PMO finalizes the chiefs of staff of 22 cabinet ministers; senior PMO staffer Bouchard moves to Heritage
With the House of Commons set to return later this week for its first sitting following the election, the Prime Minister’s Office has finalized the top staffers in 22 ministerial offices, and has set up a website to solicit resumés for hiring in the offices of MPs, ministers, and the Prime Minister’s Office, according to […]
McNair set to exit as PMO policy head, Surkes tapped to take over
Some big staff changes are afoot in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, with his policy head of the last seven years, Michael McNair, set to exit the office, and the Hill, at the end of the year. Marci Surkes is already lined up to replace Mr. McNair and lead the PMO’s policy and cabinet affairs […]
New cabinet, old fears, what does it mean for Canadian research and science?
On Nov. 20, the Trudeau government announced its new cabinet and House leadership appointees. Surprising many in the research community, the minister of science was eliminated, with the science portfolio being absorbed by the renamed ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry. What could this mean for the next generation of Canadian scientists and for the […]
In tweaking front bench, Trudeau signals shift inward to focus on fraught domestic relations: experts
With a diminished caucus heading into a minority Parliament, the Trudeau government has signalled through tweaks to its front bench that it is scaling back its ambitions, as it shifts its focus to attending to fraught domestic relations, say political experts. “The dissatisfaction that led him [Justin Trudeau] to a minority government are the things […]
New Parliament, who dis? Post-election staff transition now underway
Change is in the air on the Hill—as is plenty of post-election anxiety—with a new minority Parliament and a new, larger cabinet sworn-in last week. Of the new 36-member cabinet—18 of whom are men, and 18 women—seven are first-time ministers, 20 are returning ministers in new portfolios, and nine ministers have been kept in their […]
Long road to UNDRIP’s full implementation needs to end, soon
After two decades of negotiation, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by a majority of the UN’s General Assembly in September 2007. At the time, four countries voted against adoption, with Canada among them. Three years later, Canada endorsed the declaration, but with a qualification, citing continued concern over […]
Because it’s 2019, let’s stop using feminism as a not-truly-equal cabinet crutch
OTTAWA—Gender parity, once on-trend in 2015, is now merely a passing thought just four years later. Cabinet announcements will be made today and not since in the days immediately following the election in October has gender parity in cabinet been discussed. What’s that we hear? Oh, crickets. In 2015, the nascent Trudeau government formed a […]
Election 2019: where parties posted their worst 25 results
Fielding 338 strong candidates can be tough, as is organizing that many campaign teams to turn out a respectable level of support on election day. That rang more true for a few parties in certain parts of the country: Quebec and Alberta voters gave some parties their worst results this election, with the bulk of […]
Trudeau needs Freeland at foreign affairs to deal with NAFTA cliffhanger
OTTAWA—The economy always scores fairly high when voters are asked during election campaigns about the issues that matter most. But it’s debatable whether economic concerns really count for much unless the economy is in the doldrums and jobs are scarce. Among voters in the East, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals probably got some […]
Election 2019: The 25 ridings where each party did its best
On election night on Oct. 21, only the Liberals and the Conservatives watched their 25 top-performing candidates actually win their ridings. Three of the top 25 NDP candidates lost on election, as did one of the Bloc Québécois’. The 25 Conservatives MPs who recorded the strongest returns of their party’s slate all earned more than […]
