H+K Experts Available for Commentary and Analysis Post-Election

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2019 /CNW/ - Hill+Knowlton Strategies' public affairs experts are available for commentary and analysis on Election Day and the days that follow. The team is comprised of members from across the country, from all party lines and non-partisan viewpoints with a variety of in-depth expertise in national affairs, campaigns and digital media analysis.

Please find a full list of the experts below.

H+K experts:

Omar Khan, national affairs expert + political strategist, Liberal (Toronto): Omar is widely recognized as an expert in national affairs and public policy, regularly providing insightful analysis of the day's most intricate stories. He has critical knowledge of the election's most crucial subjects and has spent more than a decade working at senior levels of the Ontario government, including in the Wynne and McGuinty minority government from 2011 to 2014, as well as federal and provincial election campaigns. He served as Chief of Staff to the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Chief of Staff at the Office of the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment and at the Office of the Minister of Government Services. He has been Senior Policy and Stakeholder Relations Advisor with the Office of the Attorney General of Ontario, the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities and the Minister of Labour. Furthermore, he was an early member of Ontario's cannabis legalization steering committee. 

Melissa Lantsman, national affairs expert + political strategist, Conservative (Toronto): Melissa has more than a decade of experience serving as a strategic communications leader in high-profile positions across the most senior ranks of the federal government, political campaigns and in the private sector. With a diverse background spanning finance, trade, foreign affairs and the environment. She was head of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's 2018 Campaign War Room and served as chief spokesperson. She held senior roles in the 2008, 2011 and 2015 federal Conservative Party of Canada campaign war rooms. From 2007 to 2015, she served as director of communications for Canada's ministers of finance, foreign affairs, trade and the environment. She regularly provides insightful analysis of the day's most intricate stories as a member of CBC's Power and Politics' Power Panel and hosts her own weekly program on Newstalk1010 in Toronto.

Anne McGrath, political strategist, NDP (Ottawa): Anne has a distinguished background in Canadian politics and is recognized as one of Canada's most perceptive commentators on national affairs. She served as principal secretary to former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, as national director of the New Democratic Party of Canada during the 2015 federal election, as federal party president of the New Democratic Party of Canada from 2006 to 2009 and as Jack Layton's Chief of Staff. She has long established herself as one of the wisest strategic thinkers on both the national and provincial political stages and the respect and strong working rapport she's earned with elected representatives and policy leaders transcends political parties.

Lindsay Finneran-Gingras, digital campaign + advertising expert, non-partisan (Toronto): Lindsay is one of Canada's leading digital public affairs strategists, having built and led campaigns for major corporate and issues files. Her work has pioneered the digital public affairs space in Canada, combing data, insight and strategy to build and win critical campaigns. Lindsay is a commentator on political digital campaigns, digital communications trends, advertising, data and analytics, social and digital engagement.

Peter Donolo, political communications expert (Toronto): Peter is one of Canada's most experienced communications strategists. As the longest-serving prime ministerial director of communications in Canadian history to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, he has represented Canada abroad as a senior diplomat and served as a senior executive in the private and public sectors. Peter is available for high-level commentary and one-on-one discussions.

Lindsay Broadhead, strategic communications expert, non-partisan (Toronto): Lindsay can provide non-partisan commentary and analysis. With nearly two decades of experience, she specializes in providing strategic counsel and campaign management and well as issues and crisis communications counsel.

Elizabeth Roscoe, national affairs expert, Conservative (Ottawa): Elizabeth is H+K's public affairs lead and served on two federal transition teams. She worked on Stephen Harper's minority government transition in 2006 with Derek Burney. Elizabeth is well versed on politics, government and the transition process.

Vivek Prabhu, national affairs + digital campaign expert, Conservative (Toronto): Vivek has deep knowledge and experience from various provincial governments and elections campaigns as well as the federal government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He played a key role in the successful election campaign war rooms of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in traditional and digital advertising. He served as a senior communications advisor and digital director to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and served in the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, concentrating efforts on media relations and issues management.

John Delacourt, national public affairs expert + political strategist, Liberal (Ottawa): John has tremendous experience in Canadian national affairs as he spent twelve years working on Parliament Hill for three Liberal governments. He was the Director of Communications at the Liberal Caucus Research Bureau where he worked closely with the Prime Minister's Office providing communications and issues management support on a wide range of policy initiatives. Prior to that he worked with Ministers and Members of Parliament in a number of different political roles, including as campaign manager for the Bill Blair campaign in 2015. A successful author and frequent commentator on national affairs, he has published three novels and has written for Policy Magazine, the Hill Times and the Ottawa Citizen.

Stephen Smart, British Columbia public affairs expert + political strategist (Vancouver): Stephen has a deeply rooted West Coast perspective and expertise in public affairs. He's served as the Press Secretary to a Premier of British Columbia and as Executive Director of Communications and Issues Management for British Columbia's Official Opposition Caucus. He spent 15 years as an award-winning journalist with several of Canada's top news organizations including serving as the Legislative Bureau Chief, a reporter, producer and talk show host. 

Elliott Gauthier, research, data + analytics expert (Ottawa): Elliott has designed and overseen non-partisan polling for major media outlets, digital media and clients in every provincial election in Ontario, federal election and select provincial elections in British Columbia and Alberta for close to 20 years now. As an expert in innovative mix-mode and cross-disciplined research methods, Elliott can provide data-backed insight on nature of party support, key issues, topics and the opportunities that exist for the parties and their leaders.

Brett Bell, digital campaign expert, Conservative (Toronto): Brett is one of the most experienced digital public affairs strategists in Canada, combining over 20 years of political experience with modern digital best practices. In 2007, Brett focused exclusively on crafting successful digital campaigns for clients and political parties. He served as Digital Director for the Ontario PC Party War Room in 2011 and was Head of Digital for Deputy Premier Christine Elliott's 2015 Leadership campaign. Brett is a trained web developer and social media practitioner who has been building and deploying online advocacy tools for over a decade.

About Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada (H+K) is a communications consultancy providing services to local, multinational and global clients from its eight offices across the country.

The firm works with clients to solve complex communications challenges and deliver award winning campaigns and is focused on continued innovation for the industry. H+K offers deep sector knowledge and breadth of public relations and public affairs expertise including specialists in health + wellness, technology, government + public sector, energy + industrials, consumer packaged goods, financial + professional services, food + drink, retail + leisure and sports.

Globally, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Inc., has offices in more than 40 countries as well as an extensive associate network; and it is a member of WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world's largest communications services groups.

SOURCE Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Jillena Oberparleiter, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, [phone], [email protected]; News provided by: Hill+Knowlton Strategies, http://hkstrategies.ca/canada/en-ca/about/