8Trudeau’s chief of staff is a major reason he has remained powerful and popular since taking office. Telford, who is only the second woman ever to have the job, has dominion over the entire PMO—hirings, firings, discipline—and as a longtime Trudeau confidante, she has a key influence on policy. Her fingerprints were all over Trudeau’s gender-equal cabinet and diplomatic corps, and she and Gerald Butts lobbied the premiers behind the scenes to work toward a national climate accord in March.
Friends in high places:
Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton was her boss at consulting firm StrategyCorp.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/toronto-50-most-influential-2016-katie-telford/&title=Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Katie Telford&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/katie-telford.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_405092" align="alignnone" width="803"] Katie Telford[/caption]
Katie Telford
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister
8Trudeau’s chief of staff is a major reason he has remained powerful and popular since taking office. Telford, who is only the second woman ever to have the job, has dominion over the entire PMO—hirings, firings, discipline—and as a longtime Trudeau confidante, she has a key influence on policy. Her fingerprints were all over Trudeau’s gender-equal cabinet and diplomatic corps, and she and Gerald Butts lobbied the premiers behind the scenes to work toward a national climate accord in March.
Friends in high places:
Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton was her boss at consulting firm StrategyCorp.
[sjmcm layout="general_archive_list_10" posts="1:post_id:405044:1,1:post_id:405056:1,1:post_id:405065:1,1:post_id:405070:1,1:post_id:405077:1,1:post_id:405081:1,1:post_id:405086:1,1:post_id:405091:1,1:post_id:405095:1,1:post_id:405100:1,1:post_id:405104:1,1:post_id:405108:1,1:post_id:405113:1,1:post_id:405119:1,1:post_id:405125:1,1:post_id:405129:1,1:post_id:405133:1,1:post_id:405137:1,1:post_id:405143:1,1:post_id:405148:1,1:post_id:405154:1,1:post_id:405170:1,1:post_id:405179:1,1:post_id:405184:1,1:post_id:405188:1,1:post_id:405192:1,1:post_id:405198:1,1:post_id:405205:1,1:post_id:405212:1,1:post_id:405217:1,1:post_id:405222:1,1:post_id:405342:1,1:post_id:405423:1,1:post_id:405428:1,1:post_id:405432:1,1:post_id:405437:1,1:post_id:405451:1,1:post_id:405456:1,1:post_id:405460:1,1:post_id:405465:1,1:post_id:405472:1,1:post_id:405477:1,1:post_id:405484:1,1:post_id:405488:1,1:post_id:405492:1,1:post_id:405498:1,1:post_id:405502:1,1:post_id:405507:1,1:post_id:405511:1,1:post_id:405515:1" label="Toronto's%20Most%20Influential%20People%20of%202016"]){kind=link}