Editing Gerald Butts

{{short description|Canadian political consultant (born 1971)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Gerald Butts
| image               = Gerald Butts at the 2023 US-Canada Summit (52807447138) (cropped).jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = Butts in 2023
| birth_name          = Gerald Michael Butts<ref name="mcgee">{{cite web|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/news-archives/2007/summer/alumnotes/|title=Alumnotes|publisher=[[McGill University]]| url-status=live| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607185304/http://www.mcgill.ca/news-archives/2007/summer/alumnotes/| archivedate=June 7, 2017}}</ref>
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1971|7|8}}
| birth_place         = [[Glace Bay]], [[Nova Scotia]], Canada
| residence           = [[Westboro, Ottawa|Westboro, Ottawa, Ontario]], Canada
| alma_mater          = {{ublist|[[McGill University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])|[[York University]]}}
| office              = [[Principal Secretary (Canada)|Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada]]
| term_start          = November 4, 2015
| term_end            = February 18, 2019
| predecessor         = [[Ray Novak]]
| primeminister       = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| successor           = ''Vacant''
| office1             = President and Chief Executive Officer of the [[WWF-Canada|World Wildlife Fund Canada]]
| term_start1         = September 1, 2008
| term_end1           = October 31, 2012
| office2             = Principal Secretary to the [[Premier of Ontario]]
| term_start2         = 2003
| term_end2           = August 30, 2008
| predecessor1        = Michael Russill
| successor1          = [[David Miller (Canadian politician)|David Miller]]
| premier2            = [[Dalton McGuinty]]
| spouse              = Jodi (Heimpel) Butts<ref name="mcgee" />
| children            = 2
| website             = 
| occupation          = Activist, consultant
}}
'''Gerald Michael Butts''' (born July 8, 1971) is a Canadian executive and former policy advisor to governments and political leaders. He is vice chairman and senior advisor at [[Eurasia Group]] and a Board Member of the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wildlife Fund]]. He served as the [[Principal Secretary (Canada)|Principal Secretary]] to Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]] from November 4, 2015 until his resignation on February 18, 2019.<ref name=Parliament>{{cite web |title= Leadership of the Prime Minister's Office |url= https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/primeMinisters/PMOLeadership |website= Official website of the Parliament of Canada |access-date= Jan 12, 2016 |archive-date= December 6, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201206071329/https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/primeMinisters/PMOLeadership |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name=Globe>{{cite news |title= Inside Trudeau's inner circle |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/inside-trudeaus-inner-circle/article28079401/ |newspaper= The Globe and Mail |location= Toronto |date= Jan 8, 2016 |access-date= Jan 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name=Tasker>{{cite news |last1=Tasker |first1=John Paul |date= February 18, 2019 |title=Gerald Butts resigns as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gerald-butts-resigns-pmo-1.5023675 |work=CBC News |language=en |accessdate=February 18, 2019}}</ref> From 2008 to 2012, he was [[President (corporate title)|president]] and [[CEO]] of the [[WWF-Canada|World Wildlife Fund Canada]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/5-things-to-know-about-trudeau-confidant-gerald-butts-1.2619851| title=5 things to know about Trudeau confidant Gerald Butts| date=October 20, 2015| accessdate=June 7, 2017| first=Josh| last=Dehaas| publisher=[[CTV News]]}}</ref> part of a global conservation organization. In 2014, ''[[Maclean's]]'' magazine declared Butts to be the fourteenth most powerful Canadian.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-macleans-power-list-the-50-most-important-people-in-canada/#pow14|title=The Maclean's Power List: The 50 most important people in Canada|date=2014-11-22|language=en-US|access-date=2016-09-27}}</ref> As the former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]], Butts was praised as the architect behind the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] platform that led to its victory in October 2015 and was one of the most senior staffers in the Office of the Prime Minister.

Born in [[Glace Bay|Glace Bay, Nova Scotia]], with three older brothers and one older sister,<ref name="ottcitzen">{{cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/the-man-behind-the-curtain-why-gerald-butts-is-trudeaus-most-trusted-adviser|title=Trudeau's most trusted adviser? A Cape Bretoner named Gerry Butts - Ottawa Citizen|author=Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen More Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen|work=Ottawa Citizen}}</ref> he is the son of Charles William "Charlie" Butts, a coal miner<ref name="ottgbjt">{{cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/a-tale-of-two-friends-gerry-butts-and-justin-trudeau| title=A tale of two friends: Gerry Butts and Justin Trudeau| first=Lee| last=Berthiaume| date=May 13, 2014 |publisher=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|url-status=live| archivedate=June 7, 2017| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607190152/http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/a-tale-of-two-friends-gerry-butts-and-justin-trudeau}}</ref> who was 56 years old when Butts was born and retired when Butts was 6 years old, and Rita Monica (Yorke) Butts, a nurse<ref name="ottgbjt" /> and a first-generation Canadian daughter of a [[Ukrainian Canadian|Ukrainian]] father and a [[Polish Canadian|Polish]] mother.<ref>{{cite web|title=Glace Bay native key adviser in Trudeau's inner circle|url=http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-04-21/article-3224424/Glace-Bay-native-key-adviser-in-Trudeaus-inner-circle/1|newspaper=[[Cape Breton Post]]|date=April 21, 2013|accessdate=September 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001220630/http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-04-21/article-3224424/Glace-Bay-native-key-adviser-in-Trudeaus-inner-circle/1|archive-date=October 1, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="martinpatriquin">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/how-gerald-butts-plans-to-make-justin-trudeau-the-next-prime-minister/| title=Meet the man who made his friend the next prime minister| first=Martin|last=Patriquin|magazine=[[Maclean's]]|date=September 25, 2015|accessdate=September 30, 2017}}</ref> He attended Bridgeport School (now closed) and then St. Michael's High School (now closed).

He received a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] and [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in English literature from [[McGill University]] in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]]. It was at McGill that he was introduced to [[Justin Trudeau]] by a mutual friend.<ref name="ottcitzen" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/cape-breton-man-key-player-in-trudeau-victory-1.2621226|title=Cape Breton man key player in Trudeau victory|work=CTV News|date=21 October 2015 }}</ref> There, he was also elected president of the [[Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate]] and won the national debating championships two years in a row.<ref name="ottcitzen" /> He briefly attended [[York University]] to pursue a Ph.D.<ref name="martinpatriquin"/>

==Career==
Upon graduating from [[McGill University]], his first job was working as a research assistant in the Senate office of [[Allan MacEachen]]. There, he helped organize MacEachen's past correspondence for the purposes of his intended memoirs (which in the event were never written).

In 1999, Butts became a policy director within the [[Government of Ontario]].<ref name="ottcitzen" /> He was the policy secretary, and later the principal secretary, in the office of the then [[premier of Ontario]], [[Dalton McGuinty]], in Toronto.<ref>[http://www.canada.com/toronto/features/ontariovotes/story.html?id=4124FC4F-C2FA-4388-A07A-98CAC39364B0 The Liberal Team That Dethroned the Tories] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513234946/http://www.canada.com/toronto/features/ontariovotes/story.html?id=4124FC4F-C2FA-4388-A07A-98CAC39364B0 |date=2011-05-13 }} ([[Ottawa Citizen]], 2003)</ref> Prior to the 2007 election, Butts was a McGuinty insider. After the election, he became McGuinty's principal adviser. As one of his biographical notes describes it, Butts "was intimately involved in all of the government’s significant environmental initiatives, from the Greenbelt and Boreal Conservation plan to the coal phase-out and toxic reduction strategy".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/boondoggle-how-ontarios-pursuit-of-renewable-energy-broke-the-provinces-electricity-system| title=Boondoggle: How Ontario's pursuit of renewable energy broke the province's electricity system| first=Terence| last=Corcoran| date=October 6, 2016| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607190437/http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/boondoggle-how-ontarios-pursuit-of-renewable-energy-broke-the-provinces-electricity-system| archivedate=June 7, 2017| publisher=[[National Post]]}}</ref>

Butts had previously worked with Senator [[Allan MacEachen]] and with [[George Smitherman]].<ref name="ottcitzen" />

Butts advised the campaigns that led to the [[Ontario Liberal Party]]'s election victories in 2003 and 2007.<ref name="martinpatriquin"/>

On June 25, 2008, Butts was announced as the president and CEO of the [[WWF-Canada|World Wildlife Fund Canada]]. He officially took up the position on September 2, 2008,<ref>[http://wwf.ca/NewsAndFacts/NewsRoom/default.asp?section=archive&page=display&ID=1599&lang=EN WWF-Canada Appoints New CEO] (WWF-Canada,2008)  {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> succeeding Mike Russill.

On October 16, 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2012/10/16/a-message-from-gerald-butts/|title=A message from Gerald Butts|work=WWF-Canada Blog|date=16 October 2012 }}</ref> Butts left WWF Canada to become the political advisor to Justin Trudeau.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/10/17/butts-resigns-from-world-wildlife-fund-canada-job-to-work-full-time-on/32477 |title=Butts resigns from job to work full-time on Trudeau's Liberal leadership bid, creates more speculation over McGuinty's federal intentions |author=The Hill Times |work=hilltimes.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108215817/http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/10/17/butts-resigns-from-world-wildlife-fund-canada-job-to-work-full-time-on/32477 |archivedate=2016-01-08 }}</ref> His position at WWF Canada was filled by [[David Miller (Canadian politician)|David Miller]], a former [[mayor of Toronto]].

On December 13, 2012, Butts was interviewed by [[Steve Paikin]] for ''[[The Agenda]]'' on the topic of "The Best Way to Clean Up the Environment".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvo.org/blog/current-affairs/agenda-plus-the-best-way-to-clean-up-the-environment|title=Agenda Plus: The Best Way to Clean Up the Environment|work=TVO}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quKEbMOqCRg|title=Gerald Butts on Climate Change|date=15 December 2009|work=YouTube}}</ref> Butts has published articles in the ''Boston Book Review'', the ''[[Literary Review of Canada]]'', and ''Gravitas''. He has also appeared on television programs such as ''[[W5 (TV series)|W5]]'' and [[The Sports Network|TSN]]'s ''[[Off the Record with Michael Landsberg|Off the Record]]''.

===2015 Canadian election and premiership of Justin Trudeau===
{{rquote|right|If the Liberals were to win the 2015 election, Gerald Butts could become one of the most powerful people in Canada.|Lee Berthiaume<ref name="ottcitzen" />}}
{{rquote|right|... it's hard to picture Trudeau running for prime minister without [Gerald Butts].|A fellow political aide<ref name="thewalrus.ca"/>}}

In 2012, stemming from a two-decade-long friendship, Butts became the senior political adviser to Justin Trudeau <ref name="thewalrus.ca">{{cite web |url=https://thewalrus.ca/justin-and-gerald/ |title=Justin and Gerald |first=Scott |last=Reid |date=April 23, 2014 |accessdate=June 7, 2017 |work=[[The Walrus]]}}</ref> and one of the few people with whom Trudeau consulted regularly.<ref name="martinpatriquin"/> During Trudeau's initial time as Liberal Party leader. He also assisted on the vast majority of policies on which Trudeau campaigned.<ref name="martinpatriquin"/> He was appointed Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister on November 4, 2015.<ref name=Parliament/>

On September 21, 2016, ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' reported that Butts had charged moving expenses to Canadian taxpayers in the amount of $126,669.56 to relocate his residence from Toronto to [[Ottawa]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/top-trudeau-aides-butts-telford-expensed-over-200000-for-moving-homes/article31995512/| title= Top Trudeau aides Butts, Telford Expensed Over $200,000 for Moving Homes| first=Laura| last=Stone |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto | date=September 21, 2016| archive-date=June 7, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607191950/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/top-trudeau-aides-butts-telford-expensed-over-200000-for-moving-homes/article31995512/| url-status=live}}</ref> These expenses included a personalized cash payout of $20,799.10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/butts-telford-moving-expenses-1.3774979| title=Senior PMO Staffers Gerald Butts and Katie Telford to Return $65K in 'Unreasonable' Moving Expenses| first=Peter| last=Zimonjic| publisher=CBC News| date=September 22, 2016| archive-date=June 7, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607192038/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/butts-telford-moving-expenses-1.3774979| url-status=live}}</ref> After it was revealed publicly, Butts agreed to repay $41,618.62.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-says-aides-200000-moving-expenses-followed-all-the-rules/article31999944/| title= Trudeau Aides Butts and Telford to Repay Portion of Moving Expenses| first=Laura| last=Stone |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto | date=September 22, 2016| archive-date=March 5, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305122012/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-says-aides-200000-moving-expenses-followed-all-the-rules/article31999944/| url-status=live}}</ref>

On February 18, 2019, Butts stepped down as Trudeau's principal secretary and stated that it was to defend himself from allegations made against him in relation to the [[SNC-Lavalin affair]] and to avoid drawing attention away from the prime minister's work.<ref name=Tasker/> In a statement released on Twitter, Butts denied influencing the Attorney General and noted that he specifically recruited [[Jody Wilson-Raybould]] to join the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] and was an avid supporter during both her candidacy and her tenure as a minister.<ref name=Tasker/> Butts reiterated these claims in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on March 6, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5025938/gerald-butts-dinner-jody-wilson-raybould/|title=Gerald Butts recalls 'very different' version of dinner with Jody Wilson-Raybould - National {{!}} Globalnews.ca|date=2019-03-06|website=globalnews.ca|language=en|access-date=2019-03-06}}</ref> At the time of Butts' resignation, Trudeau had responded by thanking him for his service, while acknowledging the integrity, guidance, and devotion that Butts had provided him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1097573441396305924/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1097573441396305924&ref_url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gerald-butts-resigns-pmo-1.5023675|title=Gerald Butts served this government - and our country - with integrity, sage advice and devotion. I want to thank him for his service and continued friendship. Please read his statement today:pic.twitter.com/VIaEHJMMe4|last=Trudeau|first=Justin|date=2019-02-18|website=@JustinTrudeau|language=en|access-date=2019-02-21}}</ref> In July 2019, Prime Minister Trudeau hired Butts back to play a key role in the Liberal 2019 election campaign.<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Trudeau adviser Gerald Butts playing key role in Liberal campaign - National {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5664371/gerald-butts-liberal-campaign/ |website=globalnews.ca}}</ref>

Between January 2017 and February 2024, Butt's [[Eurasia Group]] received over $1.5 million in contracts from the Government of Canada for consulting and geopolitical research.<ref>https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/?sort=contract_date+desc&search_text=EURASIA+GROUP+&page=1</ref><ref>https://www.westernstandard.news/news/american-firm-employing-mark-carneys-wife-receives-huge-contracts-from-government-of-canada/60979</ref>

==Personal life==
Butts is the nephew of the former Canadian senator [[Peggy Butts|Mary Alice "Peggy" Butts]], whom he cites as a major influence on him.<ref name="G&M">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/gerald-butts-the-guardian-of-the-trudeaunarrative/article31692482|title=Gerald Butts: The BFF in the PMO|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|last=Radwanski|first=Adam|date=September 3, 2016|access-date=September 3, 2016}}</ref>

He is married to Jodi (Heimpel) Butts, a lawyer,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lsuc.on.ca/uploadedFiles/PDC/Archives/Call_to_the_Bar/2000-02%20programme.pdf |title=Law Society of Upper Canada – call to the bar in Toronto on Feb. 24, 2000. |access-date=2016-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210165020/https://www.lsuc.on.ca/uploadedFiles/PDC/Archives/Call_to_the_Bar/2000-02%20programme.pdf |archive-date=2016-02-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and they have two children, Aidan Ignatius (born May 6, 2006)<ref name="mcgee" /> and Ava Augusta (born December 1, 2007).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/news-archives/2008/fall/alumnotes/|title=Alumnotes|publisher=[[McGill University]]| url-status=live| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607190951/http://www.mcgill.ca/news-archives/2008/fall/alumnotes/| archivedate=June 7, 2017}}</ref> They resided in Toronto for 13 years until the family relocated in the summer of 2016 to Ottawa. Butts currently resides at [[Champlain Park]] area of [[Westboro, Ottawa]].<ref name="G&M"/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Twitter|gmbutts}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, Gerald Michael}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian political consultants]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Ukrainian descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:People from Glace Bay]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:York University alumni]]