Deb Hutton

Deb Hutton is a former chief of staff to Premier Mike Harris and a current Metrolinx board member.

Early life and education

Hutton's father worked in real estate and her mother was a teacher as she grew up in Listowel, Ontario.^[1]

Hutton earned her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario in 1988.^[1]

Career

In 1995 Hutton was an executive assistant on the team working with Mike Harris.^[2][3] In 1996 Hutton was one of the attendees of a meeting that took place just prior to death of Anthony George, an event later known as the Ipperwash Crisis.^[4] Shortly thereafter, during a violent confrontation, the Ontario Provincial Police killed a protester.^[5] During the public inquiry the provincial government led by Harris were scrutinized for the 1995 Ipperwash Crisis.^[6] At that time, Hutton expressed "a desire to direct the police" to put a quick end to the occupation within two days.^[7][8] Later publications on the event also raise the question of whether Harris was making decisions during the event or Hutton.^[9]

From 2000 until 2003 Hutton was a vice president at Hydro One,^[10][11] and then as of 2003 she was a special advisor to Ernie Eves, the premier of Toronto.^[12] Around this time she acquired the nickname "Premier Hutton" because of her influence on the politics of Eves' administration.^[1]

In 2004 Hutton worked on Belinda Stronach's campaign to lead the Conservative Party.^[13] Hutton guided Stronach through the process and Hutton considered Stronach to be easy to work with as Hutton laiddown guidelines to be followed during the campaign.^{[14]: 137–138} The campaign was not successful, though in 2006 Hutton spoke on the large amount of media coverage received by the campaign.^[14]: 140

Between October 2009 and October 2020 Hutton worked for TransCanada Enterprises,^[15] and this work later became of political interest to Canada's Liberal Party.^[16]

In 2017 Hutton wrote a column defending the policies of Patrick Brown.^[17]

Hutton was interim Chief of Staff to Minister Caroline Mulroney in 2020.^[18] Hutton helped Ford prepare for the 2022 Ontario general election, by acting as Andrea Horwath in mock debates.^[18][19] She has been on the board of Metrolinx since 2022.^[20][21]

Hutton worked for Premier Doug Ford in the aftermath of the Greenbelt scandal in a volunteer capacity. She advised Cabinet Ministers and their Chiefs of staff on how to avoid conflicts of interest.^[2][18]

Personal life

Hutton is the wife of former Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader Tim Hudak.^[22] They were married in 2002.^[1]