Ian Brodie – first Chief of Staff to Stephen Harper. Now, Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, and Senior Advisor at New West Public Affairs.
Tim Murphy – former Chief of Staff to Paul Martin. Now, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Affairs Officer at AECON.
Brian Topp – former Chief of Staff to Rachel Notley in Alberta and Deputy Chief to Roy Romanow in Saskatchewan. Now, founding partner at GT&co.
David Herle spent the weekend, like a lot of Canadians, trying to process the breakdown in Canada-US trade talks and the unusually sharp statement Mark Carney delivered to the country the day before. So he called in The Chiefs: three former chiefs of staff to some of Canada’s most prominent political leaders.
It gets pointed fast.
Did the Americans overplay a genuinely greedy hand? Did Carney make the right call walking away? Was the government’s credibility already damaged by how it handled the Gordie Howe Bridge file and did is show weakness the Americans noticed?
There’s a real disagreement over Danielle Smith’s freelancing in Washington, whether the federal government has been too closed and secretive through the negotiations, and whether the actual documents from the talks should be released publicly.
They also look ahead: what a genuine pivot away from US dependence would require, the risk to public finances if bond markets get skittish, how fast major projects could realistically move, and lastly, what all of this means for Pierre Poilievre now facing renewed questions about his leadership.
A tough, sharp, no-holds-barred conversation between three pros of very different stripes who’ve all sat at the highest levels of government. Not to be missed.