Peter Donolo (born October 1959) is a Canadian communications and

political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televisi ...

. From 1993 to 1999, he was the director of communications in the office of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

- the longest tenure of any prime ministerial communications director in Canadian history.. He previously served as communications advisor to Toronto

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Art Eggleton Arthur C. Eggleton (born September 29, 1943) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 59th and longest-serving mayor of Toronto from 1980 to 1991. He was elected to Parliament in 1993, running as a Liberal in York Centre and served ...

(1989–91) and as director of communications in the Office of the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

under Chrétien from 1991 to 1993. Donolo was in charge of communications for the Liberals’ successful 1993 election campaign, a role he repeated in their re-election in 1997. From 1999 to 2001, he served as Canada's

consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. In 2001, he served as senior

vice-president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of public affairs at

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

. Donolo is a well-known republican who has commented publicly about ending the

monarchy of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's Government#Forms, form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is one of the key components of Canadian sovereignty and sits at the core of Canadian federalism, Canada's cons ...

. In a comment in the October 21, 2002, cover story of ''

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 ...

'', he referred to Canada as "behaving like a colonial outpost", and claiming the Queen of Canada is a foreigner. From 2002 to 2009, Donolo was executive vice president and partner at The Strategic Counsel, a Toronto-based

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

research and communications consulting firm. From 2009 to 2011, Donolo was chief of staff to former

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

leader

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff ( ; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has ...

. From 2012 to 2013, Donolo served as senior vice president, public affairs of the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, held in Toronto. From 2014 to 2016, he was special advisor for communications and intergovernmental affairs to the Government of the Province of Ontario, operating in the central Cabinet Office of the provincial government. From 2016 to 2022, Donolo served as vice chair of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada. In 2003, Donolo co-chaired the successful Toronto mayoral campaign of David Miller. He has remained politically active as a senior advisor in recent elections, in debate preparation for

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

in the 2015 federal campaign, and running communications for Premier

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

's successful 2014 Ontario campaign. Donolo is vice chair of the board of directors of Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and is vice chair of the board of directors of the Canadian International Council (CIC). He is also a member of the boards of directors of PEN Canada and Transparency International Canada. He is a past director of Pathways to Education Canada, G(irls) 20, CIVIX, the Canadian Journalism Foundation, the Toronto Board of Trade and the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario.

Personal life

He is married to Mary Cruden and they have three children; Annie, Maggie and Michael.

References

1959 births Living people Consuls for Canada Canadian republicans Place of birth missing (living people) Communications directors of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office {{Canada-gov-bio-stub