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The Hill Times 10th Annual Terrific 25 Staffers Survey

By ALAN S. HALE, JESSICA BRUNO

Published May 10, 2010

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PMO communications director Dimitri Soudas is Parliament Hill's top staffer, moving up 21 spots from last year in The Hill Times' Terrific 25 Staffers survey.

Mr. Soudas's high-profile, name recognition, direct influence, long history with the Prime Minister and recent promotion are the reasons why he has been recognized as the number one staffer on The Hill Times' 10th annual survey.

Mr. Soudas worked as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) press secretary when Mr. Harper was the Canadian Alliance leader. Mr. Soudas was appointed as the Prime Minister's communications director in mid-April, when his predecessor, John Williamson, left the post to seek the Conservative nomination in New Brunswick Southwest, since Conservative MP Greg Thompson won't be running again.

Mr. Soudas clearly has the Prime Minister's confidence. For example, during last December's climate change conference in Copenhagen, Mr. Harper acted upon misinformation Mr. Soudas gave him, accusing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff (Etobicoke Lakeshore, Ont.) of making comments which he did not. Both were forced to apologize.

Mr. Soudas has also been recognized for his spin-doctoring skills. He showed early on in Mr. Harper's career as Prime Minister his ability to co-opt somebody else's message. When the Bloc Québécois tried to pass a motion in the House to recognize Quebec as a nation, it was Mr. Soudas's idea to agree to it, but to add "within a united Canada" at the end. Just adding those four extra words turned a Bloc initiative into a big political win for Conservatives.

The Hill Times called, emailed and distributed surveys in person to all 308 MPs' offices and polled both staffers and MPs for this unscientific survey between April 12-30. A total of 78 responses were received—23 from Conservatives, 43 from the Liberal Party, 10 from the NDP and two from the Bloc Québécois.

On top of the 78 responses, however, approximately 30 surveys came back from the Liberals who wanted to nominate former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer as the staffer with the most access to the PMO and Cabinet. Those surveys weren't counted, because as clever as the little jibe at the issue that has been dominating the House's attention was, Mr. Jaffer is not a staffer.

Once the overwhelming amount of votes for Mr. Jaffer were discarded, the staffer with the most access to the Prime Minister's office was Mr. Soudas.

PMO chief of staff Guy Giorno ranked second place overall this year, but also tied with Liberal staffer Patrick Durocher for being the most discrete staffer on the Hill. While there were different interpretations of what discretion on the Hill actually meant, some voted for the naturally quiet and shy, some voted for the closed-door planners. Since being appointed to his position in July 2008, Mr. Giorno has kept a low public profile.

Meanwhile, Mr. Durocher, although he was not on the Top 25 list overall, can be found in the Parliamentary lobby just about any day of the week, and talks to plenty of MPs and staffers. In his case, being discrete can be as easy as being able to keep a secret.

"I don't usually talk to the media whatsoever," admitted Mr. Durocher. "When people tell me things it stays with me."

He may not make many waves, but that's the way he likes it, he said. "I concentrate on doing the best job I can for my team and going home. I'm not the social butterfly; I'm always the guy behind closed doors."

Mr. Ignatieff's chief of staff Peter Donolo, 50, took the third spot in the Top 25 list. He was recognized for his influence on the Hill. Mr. Donolo has displayed some remarkable longevity in backroom politics. He was former prime minister Jean Chrétien's well-regarded director of communications from 1991 to 1999. During that time he was instrumental in keeping the Chrétien and Paul Martin factions within the party from getting at each other's throats. He was Canada's consul general in Milan, Italy from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, he worked as senior vice-president of public affairs at Air Canada and in 2002 went to work the Strategic Counsel Toronto-based public opinion and communications consulting shop. He co-chaired David Miller's Toronto mayoral campaign in 2003.

He was hired as Mr. Ignatieff's chief of staff in November 2009, taking over from Ian Davey in the Opposition Leader's Office in an attempt turn around the Liberal leader's image and polling numbers.

Meanwhile, if you've ever been to or even heard about NDP MP Peter Stoffer's (Sackville-Eastern Shore, N.S.) popular All-Party Party, then you're probably familiar with Colleen Knight's handiwork. Ms. Knight, who ranked fourth in this year's survey, has been the architect of this unique Parliamentary event since it began, and it has grown every year.

"The All-Party Party started off like an infant. Its needs were very specific and small," said Ms. Knight, who has worked as an assistant on the Hill since 1983. "The last one was more like an unruly teenager; a bit more demanding."

Ms. Knight won fourth place in The Hill Times' 10th annual Terrific 25 Staffers survey and was voted first in the all-round best staffer category.

Ms. Knight, who was also recognized in the all-around best staffer category, is the only employee in Mr. Stoffer's Hill office. He says he doesn't need any more because she is able to do the work of three people.

"If I can be completely honest with you, I work for her," Mr. Stoffer joked.

Rob Sutherland, an assistant to NDP House Leader Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.) came in fifth place and ranked first as the most knowledgeable staffer. Perhaps it is just a little bit ironic that the most knowledgeable staffer was recruited so young that he never got to graduate from university. Mr. Sutherland left university two years into his degree to go work on the Hill.

"I have first and second year in about nine different subjects, in economics and music, first year business," Mr. Sutherland said laughing. "I have a wide academic background but I kept getting hired by MPs to come back to the Hill."

Degree or not, Mr. Sutherland has been held up by some respondents as the NDP's guru on Parliamentary procedure. Although, he chalked it up to simply accumulating experience after being around for so long.

"I've been working on the Hill on and off since 1982," he said. "Part of it is just longevity, and having worked with some great staff people from all parties."

This year's sixth-place winner is Karl Bélanger. Since he started working on the Hill in 1997, he has been press secretary for NDP Leader Jack Layton (Toronto Danforth, Ont.) and former leader Alexa McDonough. Mr. Bélanger has been in charge of orchestrating the NDP's public message delivery. He does everything from writing speeches, to directly handling the press.

Liberal staffer Matthew Rowe is a new addition to the list. Liberal MP Navdeep Bains (Mississauga-Brampton South, Ont.) hired him in 2007 because of his background in international trade. Since then, Mr. Rowe has been a big part of the "one member, one vote" reform for electing Liberal leaders, and is the elected chair of the Liberal Assistants Caucus. He came in seventh place on this year's list.

After seven years on the Hill working for Ms. McDonough, NDP staffer Anthony Salloum left to help establish the Rideau Institute on International Relations. He has only been back on the Hill for four months, working for MP Claude Gravelle (Nickel Belt, Ont.) and is already contributing to northern economic development policy. He's this year's eighth best staffer.

Greg Kolz began his Parliamentary career as a tour guide in 1997 and has never left. Now he's the executive assistant for the Liberal caucus chair, Liberal MP Anthony Rota (Nipissing-Timiskaming, Ont.), and has been nominated for several categories in this year's survey. He took ninth place this year.

In 10th place was Jack Layton's chief of staff, Anne McGrath. Ms. McGrath has been a big player within the NDP, even serving as party president for a time. Ms. McGrath said she believes strongly in the NDP's ability to influence issues despite being the smallest party in the House.

Eleventh-place winner, Melanie Lauzon, said that she enjoys working with committees, which is a good thing when you're the coordinator of House of Commons committees. This explains why she has been working at the Liberal Whip's Office for 16 years straight. She manages the Liberals' House of Commons committee work and also deals with the party caucus and its members.

Christian Brideau, who appears on the list for the first time, is an assistant to NDP Whip Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst, N.B.) and won 12th place.

The NDP's national director, Brad Lavigne, came in 13th place for his communications skills. He received votes in the best at spin category, and was previously Mr. Layton's communications director.

Kenzie Potter is a very high energy individual. She has been working on the Hill for five years, and said she is enjoying every minute of it. As the director of Parliamentary affairs for Government House Leader Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.), she said she enjoys the hectic nature of her job. She debuts on the list at 14th place.

Chris Froggatt, Transport Minister John Baird's (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.) chief of staff is described by his colleagues as one of the busiest staffers on the Hill. He won 15th place this year.

In 16^th place, and no stranger to the Terrific 25 Staffers list, is Conservative senior Parliamentary adviser in the Government House Leader's Office, David Prest. Thirty-five years ago, he was a student working as a janitor on the Hill. In 1982, he became a part of the people who got to make the mess, by working for the Progressive Conservative Whip's Office. Mr. Prest received votes in the most knowledgeable category for his expertise in Parliamentary procedure.

Calinda Brown is the legislative assistant for NDP MP Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan, B.C.). Ms. Brown, who won 17^th place, said she particularly enjoys helping with Ms. Crowder's aboriginal affairs portfolio.

Hugo Dompierre has worked under four different Liberal House leaders in his career. He has stayed in the House Leader's Office for so long because he likes seeing his work manifest into action in the House. He is currently Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale's (Wascana, Sask.) senior House affairs adviser, and the 18th place winner.

Grit staffer Jamie Innes also works for Mr. Goodale, as a policy adviser and came in right behind his colleague in 19th place.

Tom McBride says that he is the man who gets Tory MP Mike Wallace (Burlington, Ont.) re-elected. Mr. McBride isn't on the election team, he's the member's assistant. He appears on the list for the first time in 20th place.

Richard McGuire and Steve Moran are the men with all the answers—probably because it's a big part of their jobs. Mr. McGuire is a special assistant in the Liberal Research Bureau, while Mr. Moran is the NDP's Research Bureau deputy director. Mr. McGuire came in 21^st place while Mr. Moran won 23^rd, garnering votes in the best all around and most knowledgable staffer categories.

Colin McSweeney, Parliamentary assistant to Labour Minister Lisa Raitt (Halton, Ont.) came in 22nd place. He was recognized in the influence and discretion categories. Mr. McSweeney also reportedly played a key role in removing Helena Guergis as the Tories' candidate in the next election in Simcoe-Grey, Ont.

Heather Tessier likens her job as Conservative MP Lois Brown's (Newmarket, Ont.) only Hill staffer to being an air traffic controller; calls and documents come in to land only for her to have to send them off somewhere else later. She came in 24^th place.

Not many people would brave several years of graduate school, and slave over a doctorate thesis just to get a job working for an MP, Mr. Ignatieff's senior legislative adviser, Justin To, did. Armed with a PhD in economics he hopes to be crafting financial legislation when the Liberals form the government again. The good doctor rounded out the Terrific 25 Staffers survey at 25.

Although not in the Top 25, special mention goes to Mary Kancer and Jane Pepper Ireland who were voted as the best constituency staffers.

Ms. Kancer works in Mr. Ignatieff's constituency office, and Ms. Pepper Ireland works in NDP MP Bill Siksay's Burnaby-Douglas, B.C., constituency office.

Meanwhile, several Liberal staffers voted for the late Richard Wackid and Jerry Yanover. Mr. Wackid, who worked in the Liberal Whip's Office since 1988, died last October from ALS. Mr. Yanover, who was a Liberal adviser in the Liberal House Leader's Office on the Hill since 1969, died last July. Staffers in the Liberal Whip's Office said they wanted to pay tribute to the two men because they live on as Parliamentary institutions.

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