Edward Goldenberg CM (born 1948), known as Eddie Goldenberg, is a Canadian lawyer and writer who served as a senior political advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Described as Chrétien's "Machiavelli",[1] from 1993 until 2003 he was chief policy advisor to the Prime Minister,[2] becoming chief of staff in 2003.[3] Along with Jean Pelletier and Aline Chrétien, he was considered Chrétien's most influential political guide.[4] Goldenberg's 2006 memoir, The Way It Works, focused on his time in government.[5]. He is the son of former Canadian Senator and lawyer Carl Goldenberg.
Eddie Goldenberg | |
|---|---|
| 9th Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister | |
| In office 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | Jean Chrétien |
| Preceded by | Percy Downe |
| Succeeded by | Tim Murphy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Goldenberg 1948 (age 75–76) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Canada |
| Alma mater | McGill University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Career
editGoldenberg first worked for politician Jean Chrétien in 1972 with a summer internship after completing his first year at McGill University Faculty of Law.[1] From 1980 to 1982 he supported Chrétien as Special Constitutional Advisor to the Minister of Justice and was one of the authors of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[3]
In 1990, Goldenberg was "co-ordinating the 10 policy groups that have been organized to brief Chrétien on various issues and to write speeches."[6] He worked with Paul Martin, Terrie O’Leary and Chaviva Hosek "on finalizing the text of the famous Red Book, officially titled Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada."[7]
From 1993 until 2003 he was[2] Chrétien's aide[8] and chief policy advisor.[9] He was involved with the government when the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1998 and then signed in 2002, and later wrote on the matter.[10] He became the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff in 2003.[3]
After Chretien left office, Goldberg became a partner at the Ottawa office of law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP and subsequently a senior partner at Bennett Jones LLP, leading the firm's government affairs and public policy practice.[11][2][3] He was a supporter of Bob Rae's bid to become Liberal leader in 2006.[12] In 2019, he was still working with Jean Chretien on diplomatic matters with China.[13]
Goldenberg's The Way It Works book
editGoldenberg is the author of The Way It Works, a book about his experiences working with Chrétien.[1] It focuses especially on 1993 until 2003 during Goldenberg's time as Senior Policy Advisor to Chrétien.[14] Goldenberg's 2006 memoir, The Way It Works, was called by Maclean's "a bluntly realistic endorsement of the Savoie-Simpson thesis with none of the handwringing."[5] The memoir also covers Goldenberg's recollections of the writing process for 'the Red Book, which set the Liberal platform for the 1993 federal election.[15] In 2006, it was a finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing.[16]
Publishing history
edit- Author of The Way It Works[1] (September 18, 2007, ISBN 9780771035623)[16]
Archives
editThere is an Edward S. Goldenberg fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Reynolds, Neil (30 September 2006). "Chrétien's Machiavelli". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ a b c Goldenberg, Eddie (4 September 2018), "Canada still has a strong hand in NAFTA negotiations", Globe and Mail
- ^ a b c d Eddie Goldenberg, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
- ^ Allan Fotheringham, "Aline, the power player," Maclean's, December 11, 2000, vol. 113, issue 50, p. 68.
- ^ a b The PM as dictator, Literary Review of Canada
- ^ A Cool Hand at the Helm, Maclean's
- ^ Godfrey, J. (2009), "From defeat to victory?", Paediatrics & Child Health, 14 (10), NCBI: 656–657, doi:10.1093/pch/14.10.656, PMC 2807804, PMID 21119809
- ^ A new guy and the Nervous Nellies, CBC
- ^ "The players behind the scenes", The Globe and Mail, 4 June 2002
- ^ "Liberals knew Kyoto a long shot", The Star, 23 February 2007
- ^ "Bennett Jones taps horsey set to land Dodge". The Globe and Mail. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
- ^ "Let the real work begin". National Post. Retrieved 2015-11-08.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Fife, Robert; Chase, Steven (13 June 2019), "Chrétien proposes cancelling Meng's extradition case to unfreeze relations with China", The Globe and Mail
- ^ The Way It Works: Inside Ottawa, GoodReads
- ^ The Liberal Red Book: The Economist's Perspective, Global Economics by Patrick Grady
- ^ a b The Way It Works, Penguin Random House
- ^ "Edward S. Goldenberg fonds, Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 2020-09-18.