, history was made as Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Northern Ireland became the first person in the world, outside of a clinical trial, to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech coronavirus vaccine. After nearly nine long months of living with COVID-19, this is reason for all of us to feel a little positive that […]
Investments in education and training infrastructure critical to Canada’s long-term recovery
As Canada begins to build back better, investments that achieve multiple benefits stand to expedite recovery and amplify impact. Just as the United States once did with its New Deal to respond to the Great Depression, a key ingredient to Canada’s long-term recovery will undoubtedly be infrastructure investment and development. In a recent speech to […]
New comms director joins Minister McKenna’s team
Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna has a new head of communications in her ministerial office, with Michelle Johnston recently hired to take over the role. Until recently, Ms. Johnston spent the last two years (and three months) working for the credit bureau Equifax Canada as a consultant on government strategy and innovation. Before then, […]
Freeland’s economic plan puts a chicken in every pot
OTTAWA—The Trudeau government brought down its long-awaited economic statement earlier this week and history was made as it was delivered by Canada’s first-ever female Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. The latter was long overdue. The smaller numbers in the economic statement may be more revealing than the staggering $381-billion deficit and another potential $100-billion stimulus program. […]
Senior staff moves among recent changes to Minister Bains’ team
Innovation, Science, and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains has seen a handful of staffing changes to his office of late, including the recent exit of his director of operations of the last three years, Tasha Ismail. Ms. Ismail first joined Mr. Bains’ office at the end of 2016 as a policy adviser, and half a year […]
This just in: staffing update for Freeland’s finance ministerial team
It’s been more than three months since Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland put on the added hat of minister of finance, and Hill Climbers finally has some staffing decisions to report. The minister’s office has for months declined to confirm who is staffing Ms. Freeland in her capacity as finance minister, saying the office was […]
President Trump and the damage still being done
OTTAWA—These days it is almost impossible for Canadians to ignore the political circus that is being played out south of our border. Were the potential consequences not so dire, the desperate deeds of U.S. President Donald Trump and his loyal base would be outright comical. Given Trump’s ubiquitous presence in the media throughout his presidency, […]
