Eminence Grise: Jason Kenney

Political Communications Dept: On the day of Persichilli s appointment as the prime minister s new communications director, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney who has spearheaded Conservative efforts to secure a foundation within Canada s cultural communities described him as "the eminence grise of Canadian ethnic media." That outreach in turn is part of a larger strategy that has seen the government bypass the parliamentary press gallery to spread and massage its message in the less-filtered but well-attended environment of the local media and in the matter of the addition of columnist Angelo Persichilli to the senior ranks of Stephen Harper s PMO, the fact that he is the first journalist to be admitted to the upper levels of the inner sanctum of the Conservative government is less meaningful than the media sites where he mostly used to practise his art. His hiring for the central task of overseeing the government s political communications adds another dimension to the Conservativessystematic outreach to new Canadians. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.