NDP POWER LIST — Ask any plugged-in New Democrat in town about the Prairie Pragmatists in their flock, and they'll serve up plenty of plaudits. These trusted operatives roamed the halls of power in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — and have since played instrumental roles in confidence-and-supply deals that delivered power in B.C. and secured influence in Yukon. They were also central to the latest round of dealmaking in Ottawa that produced a three-year accord with JUSTIN TRUDEAU's Liberals. — The art of the deal: The federal NDP's hopes for dental care were enshrined in the party's agreement with the Liberals announced in March. A few weeks later, the program scored a mention in CHRYSTIA FREELAND 's budget — with the promise of more to come. It was a big win for the Orange squad, and everyone on that side agrees on the NDP's biggest strengths heading into those talks: the major players know how government works. Let’s start at the top: — National director ANNE MCGRATH, who was there for 2008 talks with the Liberals that nearly produced a governing accord, was later RACHEL NOTLEY's deputy chief of staff after the NDP's historic win in Alberta. From that all-knowing perch in the premier's office, she watched budgets come together. — JENNIFER HOWARD, chief of staff to JAGMEET SINGH, has a long political resume. She was an adviser to former Manitoba premier GARY DOER on healthcare issues before getting herself elected to the legislature. She was eventually finance minister. She's actually passed a budget. McGrath and Howard are well-known Ottawa insiders. But they're not the only pragmatists from west of center with fingerprints on winning campaigns and power-and-influence deals. Here are four more players who might be just as happy if their names didn't appear in PLAYBOOK BOLD. But that's no fun, is it? — BLAKE EVANS: This parliamentary jack-of-all-trades is functionally chief of staff to both NDP whip RACHEL BLANEY and House leader PETER JULIAN. Evans worked as a director of research when the Saskatchewan NDP ruled under LORNE CALVERT before falling to BRAD WALL's Sask Party in 2007. He was a senior staffer in Manitoba, too, where he first knew Howard. When Notley won power in Alberta, Evans went there to serve as the government's director of House business. More recently, he was also Blaney's right hand during intense all-party negotiations to approve billions in emergency spending during the pandemic's early days. — BOB DEWAR: A former chief of staff to Doer from 1999 to 2003 who managed the NDP's return to power in Manitoba, this Dewar was also a driving force behind the B.C. NDP's 2017 deal with the kingmaking Greens that landed JOHN HORGAN in the premier's office. Dewar managed the same party's 2017 campaign, and reprised the role in 2020's majority win. Dewar liaised with the Greens for the life of that pact, and offered lessons learned to the Ottawa team as they negotiated with Liberals this year. He also wrote the federal party's post-election review last year. (He's also a brother of the late NDP MP Paul Dewar.) Where he is now: Dewar has retired from Horgan's office. — JEN ANTHONY: This is a LinkedIn page filled with government experience. Anthony spent five years in issues management in Doer's office before managing operations for Manitoba's NDP caucus. She hopped to Alberta when Notley took power, serving on the transition team before running issues management and rising to deputy chief of staff. Later still, in Yukon, Anthony was part of the NDP's effort to secure a confidence-and-supply deal — a 21-month pact that was the first in the country to include dental care. Where she is now: Senior vice-president at FleishmanHillard HighRoad in Vancouver. — ROBIN STEUDEL: Steudel was co-chair of the New Democratic Youth of Canada from 2011 until 2013. She worked comms for both the B.C. NDP and TOM MULCAIR's OLO before moving west to Alberta, her home province, to serve as the NDP caucus's principal secretary. After Notley's win, Steudel was chief of staff to then-transportation minister BRIAN MASON before shifting to issues management and then caucus comms. She eventually headed north to Yukon, where she also played a key role in the Liberal-NDP accord on how to govern the territory. Where she is now: Co-owner, creative partner and director at Metric Strategies in Whitehorse (a sponsor of the recent Progress Summit in Ottawa). — What it all means: New Democrats of a certain ilk know how government works because they've been there. Whenever there's a headline about a savvy left-winger who wedged their priority onto the agenda of another party's government, chances are they're from a certain part of the country west of Ontario.
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