Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos adds to policy team
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos welcomed a new policy adviser, Jed Graham, to his team at the end of July. Graham is currently working toward earning a doctor of philosophy degree in political economy from Glasgow Caledonian University—where he earlier earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences—and is a former part-time lecturer at the school. He’s […]
Fresh faces on board for ministers Wilkinson, Champagne
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has made a couple of tweaks to his staff roster in light of the recent departure of special assistant for policy and British Columbia regional affairs Jack Welsh. Welsh, a former Prairies regional adviser to Wilkinson as environment minister, joined the natural resources office in April. Hill Climbers understands he’s […]
Cole Davidson exits as Liberal research bureau comms head
The Liberal research bureau on the Hill will soon have a new director of communications at the helm, following Cole Davidson’s recent exit from the post. Davidson, who’d led communications for the office since June 2021, left last month, and, as noted by his LinkedIn profile, is now busy as the co-founder (with his partner, […]
Ministers Marci Ien, Diane Lebouthillier see policy adviser moves
Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien has seen a couple of staff exits of late, and another is soon to come, with policy adviser Myriam Djossou set to mark her last day in the minister’s office later this month. Djossou is set to be under post-employment status as of Aug. 26, according […]
Staffing updates for Treasury Board President Mona Fortier
It’s been a while since Hill Climbers checked in on Treasury Board President Mona Fortier’s team, and there are a number of staff developments to note, including the departure of senior policy adviser Casey Richardson in late May. Richardson came from Fortier’s old associate finance and middle class prosperity team, having first begun working for […]
New manager of advertising hired for Trudeau’s office
There’s a new manager of advertising in place in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, with Darrell Dean having stepped into the role last week. Together with the PMO’s new manager of research, Hilary Martin, who was hired last month, they replace former senior manager of research and advertising Alex Kohut, who left the office at […]
Sleep, not a second round, reigns supreme in the front row to history
Incoming staffers, let me give you one piece of advice that I wish a 23-year-old me had received … and probably would have ignored anyway. Don’t go to the second bar. There’s a lot that I can’t guarantee for you about life in politics. My dad always told me that anyone who wants a warranty […]
What the Hill represents and what it can do is bigger than any of us
Entire books have been written about staffer life, the world of insiders, and the secret lives of politicians. And a lot of ink has been spilled (and megabytes used) in these pages and others by people with deeper thoughts than mine about what you should and should not do when working in politics. But, as […]
Finding truth and balance: advice to new and aspiring political staffers
A very long time ago, I worked as a political staffer on the Hill. Today, as a professor and now-director of the Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University, I have the privilege of working every year with dozens of young staffers from all major parties. I can see how the job has […]
The 2022 Terrific 25 Staffers ranking
Conducted by Forum Research, a total of 141 politicos cast votes online between June 3 and July 8 as part of this year’s Terrific 25 Staffers survey. Between the 18 survey categories, 421 individual staffers received votes. The PM’s right hand Katie Telford was once again voted to the top of the 25 list, and […]
