Outgoing PMO Senior Adviser Roland Paris Reflects on Work for Trudeau Government

By LAURA RYCKEWAERT PMO global affairs and defence senior adviser Roland Paris is headed back to the University of Ottawa, with his last day in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office set for June 30, and says he’s “very pleased with the results” of his time working for the new Liberal government. Mr. Paris first began advising Mr. Trudeau and his team on international affairs prior to the writ drop for the 2015 election last summer, and has altogether been advising the leader for “the last 18 months or so,” he said in an email response to Hill Climbers last week as he and the rest of PMO staff worked to prepare for this week’s North American Leaders’ “Three Amigos” Summit on June 29, which will see both U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visit Ottawa—his last event on the job. “I began providing informal briefing in the second half of 2014, but my involvement ramped up in January 2015 when I was asked to write a foreign policy strategy for a future Liberal government,” he said in the email. “I assisted with preparations for the election campaign, contributed to the development of the platform and helped with major speeches and debate prep.” After the Liberals were elected to a majority government on Oct. 19, Mr. Paris was part of the new government’s transition team and stayed on as an adviser after the Liberal government was sworn-in on Nov. 4. He took a leave from his job at the University of Ottawa to serve as a political adviser to Mr. Trudeau, “helping the new government get its foreign policy off on the right foot.” The Liberal government had to scramble to prepare for a number of international summits and meetings soon after being sworn-in, starting with the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on Nov. 30. “I’m very pleased with the results. It has been an honour and privilege to help in a small way to renew Canada’s energetic leadership and good name in the world,” he said. Mr. Paris is now returning to his job as an associate professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa, where he’s also founder and director of the school’s Centre for International Policy Studies. “I look forward now to resuming my research and teaching in international relations in time for the new academic year [in fall 2016],” said Mr. Paris in the email. In between then, Mr. Paris will be taking a break with a vacation with family. Mr. Paris spent a year as a parliamentary intern on the Hill back in 1990, then landed a gig as a policy adviser in the Privy Council Office (PCO) where he worked for another year. In 2003, he again returned to the Hill as a policy adviser with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada before once again serving as a PCO policy adviser for a year starting in 2004. Mr. Paris said his highlight from his last 18 months working for the Liberals was, “Not surprisingly: working with the PM.” “He’s a great leader and a great boss. He seeks out different points of view, has excellent judgment, and is devoted to helping people and advising Canada’s interests,” he said. Mr. Paris first announced his departure from the PMO on June 13. A PMO statement issued later that day thanked Mr. Paris for “his service and hard work,” wishing him “the utmost success as he resumes his career in academic” and noting, “we look forward to continued engagement with him.” “Roland’s contributions played an important role in ensuring Canada’s success at major international forums such as the CHOGM, APEC, G20, G7 and Nuclear Security Summits, as well as bilateral meetings with heads of state and government from around the world,” read the statement. Full article: https://www.hilltimes.com/2016/06/27/three-former-two-current-ministerial-staffers-have-interactions-with-conflict-and-ethics-commissioner-so-far-in-2016/71204