Stevie O’Brien is a versatile and accomplished government and stakeholder relations leader, public policy specialist, and lawyer with more than a decade of federal and provincial government experience.
Having advised senior politicians and officials at the highest levels of decision making, including the Prime Minister, she excels in interpreting mission-critical initiatives through a political lens and facilitating strategic interactions within government and legal ecosystems.
As Chief of Staff to two Ministers of Public Services and Procurement (Anita Anand and Filomena Tassi), Stevie provided strategic political analysis across a complex portfolio encompassing large IT and defence procurements, national procurement modernization, and the oversight of multiple Crown Corporations, including Canada Post.
Her most important contributions include providing strategic advice on Canada’s COVID-19 procurement response, including the agreements to secure and roll out $9B of vaccines and $5B of rapid tests, arguably the highest profile and most closely scrutinized purchases in Canadian history.
Earlier, as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction (Bill Blair), Stevie was extensively involved in advancing the Government’s legalization and regulation of cannabis, as well as setting foundations and frameworks for the assault weapon ban.
Her experience also includes serving as Director of Parliamentary Affairs and Issues Management to the Minister of Health, legal counsel to the Liberal Party of Canada during the 2021 General Election Campaign, and Chief of Staff to the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.
Stevie transitioned into the public sector after working as a litigation associate at McMillan LLP in Toronto.
A member of the Law Society of Ontario since 2011, Stevie earned her Juris Doctor from Queen’s University Faculty of Law in 2010 and holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Toronto, Victoria College.
