Meet Marit Stiles's secret weapon

Plus: Love at the Leg

ABOVE THE FOLD

CAITLIN PETTIFOR was barely five weeks into her gig as chief of staff to NDP Leader MARIT STILES when we sat down for an interview, but she’s already speaking with the cool confidence of a strategist who knows how to turn an opposition party into a government.

Fresh off a whirlwind move from Manitoba, Pettifor has been tasked with steering a major rebuild of Ontario’s Official Opposition NDP. Her first couple months have been a blur of caucus strategy sessions and legislative walkthroughs.

“It feels longer than five weeks,” Pettifor laughs. “I came in like two days after my last day in Winnipeg, so it’s been a whirlwind. But yes, I like it here. Queen’s Park is a very interesting place — different than any other Legislature I’ve seen.”

“There’s a lot of fun to be had in opposition. But government is incredible.”

Pettifor may be new to the Pink Palace, but she’s a seasoned veteran of the western NDP’s comeback club. The Alberta-born operative helped engineer the improbable…