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Ken Polk

Ken Polk is a public affairs counsellor with Compass Rose. He has served as a speechwriter and legislative assistant to former prime minister Jean Chrétien and as director general of communications for Health Canada.

In politics, a ‘near victory’ is a defeat

  • Why did so many voters conclude that it was more important to stop Pierre Poilievre than to deny the Liberals a rare 'four-peat?' How
Opinion | BY KEN POLK | May 15, 2025
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre at a whistle-stop rally at Olde Stanley’s Maple Lane Farm in Edwards, Ont., on April 27, 2025. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

In politics, a ‘near victory’ is a defeat

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | May 15, 2025
  • Why did so many voters conclude that it was more important to stop Pierre Poilievre than to deny the Liberals a rare 'four-peat?' How

In politics, a ‘near victory’ is a defeat

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | May 15, 2025
  • Why did so many voters conclude that it was more important to stop Pierre Poilievre than to deny the Liberals a rare 'four-peat?' How
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre at a whistle-stop rally at Olde Stanley’s Maple Lane Farm in Edwards, Ont., on April 27, 2025. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Will better mood music be enough for the Liberals?

  • While Trudeau may have decided the potential benefits of moving senior ministers outweigh the risks, it likely won’t be enough to dig the government out
Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 31, 2023
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hugs Jenna Sudds after she is sworn in as minister of Families, Children and Social Development during a shuffle at Rideau Hall on July 26, 2023. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Will better mood music be enough for the Liberals?

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 31, 2023
  • While Trudeau may have decided the potential benefits of moving senior ministers outweigh the risks, it likely won’t be enough to dig the government out

Will better mood music be enough for the Liberals?

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 31, 2023
  • While Trudeau may have decided the potential benefits of moving senior ministers outweigh the risks, it likely won’t be enough to dig the government out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hugs Jenna Sudds after she is sworn in as minister of Families, Children and Social Development during a shuffle at Rideau Hall on July 26, 2023. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Time for Liberals to reconnect with progressives

  • Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been famously quoted to the effect that in politics 'you dance with the one that brung ya.' Looking
Opinion | BY KEN POLK | February 20, 2023
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were elected in 2015 on a wave of his star power and a promise of real change, luring progressive voters away from the NDP. But listening to them in recent weeks, you have to wonder if they've lost their progressive touch, writes Ken Polk. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Time for Liberals to reconnect with progressives

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | February 20, 2023
  • Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been famously quoted to the effect that in politics 'you dance with the one that brung ya.' Looking

Time for Liberals to reconnect with progressives

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | February 20, 2023
  • Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been famously quoted to the effect that in politics 'you dance with the one that brung ya.' Looking
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were elected in 2015 on a wave of his star power and a promise of real change, luring progressive voters away from the NDP. But listening to them in recent weeks, you have to wonder if they've lost their progressive touch, writes Ken Polk. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Echoes of Chrétien in Trudeau’s handling of O’Toole

  • OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken an almost lifeless Liberal Party back to the government and has been re-elected twice. Notwithstanding a political record
Opinion | BY KEN POLK | October 4, 2021
As it turned out, Justin Trudeau, right, may have thought the time was right to get a majority while the getting was good. But with Erin O’Toole looking like a possible election winner in the first weeks of the campaign, Trudeau drove a wedge into the Conservative Party centrist strategy by attacking its platform pledge to repeal the Liberal ban on military-style assault weapons—a loser among suburban voters, writes Ken Polk. The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia

Echoes of Chrétien in Trudeau’s handling of O’Toole

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | October 4, 2021
  • OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken an almost lifeless Liberal Party back to the government and has been re-elected twice. Notwithstanding a political record

Echoes of Chrétien in Trudeau’s handling of O’Toole

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | October 4, 2021
  • OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken an almost lifeless Liberal Party back to the government and has been re-elected twice. Notwithstanding a political record
As it turned out, Justin Trudeau, right, may have thought the time was right to get a majority while the getting was good. But with Erin O’Toole looking like a possible election winner in the first weeks of the campaign, Trudeau drove a wedge into the Conservative Party centrist strategy by attacking its platform pledge to repeal the Liberal ban on military-style assault weapons—a loser among suburban voters, writes Ken Polk. The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia

An election may be the best thing for Erin O’Toole

  • Amid steadily deteriorating poll numbers, many Conservatives are thinking about the party’s prospects as we approach an expected federal election. Not surprisingly in our
Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 26, 2021
That's the ticket: Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, pictured on the Hill on Oct. 28, 2020, will be vying to prevent the governing Liberals from recouping a majority, if an election is called this year. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

An election may be the best thing for Erin O’Toole

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 26, 2021
  • Amid steadily deteriorating poll numbers, many Conservatives are thinking about the party’s prospects as we approach an expected federal election. Not surprisingly in our

An election may be the best thing for Erin O’Toole

Opinion | BY KEN POLK | July 26, 2021
  • Amid steadily deteriorating poll numbers, many Conservatives are thinking about the party’s prospects as we approach an expected federal election. Not surprisingly in our
That's the ticket: Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, pictured on the Hill on Oct. 28, 2020, will be vying to prevent the governing Liberals from recouping a majority, if an election is called this year. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
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