This week marks four months since the last federal election, and there’s a new book hot off the presses to summarize the campaign that was.

Written by Montreal-based freelance journalist Justin Ling and published by Sutherland Press, The 51^st State Votes: Canada Versus Donald Trump is a slim 100 pages and claims to be “a gripping account of a campaign that promises to define Canada for the next century,” according to the publisher’s website.

“Over 35 days of campaigning, Liberal leader Mark Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criss-crossed the country speaking to those duelling anxieties. Journalist Justin Ling watched it all from up close, paying particular attention to how Canada’s 45^th general election scrambled its priorities and put the country at the forefront of the global resistance to a mad American president.”

Sutherland promises The 51^st State Votes is a “smart, witty, and superbly observed” read.

This is Ling’s second book. His first, Missing from the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto’s Queer Community, was published in 2020.

Privy Council Office roles get small shake-up

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced two changes in the civil service’s senior ranks on Aug. 22.

Current associate deputy minister of Health Eric Costen will move into the Privy Council Office on Sept. 2 to become deputy secretary to the cabinet (operations), filling a role held until then by Tushara Williams, who remains within PCO in the same rank, but is now responsible for plans and consultations. 

Williams has been with the federal public service since 2012, according to her official biography. She held senior roles at Employment and Social Development Canada, Infrastructure Canada, and Finance before joining PCO in 2023.

Costen’s civil service career began in 2006 at Health Canada, where he’s steadily risen through the ranks since with the exception of two years spent as senior assistant deputy minister at Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada from 2021 to 2023. 

Harper-era cabinet minister Gail Shea has died

Former Conservative cabinet minister Gail Shea died on Aug. 21. 

Born in Tignish, P.E.I., in 1959, Shea served as a provincial politician from 2000 to 2007, including as a member of then-premier Pat Binns’ Progressive Conservative government as minister of community and cultural affairs, and later as minister of transport and public works. She was first elected federally in 2008 as the MP for Egmont, P.E.I., and served as then-prime minister Stephen Harper’s national revenue minister from 2011 to 2013, and then as fisheries minister from 2013 to 2015.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre expressed condolences on X on Aug. 21 for “my dear friend,” whom he recalled as “a larger than life figure in our Conservative movement.”

“Gail had a special way of remembering the little things about people and gave her time and attention freely to anyone who needed it,” wrote Poilievre. 

Harper was also among those who penned online tributes to Shea, writing on X on Aug. 21: “Gail embodied the spirit of the Maritimes, hard-working, collegial with an innate sense of duty and commitment to her community, province, and Canada.”

Prince Edward Island Premier Rob Lantz called Shea “a trailblazer,” noting “Gail was someone who showed up for her constituents, for her colleagues, and for her community.”

U.S. envoy to speak in Ottawa and Halifax next month

American Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has two public speeches coming up next month in Ottawa and Halifax.

On Sept. 16 in Ottawa, Hoekstra will give a keynote speech, moderated by former Canadian ambassador Louise Blais, at KPMG’s office at 150 Elgin St.

Two days later, Hoekstra will be in Halifax to take part in a conversation with the Halifax Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 18 at a location yet to be announced.

Riding office razzing

Conservatives revelled in the news last week that, more than 100 days since he was elected, Prime Minister Mark Carney has yet to open a constituency office, noting that their leader Pierre Poilievre opened his hours after winning his Alberta byelection on Aug. 18.

Poilievre’s “constituency office is open the next day after he is elected as the Battle River-Crowfoot riding’s representative!” wrote Conservative Senator Denise Batters on X on Aug. 20.

“Meanwhile… four MONTHS after Mark Carney’s election in his Ottawa-area riding, he still does not have a constituency office open! (And, recall that the Liberal Party disqualified the 9+ year Liberal MP who held that riding until April so that Carney could run there.)” wrote Batters, referring to ex-Liberal MP for Nepean, Ont., Chandra Arya.

Damien Kurek, who resigned his Alberta seat so Poilievre could run after losing his own Ottawa-area riding in the April 28 federal election, also posted about the office opening on X on Aug. 20, putting green check-mark next to the note “Constituency Office Open,” and writing, “National leadership on local issues is not just a slogan for Pierre Poilievre.”

Heard on the Hill referred to the 2024 edition of the Inside Ottawa Directory and confirmed that Kurek’s riding office at the time was at 4945-50^th St., Camrose, Alta.—the same address Poilievre now lists as his constituency office.

Of note, Arya’s former riding office was on the second floor at 240 Kennevale Dr. in Nepean, which appears to be a three-storey building home to a dentist office, attorneys, and a hair salon.

“The process to confirm an office that meets all security requirements and is conveniently located and accessible for constituents is well underway,” said Emily Williams, the Prime Minister’s Office director of media relations, in a recent emailed response to The Ottawa Citizen.

cleadlay@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times