Edward Goldenberg (born 1948), known as Eddie Goldenberg, is a Canadian lawyer and writer who served as a senior advisor to

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

for decades. Described as Chrétien's " Machiavelli", from 1993 until 2003 he was chief policy advisor to the Prime Minister, becoming chief of staff in 2003. Along with

Jean Pelletier Jean Pelletier, (; February 21, 1935 – January 10, 2009) was a Canadian politician who served as the 37th mayor of Quebec City, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, and chairman of Via Rail. He was a leading organizer of the Libe ...

and

Aline Chrétien Aline Chrétien (; May 14, 1936 – September 12, 2020) was a Canadian academic administrator who was the wife of Canada's 20th prime minister, Jean Chrétien. She previously worked as a secretary, payroll manager, and model. In her later lif ...

, he was considered Chrétien's most influential political guide.Allan Fotheringham, "Aline, the power player," ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'', December 11, 2000, vol. 113, issue 50, p. 68. Goldenberg's 2006 memoir, ''The Way It Works'', focused on his time in government. He is the son of former Canadian Senator and lawyer H. Carl Goldenberg.

Career

Goldenberg first worked for politician Jean Chrétien in 1972 with a summer internship after completing his first year at

McGill University Faculty of Law The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the List of law schools in Canada, oldest law school in Canada. 180 candidates are admitted for any given academic year. For ...

. 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 The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

. In 1990, Goldenberg was "co-ordinating the 10 policy groups that have been organized to brief Chrétien on various issues and to write speeches." He worked with

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

, Terrie O’Leary and Chaviva Hosek "on finalizing the text of the famous ''Red Book'', officially titled '' Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada''." From 1993 until 2003 he was Chrétien's aide and chief policy advisor. He was involved with the government when the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

was signed in 1998 and then signed in 2002, and later wrote on the matter. He became the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff in 2003. 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 Bennett Jones LLP is a large national law firm based in Canada. Firm Bennett Jones is an internationally recognized Canadian law firm. It is home to more than 500 lawyers and business advisors in seven offices—Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, O ...

, leading the firm's government affairs and public policy practice. He was a supporter of

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

's bid to become Liberal leader in 2006. In 2019, he was still working with Jean Chretien on diplomatic matters with China.

Goldenberg's ''The Way It Works'' book

Goldenberg is the author of ''The Way It Works'', a book about his experiences working with Chrétien. It focuses especially on 1993 until 2003 during Goldenberg's time as Senior Policy Advisor to Chrétien. Goldenberg's 2006 memoir, ''The Way It Works'', was called by ''

'' "a bluntly realistic endorsement of the Savoie-Simpson thesis with none of the handwringing." 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. In 2006, it was a finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing.

Publishing history

* Author of ''The Way It Works'' (September 18, 2007, )

References

External links

Bennett Jones LLP biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldenberg, Eddie Living people Lawyers in Ontario Chiefs of staff of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office 1948 births McGill University Faculty of Law alumni

Career

Goldenberg's ''The Way It Works'' book

Publishing history

Archives

References

External links