But the PMO says Mark Carney keeps in ‘close and regular contact’ with MPs, and holds caucus coffee chats and meals with MPs while travelling in their regions. And another Liberal MP says those frustrated by the lack of direct access to the PM want to ‘audition’ for a promotion to cabinet.
What took me by surprise when I joined the PMO was the pushback that came because I wasn’t a political staffer already. I didn’t fully comprehend that ‘politics’ thinks of itself as an institution rather than an industry.
We can make a difference if every single Canadian decides that our purchasing power can trump U.S. President Donald Trump.
Eleven new members have been named to the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which the feds say will focus on recruiting expertise in trade, finance, AI, technology, and diplomacy.
Plus, Vincent Desmarais recently bade farewell to the Conservative OLO, and there’s a new hire in Minister Mandy Gull-Masty’s office.
Maia Johnson is emerging as a rising star who is said to have played a key role in the recent staff changes, and is already ‘making her mark by streamlining processes’ within the Prime Minister’s Office, say Liberal sources.
Following PMO principal secretary Tom Pitfield’s Senate appointment and expectations that deputy chief of staff Braeden Caley will step aside for a byelection run, Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to change his team in the PMO and the front bench.
Cabinet ministers who once appeared relaxed and complacent under Justin Trudeau are now ‘on their toes’ under Prime Minister Mark Carney, say some Liberal MPs.
Mark Carney has been busiest when creating new secrecy practices that hide some of the failings of this unproven image of being an economic powerhouse and wise multibillion-dollar spender guiding Canada to new economic and social heights.
‘Failing to provide access for the Canadian news media runs contrary to Carney’s commitment to openness,’ says former World Press Freedom Canada president Shawn McCarthy.
NDP MP Don Davies says the Liberals ‘rushed through a superficial and quick consultation, and now they’re mouthing the lines of tech billionaires’ in the AI for All strategy, released on June 4.
Green Leader Elizabeth May said the Liberals have turned their backs on climate change, and, with Guilbeault’s exit, wonders if there’s room for ‘anyone who cares about climate change’ in the caucus.
The Parliamentary Press Gallery wrote to the PM last month, inviting him to return to the National Press Theatre to speak with reporters.
Liberals say there’s been a ‘180-degree’ shift in discipline, tone, and policy led by the prime minister, but there are warnings against overconfidence as affordability concerns persist.
Despite the differing styles of previous officers, the government should make this appointment a top priority when Parliament returns this week because, as the Organisation for the Economic Co-Operation and Development pointed out in its first-ever review of the PBO (which was conducted at Jason Jacques’ request), this office is the best in the world.
It’s an open question as to whether the prime minister will treat the Senate as a strategic asset or leave the institution under-utilized in a national moment when it is most needed to rebuild national cohesion.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has not made it clear how he will move ahead with appointing Senators. But others say he’s got ‘bigger fish to fry’ right now.
With the official unveiling of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s portrait on Feb. 3, here are some stories from the history of the Hill’s prime ministerial collection. By the way, John Diefenbaker loved his flowing academic robe from the University of the Punjab. Like he really loved it, a lot, until it was stolen out of his hotel room one night when he went out for dinner with his wife Olive.
Part of an embargoed advisory for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent foreign travel was published online by Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar two days after being distributed to the press gallery. Reporters say identifying the leaker is essential to protecting the gallery’s credibility.
How has Mark Carney performed? Brilliantly, and I’m not a partisan. He has been bold, determined, visionary, and in tune with current public sentiment. He is less concerned about being ‘politically correct’ than with producing results.
Underneath the welter of new alliances Mark Carney is forming to save Canada economically and recover some of our strength internationally, I sense that he’s holding back from boldly advancing UN principles and international law.
Every new prime minister eventually faces turbulence, and that’s when a strong and trusted palace guard is ‘essential,’ says political historian and former Liberal MP John English. But at a critical time in Canadian history, Carney’s team is going to have to learn fast.
In a minority government, it is critical to have a senior strategist with regular, direct access to the prime minister, says Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research.
Groucho Marx’s dictum works in Canadian politics. Principles are less important than results. The Liberals have always known this. Perhaps the NDP and the Conservatives will eventually learn this, too.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs’ Heidi Cook says the Carney government backing Manitoba’s Port of Churchill as a national-interest project was a ‘surprise to a lot’ of First Nations in the area.
