Everyone who’s leaving Toronto to work for Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill
The federal Grits were lost in the political wilderness for so long that when Trudeau swanned into Langevin Block, it was chock-full of strangers. The solution: steal from Kathleen! Here, the nitty-gritty on the YYZ-to-YOW brain drain
| April 12, 2016
LOBBYISTS
Sheamus Murphy
VP of federal advocacy, Counsel Public Affairs
Murphy, who’s married to Canadian Heritage chief of staff Leslie Church, leads a new, Liberal-focused lobbying outpost. Formerly: VP of communications at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Greg MacNeil
VP, Ensight
He’ll head up the lobbying arm of PR firm Navigator, drawing on contacts from his days in education and natural resources at Queen’s Park under McGuinty. Formerly: Senior consultant and research lead at Navigator.
SMARTY-PANTSES
Sarah Hussaini
Policy advisor, International Trade
She’ll help Chrystia Freeland craft policies to push investment in Canada at a time when the dollar and oil prices are bottoming out. Formerly: Investment services and global markets advisor at Invest Toronto.
Jessica Prince
Senior policy advisor, Justice
Prince will likely focus on the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Formerly: Associate at commercial, civil and regulatory litigation firm Polley Faith.
Joe Pickerill
Director of communications, Foreign Affairs
He’ll be directing media strategy on foreign affairs, with particular focus on ISIS, Israel and Ukraine. Formerly: Senior consultant, StrategyCorp. He also worked on policy for John Tory’s mayoral campaign.
CHIEFS OF STAFF
Gianluca Cairo
Chief of staff, Public Services and Procurement
He’ll help oversee the reinvention of Canada Post and the replacement of Canada’s creaky fighter jets. Formerly: VP of operations at Argus Software. He was senior advisor to former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion.
Christine Tabbert
Chief of staff, Veterans Affairs
Tabbert will help rebuild relations with veterans who are still pissed at former Veterans Affairs minister Julian Fantino. Formerly: Assistant VP and lead counsel for advisory services at Manulife Financial.
Leslie Church
Chief of staff, Heritage
Church oversees arts grants, museum programs, CBC funding and the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Formerly: Head of comms at Google Canada and Michael Ignatieff’s director of communications during his 2011 campaign.
Elder Marques
Chief of staff, Innovation, Science and Economic Development
Marques’s focus is jobs. After that, restoring the unceremoniously nixed long-form census. Formerly: Partner in litigation at McCarthy Tétrault.
Brian Clow
Chief of staff, International Trade
He’s Chrystia Freeland’s right hand, helping navigate two mega–trade deals, including the TPP. Formerly: Premier Wynne’s executive director of issues management and legislative affairs.
John Brodhead
Chief of staff, Infrastructure and Communities
Brodhead has to help Minister Sohi get infrastructure funds where they’re needed most. Formerly: Executive director at Evergreen CityWorks. He was also policy advisor under McGuinty.
PRIVY COUNCIL GURU
Matthew Mendelsohn
Deputy secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office
Mendelsohn is in charge of the “delivery unit”—the system developed to track each ministry’s targets. Formerly: Founding director of the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, a think tank based at U of T. He also helped craft Trudeau’s campaign platform.
PMO INSIDERS
Lindsay Hunter
Ontario Desk, PMO
Hunter is the expert on all things Ontario. Trudeau relies on her to provide a regional lens on federal matters. Formerly: Director of operations for the Ontario Ministry of Health, running logistics and day-to-day problem solving for Eric Hoskins.
Zita Astravas
Director of issues management, PMO
Astravas toils behind the scenes trying to make problems big and small go away. Formerly: Director of media relations for Premier Wynne, managing press secretaries and liaising with journalists.
Mike McNair
Director of policy, PMO
McNair’s fingerprints are on every policy document that comes out of the PMO. Formerly: Strategy and operations manager at Deloitte. Before that, he was the architect of Stéphane Dion’s Green Shift carbon tax policy.
John Zerucelli
Director of operations, PMO
Zerucelli, a meticulous organizer, oversees hiring and supervising of the PM’s staff and organizing JT’s schedule. Formerly: Chief of staff at the Ontario Treasury Board.
Katie Telford
Chief of staff, PMO
Telford is the gateway to Trudeau, overseeing access and shadow managing his most important files. She ran Trudeau’s 2015 election campaign and has the PM’s complete trust. Formerly: Senior consultant at StrategyCorp.
Gerald Butts
Principal secretary, PMO
Butts, Trudeau’s long-time friend, is the big-picture guy, crafting strategy and driving the agenda. He also likes to get in Twitter fights with journalists. Formerly: CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada.
NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY
Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.
