Manitoba taps former White House correspondent Richard Madan to lead Washington trade office

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 4:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Manitoba has opened a imperishable bureau successful Washington, D.C., and hired a erstwhile White House quality analogous to pb commercialized and economical discussions down south.

Richard Madan, a erstwhile newsman for CTV and CBC, has been tapped to pb the bureau starting immediately, the state said successful a Tuesday quality release.

The D.C. commercialized office, which Premier Wab Kinew archetypal promised past December, is intended to fortify Manitoba's ties with U.S. lawmakers, manufacture leaders and commercialized officials, arsenic good arsenic ensuring Manitoba's interests are protected successful agreements specified arsenic a renewed Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, Kinew said successful the quality release.

Kinew previously said helium wanted the idiosyncratic starring the commercialized bureau to intimately recognize Manitoba's economical strategy, correspond the province's values and "speak the language" of the Trump administration.

Madan spent much than 2 decades arsenic a writer covering American and Canadian politics, including arsenic a White House correspondent, and Kinew said helium has heavy ties with large figures successful the U.S. superior that volition assistance Manitoba successful commercialized talks.

"I've covered Washington for astir a decade, truthful I cognize the players," Madan told CBC News connected Tuesday. 

"I've got a reasonably decent Rolodex, and my relation is to conscionable beryllium a facilitator [and] assistance get those meetings that could perchance pb to thing lucrative down the road."

While U.S. lawmakers are acquainted with different Canadian jurisdictions, "a lot of them mightiness not cognize wherever Manitoba is," said Madan, adding portion of his mission is to "unlock and merchantability what Manitoba has to offer" to American manufacture and governmental leaders by gathering awareness.

"It's a state I love. It's wherever my vocation started, and I cognize what it has to offer," helium said.

Madan is gathering with section concern owners, labour representatives and authorities officials successful Manitoba this week, including erstwhile premier Gary Doer, Manitoba's advisor connected Canada-U.S. relations, the state said.

Manitoba's 2025 fund included $800,000 for the Washington office, which volition supply funds for bureau space, salaries and administrative support, the state said. The commercialized bureau was initially recommended by the premier's concern and jobs council.

Madan said the state is inactive deciding wherever the carnal bureau successful Washington should beryllium located, adding that though the Canadian embassy would beryllium the astir logical option, it would beryllium much costly.