Stage managing the political theatre

Some of the best staff work goes unnoticed because its whole purpose is to solve problems, absorb chaos, and make hard things look routine.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, left and his wife Anaida arrive at a press conference at the Fire of God Ministries food bank in Ottawa on Sept. 29, 2025. As an outside observer, you probably only stop to wonder how the pieces fit together when the illusion of a seamless operation is shattered, writes Kate Harper. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY KATE HARPER

September 16, 2026

Over the years, the best analogy I found to describe the job of being director of tour was comparing it to being prop master for Saturday Night Live. The timelines are intense, the requests outrageous, and yet you somehow manage to get the job done week after week w...

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