Innovation Minister Bains hires new press secretary, Danielle Keenan
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains has a new press secretary in place in his ministerial office, Danielle Keenan. Ms. Keenan recently moved over from Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould’s office to take on the job. She’d been working for Ms. Gould since May 2017, starting off as a special assistant for issues […]
Gould hires new comms director, Monsef names press secretary
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould has a new director of communications in her office. Amy Butcher has moved over from the Public Health Agency of Canada to take over the job. Until recently, Ms. Butcher had been busy as a senior adviser in the Public Health Agency of Canada’s partnerships and strategies division. She first began […]
New policy adviser, Ontario desk among recent staff hires in the Prime Minister’s Office
There are a few new faces in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, including former McKinsey & Company manager Bud Sambasivam. Mr. Sambasivam is now busy at work as a policy adviser in the PMO, after joining the top office in early October. Before then, he was a manager with McKinsey & Company in Calgary. Born […]
Ministers Duclos, Joly hire; McKenna loses senior aide
Families, Children, and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos recently scooped up Jessica Eritou to fill the role of information manager and special assistant to the minister’s chief of staff, Olivier Duchesneau. Ms. Eritou arrives straight from Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan’s office where she’s spent the past year as executive assistant to the minister. Before […]
Wilson-Raybould has a new policy adviser; Champagne hires a new adviser; Kavanagh bittersweet about leaving Hill after winning Ottawa city council seat
Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould recently welcomed a new policy adviser to her office. Benjamin Prud’homme started on the job on Oct. 22. Before then, Mr. Prud’homme was practising family, constitutional, and private international law as an associate with Robinson Sheppard Shapiro in Montreal. At the same time, he was a volunteer lawyer with the […]
Comms director change-up for Science and Sport Minister Duncan
Science and Sport Minister Kirsty Duncan has a new director of communications in her office, after Michael Bhardwaj made his exit from the minister’s team. Mr. Bhardwaj had been communications director to Ms. Duncan since February 2016, starting out when the minister was solely responsible for science. Before then, he’d been a media relations specialist […]
Diamond Isinger exits the Prime Minister’s Office
The three-member Canada-U.S. relations team in the Prime Minister’s Office has been busy since first forming in early 2017, not long after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, and with NAFTA renegotiations now put to bed, one member, Diamond Isinger, has left the Hill. Ms. Isinger noted her departure in a tweet on Oct. […]
Political staffers have it tough. I know. I employ them
PARLIAMENT HILL—It wouldn’t be right to conclude this series of op-eds on mental health on Parliament Hill—particularly an entry focusing on staff—without amplifying the voice of another insightful spokesperson on mental health, Paul Wernick, a former parliamentary staffer who has brought the workplace culture of Parliament Hill and its unique stresses and mental health challenges […]
Yan Plante back among Conservative staff on the Hill
Yan Plante is back on Parliament Hill and has joined Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer as a special adviser in the official opposition leader’s office (OLO). A veteran Hill staffer, Mr. Plante previously worked under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and his past roles include serving as a special assistant to then-labour minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, and later […]
Cotter named director of communications to new Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister Blair
Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair, who will be facing intense political and media scrutiny this week as the lead minister on the legalization of cannabis in Canada on Oct. 17, has named Ryan Cotter as director of communications. Mr. Cotter arrives in Mr. Blair’s brand new cabinet office straight from the Liberal […]
