Brian Topp

Brian Topp (born July 4, 1960) is a Canadian political strategist, union leader, and writer and was formerly chief of staff to former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

Topp's father occasionally lectured at the McGill School of Commerce during the 1970s.

He studied social sciences at Champlain Regional College, a CEGEP in the Montreal-area suburb of Saint-Lambert, from 1977 to 1979.

He was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, and was elected to the College Board of Governors where he served on the executive committee.

In 1979 he enrolled at Montreal's McGill University where he studied history and political science.

While at McGill he was a senior news editor with the McGill Daily, and a member of the Scarlet Key Honour Society.

He joined the NDP in 1980 in order to support Ed Broadbent.

As a reporter for the McGill Daily in 1981 Topp asked Bob Rae – then an NDP Member of Parliament – a "disrespectful question" and, in Topp's words, Rae "blew his stack."

Topp also interviewed René Lévesque, which he called "without any question the most intimidating 10 minutes that I've ever had in my life."

In 1983 Topp founded Studio Apostrophe, a graphic design and typesetting company which produced Open City Magazine (a publication described as a precursor to the Montreal Mirror), for which Topp served as editor-in-chief.

While running his print shop, Topp was introduced to the NDP by friends of his who came seeking printing services.

One of his clients was Phil Edmonston, whom Topp would later aid in his successful campaign to become an NDP MP.

Topp has been involved with the NDP at provincial and federal levels for several decades.

He became active with the federal NDP during the 1988 election campaign, and first went to work in Ottawa in 1990 as an aide to Montreal-area NDP MP Phil Edmonston, whom he had helped become the first elected Quebec MP in NDP history.

In 1993, Topp married Rebecca Elbourne with whom he has two sons.

His wife ran unsuccessfully as an NDP candidate in previous elections, as did his mother-in-law.

Topp is reputedly a fan of board games, particularly the strategic game Civilization.

Topp then moved west to work with the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party as deputy chief of staff to Premier Roy Romanow from 1993 to 2000.

While there he earned a reputation for being a dedicated but sometimes harsh political operator.

Topp co-ordinated the war room for the federal NDP during the 1997 and 2004 elections.

After the 1999 provincial election he helped to keep a minority NDP government in power by striking a coalition agreement with the Saskatchewan Liberals.

The coalition governed for four years until the NDP regained a majority mandate in the 2003 election under the leadership of Lorne Calvert.

He served as an adviser to former Toronto Mayor David Miller during his successful election campaign in 2003.

He was the party's national campaign director in 2006 and 2008.

Topp was active with the NDP in Quebec long before their political breakthrough in 2011; Topp first campaigned for the NDP during a 1985 provincial byelection in Montreal.

Topp served as a senior adviser to federal leader Jack Layton during the 2011 federal election campaign, and was intimately involved in negotiating the attempted Liberal–NDP coalition agreement during the 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute.

Topp wrote about this experience in his memoir, How We Almost Gave the Tories the Boot: The Inside Story Behind the Coalition.

He became president of the New Democratic Party in June 2011.

When elected to the position, Jack Layton said of him, "[he's] one of the most principled and hard-working people I know. He's been an integral part of our team for years and is just the person we need to bring us to the next level."

Although Topp has spoken in favour of cooperation between the NDP and the Liberals, he has rejected a merger of the parties, saying, "We don't have to become Liberals to win office."

He was the runner-up for the federal leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP) during its 2012 leadership vote, finishing behind Tom Mulcair.

He has been president of the federal New Democratic Party, and was the Director of Information Services at ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) and the Executive Director and CEO of ACTRA Toronto.

He also served as deputy chief of staff to Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow.

Brian Topp was born in Longueuil, Quebec, and grew up in neighbouring Saint-Lambert on Montreal's south shore.

In addition to Montreal, Topp later lived in Somalia, Regina, Toronto, and Vancouver at various points in his life.

He is bilingual.

His mother was a francophone Québécoise and his father was an anglophone from the Eastern Townships.

He was portrayed by Judah Katz in the 2013 CBC Television film Jack.

Topp attended elementary school in Saint-Lambert at the francophone École Rabeau and the anglophone St. Francis of Assisi School.

He attended MacDonald-Cartier High School in the Longueuil borough of Saint-Hubert for his secondary education.