PMO announces new staff for branding and marketing as Liberal minority slumps in polls

The Prime Minister’s Office has made staffing changes to its communications and media relations roles, according to a government source, as the Liberal minority government continues to struggle in the polls.

Max Valiquette will be taking on the role of executive director of communications in December, according to the source. Valiquette was deemed one of “Canada’s Most Influential Marketers” by Marketing Magazine and has over 25 years of experience in communications and marketing in Canada. He will be joining the PMO to oversee the communications, digital, research and advertising teams, the source says.

Valiquette has headed national communications campaigns for a number of big brands in Canada, and worked on Kathleen Wynne’s 2014 campaign and Prime Minister Trudeau’s winning 2015 campaign.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in July in an attempt to put a new face on his minority government, which has been plagued by issues for the past few months.

Poll aggregator, 338 Canada, shows the latest polls suggest the Conservative Party has a 15 per cent lead over the Liberals. A July Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News suggested 37 per cent of Canadians said they would vote for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party if an election were held right now – compared to 32 per cent of Canadians siding with the Liberals. Another Ipsos poll for Global News in September showed similar numbers, with 40 per cent of Canadians saying Poilievre is the best choice to be prime minister.

Vanessa Hage-Moussa will be the director of communications. Ann-Clara Vaillancourt will become the media relations director and Astrid Krizus is now the deputy director of communications in addition to her role as climate advisor.

Vanessa Hage-Moussa is the official director of communications after being the acting director since June. She served as the deputy director of communications during the previous three years. Hage-Moussa worked for MP Francis Scarpaleggia in 2014 before joining the PMO as a press secretary and media advance from 2016 to 2020. She also worked on a number of campaigns for the Liberal tour team.

“During her time as deputy director and acting director at PMO, Vanessa has played a crucial role in coordinating communications across a wide range of important files. She will continue to bring all of that experience to bear in her role as Director of Communications,” the government source said in an email to Global News.

Ann-Clara Vaillancourt is being promoted as the new media relations director. She has been a member of the PMO’s communications team for the last four years, and led the media relations team since 2020 and as a press secretary on the 2021 campaign.

Astrid Krizus is the new deputy director of communications alongside her current role as climate advisor. She has been a member of the PMO for over five years, starting in 2018 as a Speechwriter. Krizus became climate advisor in 2022.