Director of Communications (Office of the Prime Minister)

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The Director of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office is one of the most senior roles in the Canadian Prime Minister's Office, reporting directly to the prime minister and his or her chief of staff. The person is responsible for selling the government's agenda to the media and public. The portfolio thus encompasses everything from speech writing, communications packages, coordinating announcements, creating media appearances for the Prime Minister, crafting communications responses, liaising with the media, coordinating with ministers' and Members of Parliament's offices, and responding to government controversies.

The position is known for its incredibly long hours, grueling commitment to the job, strain on the person's family and general social life, and relatively quick burn-out period. The position regularly requires the director to be in the office from as early as 5:00am to as late as 1:00am, six or seven days per week, in order to monitor media developments and respond quickly when required. The position's grueling hours are close only to the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and Director of Policy. In a February 2015 article, former Director of Communications Andrew MacDougall laid out his average day in that role, starting at 5:30am and describing his day until roughly 11:00pm.[1]

Since 2006 only half of the directors have lasted more than one year, with the average in the position being just 395 days, or roughly 13 months. The longest serving director is Sandra Buckler, with over two years in the position, who was forced to leave in order to undergo cancer treatment. The shortest duration was just 32 days with William Stairs, who left shortly after Prime Minister Stephen Harper was elected with a minority government.

Previous Directors of Communications[]

Name Prime Minister Dates Served Reason for Leaving
Peter Donolo Jean Chrétien 1993-1999 Resigned
Françoise Ducros 1999-2002 Resigned following controversy
Jim Munson 2002-2003 Appointed to the Senate of Canada
Mario Laguë Paul Martin 2003-2005 Appointed to a diplomatic position
Scott Reid 2005-2006 Party defeated in 2006 election
William J. Stairs Stephen Harper January – February 2006 Unknown
Sandra Buckler February 2006 – June 27, 2008 Cancer treatment
Kory Teneycke July 7, 2008 – July 28, 2009 Job with Sun News Network
John Williamson August 2009 – March 2010[2] To run for Parliament
Dimitri Soudas March 2010 – September 5, 2011[3] Hired by the Canadian Olympic Committee
Angelo Persichilli October 2011 – April 2012[4] Job stress
Andrew MacDougall April 2012 – September 2, 2013[5] Job in London, England
Jason MacDonald September 12, 2013 - February 13, 2015[6] Unknown
Rob Nicol February 14, 2015[6] - October 18, 2015 party defeated in 2015 election
Kate Purchase Justin Trudeau October 19, 2015 – December 17, 2019[7] Job with Microsoft

References[]

  1. ^ "A (sort of) day in the life of Stephen Harper's director of communications". CBC News, February 18, 2015.
  2. ^ "PM to name taxpayers crusader to media role - Canada - CBC News". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  3. ^ "Harper's spokesman Soudas moving on - Politics - CBC News". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  4. ^ "Harper's 6th communications director resigns - Politics - CBC News". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  5. ^ "Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall leaving PMO - Politics - CBC News". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  6. ^ a b "Jason MacDonald leaving Prime Minister's Office 7 months before election". CBC News, February 13, 2015
  7. ^ Wherry, Aaron (Dec 17, 2019). "Trudeau's communications chief Kate Purchase leaving PM's office". CBC News.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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