I missed these personnel changes — they're about a week old — but I figure if I missed them others did, too. So with that …
The big changes in the Prime Minister's Office, of course, are a new chief of staff, Guy Giorno, and a new director of communications director, Kory Teneycke. But one that, in my view, is just as significant is the elevaton of Ray Novak. Novak is now Harper's Principal Secretary. That position did not previously exist in the PMO. Novak is the first to hold the job. It's still unclear what the Principal Secretary will do for the reconfigured PMO but principal secretarys have often played a more politicial role. Jim Coutts, for example, was Pierre Trudeau's influential principal secretary from 1975 to 1981.
Novak had been Stephen Harper's executive assistant since way back. If you've ever watched a live broadcast of the PM speaking, Novak's the guy you'll say placing Harper's text on the podium just before he speaks. But Novak is much more than just the guy who carries Harper's papers. He has been an influential voice in Harper's ear, the last guy the PM sees at the end of the day and first guy the PM sees at the beginning of the day.
Here's how The Globe and Mail described Novak shortly after the Harper formed the government:
Mr. Novak is the intense and bespectacled young man who is usually standing close to Mr. Harper. As executive assistant, he is one of the Prime Minister's schedulers, fixers and gatekeepers. Mr. Novak is from the Ottawa Valley, and at age 24 helped work on a research project for Mr. Harper when he was the head of the National Citizens Coalition. Mr. Novak was working on his master's thesis on parliamentary reform at the University of Calgary, and was recommended for the project by Rainer Knopff, a political-science professor at Mr. Harper's alma mater, the University of Calgary. Mr. Novak was part of Mr. Harper's team when he won the leadership of the Canadian Alliance in 2002.
So far as I know, a new executive assistant for Harper has not yet been named.
Meanwhile, over in Environment Minister John Baird's office, press secretary Eric Richer is wrapping his tenure as a political communicator and heading back to the public service. Richer had been doing communicatins for the Governor General when he moved from there (a civil service job) to become the press secretary for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. He went from there to Baird's office. Now he's heading back to the civil service to work at the Department of Natural Resources.
Richer will be replaced by Chris Day, a television reporter with CTV Ottawa. Day most recently had been reporting on the Khwaja Trial. He'll start work with Baird early next month. Here's his bio from CTV's site:
Chris Day started his broadcast career in radio at the age of 17 – first, as a part-time news announcer for CKQB-FM (The BEAR), then as a freelance documentary producer for CBC. He joined CTV News in 2001. He now works as a reporter as well as a substitute anchor and producer. When he isn’t toiling at CTV, Chris volunteers countless hours to various charitable undertakings and causes that matter most to him. He also loves travelling. From cycling, hiking and canoeing in the summer to downhill skiing in the winter, you can often find Chris spending days off in the Gatineau Hills. Chris is a graduate of the Carleton School of Journalism. He was born and raised in Ottawa and counts himself lucky to work close to family and friends.
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