Katie Telford

Katie Telford is a Canadian political strategist and the chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.^[1][2] She served as Trudeau's chief campaign advisor during his successful campaign in the 2015 election.^[3][4]

Biography

Telford, born in 1978, was raised in Toronto. Her parents were public servants; her father was Australian and her mother was from Hamilton, Ontario.^[5]

When Telford was 12, she worked as a page for several weeks in the Ontario legislature. She studied political science at the University of Ottawa, where she joined the debate club. Her team was the semi-finalist at the North American competition and finished high at the world event in Glasgow, Scotland.^[5]

From 2004 to 2006, Telford was chief of staff to Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy and headed his campaign in the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election.^[4] She later served as deputy chief of staff for Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, and worked as a consultant for StrategyCorp in Toronto between her positions with Dion and Trudeau.^[4]

Telford is married to Rob Silver, a consultant for a public affairs agency and former regular Power & Politics panelist, with whom she has one child, George.^[6][4]

On September 21, 2016, it was reported by the Globe and Mail that Telford had charged moving expenses to Canadian taxpayers in the amount of $80,382.55 to relocate her residence from Toronto to Ottawa.^[7] These expenses included a personalized cash payout of $23,373.71.^[8] After it was revealed publicly, Telford agreed to repay a portion of the $80,382.55.^[9]

References