Alykhan Velshi was chosen by his peers from all political parties to the list of ‘Terrific Twenty-Five Staffers’ for the 2nd year in a row (last year he ranked no. 25, this year no. 17)
Page 23 of The Hill Times, May 18th 2009:
Alykhan Velshi, Director of Communications and Parliamentary Affairs to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney(Calgary Southeast, Alta), was ranked No. 17 top staffer on the Hill. A lawyer by training, Mr. Velshi, 25, is well-known in Hill circles as a hard-working and bright communication aide. In an interview last week he said: “I work for a very competent minister who is a naturally good communicator and so that makes my job pretty easy. It’s just the matter of giving him the opportunities to shine and so I’m at a bit of an advantage in that respect. It’s a great team to work for and it’s an exciting environment”, said Mr. Velshi, adding that working for a high-profile Cabinet Minister gives him an opportunity for more exposure.
“It certainly gives you an opportunity to test yourself given the frequency with which he’s been quoted in the media, given the ambition of our policy agenda. There’s always something going on and again it gives you an opportunity to sink or swim and certainly from my perspective, I don’t have any formal communications training, I’m just a tax lawyer at the end of the day. It’s been an exercise of learning on my feet”, said Mr. Velshi.
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