OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is shaking up the senior ranks of his office after his deputy chief of staff announced his immediate departure from the prime minister’s inner circle to run in an upcoming B.C. byelection.
Braeden Caley, a former political staffer and director of Carney’s leadership and election campaigns, announced on Sunday night that he would be exiting his current role “in consideration of seeking a nomination to stand for Parliament in my home province of British Columbia.”
Caley is planning to mount a bid in North Vancouver—Capilano, a riding handily won by former Liberal cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who resigned his seat earlier this year to become Canada’s ambassador to the European Union.
Three government sources told the Star on the condition they not be named that Caley’s departure means that Tim Krupa, the prime minister’s director of policy, becomes Carney’s deputy chief of staff and chief economist. That move is effective immediately, one source said.
Jennifer MacIntyre, an assistant deputy minister under Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada, is also set to assume a deputy chief of staff role, and will be tasked with overseeing international affairs.
Carney’s senior adviser on foreign, defence and security policy, Scott Gilmore, will become the prime minister’s principal secretary later this month, after Tom Pitfield, who previously held that post, was named to the Senate earlier in July.
Rounding out the changes is Maia Johnson, a U.S. Democratic operative for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, who will become Carney’s chief operating officer and retain her role as a senior adviser on Canada-U. S. relations.
In his departure letter, Caley touted Carney’s “ambitious” political agenda, including his ability to coax five opposition MPs across the aisle to join his Liberal caucus and secure a majority government.
“As I consider a new way to contribute to this team, I’m inspired that this is a country that keeps arriving at places that many have doubted we could ever reach,” Caley wrote.
The Liberal party did not answer questions on Monday about whether Caley would be the confirmed Liberal candidate in the B.C. race or if the nomination would be contested by other party hopefuls.
The party is moving forward with an open nomination process in Toronto’s Beaches—East York, which is also facing an upcoming byelection after incumbent Nathaniel Erskine-Smith left the House of Commons following a failed nomination contest to run for the Ontario Liberals.
Early Monday morning, John Tory Jr., the son of former Toronto mayor John Tory, announced he was suspending his nomination campaign in the riding, leaving four others vying to represent the Liberals on the ballot.
Carney has yet to officially call either byelection. Four Quebec byelections, and one in Saskatchewan, must also be called later this year, following the current or planned exits of five other MPs.
