Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Canada) hold the formal title chief of staff. Bernard Roy, Brian Mulroney's principal secretary from 1984 to 1988, was the last principal secretary to act as head of the PMO before the creation of the chief of staff position. Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Canada) The Chief of Staff of Canada's Prime Minister's Office is the top official of the office. The position was created in 1987 to head the PMO. Prior to the creation of the chief of staff position, the office was headed by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, a position which is now secondary to the
Brian Mulroney him an advantage that eventually proved decisive. Because of health problems shortly after becoming party leader, Mulroney quit smoking in 1983. By the start of 1984, as Mulroney began learning the realities of parliamentary life in the House of Commons, the Tories took a substantial lead in opinion polling. It was almost taken for granted that Trudeau would be heavily defeated by Mulroney in the general election due no later than 1985. Trudeau announced his retirement in February, and the Liberal Party chose John Turner, previously the Minister of Finance under Trudeau in the 1970s, as its new leader. The