Compass Rose enters 8th year, deepens its communications expertise, bolsters finance team
New public affairs counsellors join as firm expands offering with tailored services to navigate the rapidly evolving public policy landscape
OTTAWA — Compass Rose is once again adding depth and bench strength to its public affairs team with two new communications specialists, bolstering the firm’s ability to deliver exceptional service to clients as it continues to expand its communications, government relations, and digital offerings.
Melissa Cable, a nationally known communications specialist who has worked at the highest levels of business and government, has joined the team as a public affairs counsellor. Specializing in writing and communications, Cable will draw on 15 years of experience as a trusted communications advisor for government leaders and top executives in many of the country’s key business sectors — ranging from professional services to technology to health services.
Compass Rose founder Jacquie LaRocque also announced the hirings of public relations professional Samantha Thompson as public affairs counsellor and Ross Lemieux as financial controller.
“Our clients’ needs are becoming increasingly multi-faceted in the digital world with a rapidly evolving public policy landscape. We are thrilled to be adding more unique and tailored services that reflect the importance of strategic communications in advancing policy change and engaging government stakeholders,” LaRocque said. “An important part of that is ensuring we have the right team to deliver on our mandate of helping clients find the common good and getting heard in the halls of power and in the media.”
Cable brings reputation-building, stakeholder engagement expertise
Cable brings to Compass Rose the experience of having her own corporate communications company and also having previously served in a senior role at a national public affairs firm. Cable’s expertise includes editorial and speech writing, corporate reputation building, and executive communications/profile building.
Cable also has extensive experience inside government, having served as a senior special assistant to a federal industry minister in a minority Conservative government, where she led stakeholder management on a diverse set of legislative and regulatory files. She also developed ministerial messaging and remarks for cabinet presentations and speeches to parliamentary committees.
Thompson, Lemieux bring health care and finance expertise
Thompson has deep expertise in strategic communications in health care, honed over the last five years through her work supporting organizations in Canada’s innovative pharmaceutical sector, consumer health companies and wellness charities. She has worked across a broad range of industries as a public relations consultant, handling complex and sensitive files for clients.
Lemieux is a dedicated and detail oriented accounting professional with more than 25 years of experience who has a passion for problem-solving. He has spent the last 11 years as the controller of a media, content and digital agency that provides services to some of the most recognizable brands across North America. He helped the company expand from a single office in Canada to an international operation.
“I continue to be blown away by the calibre of talent on our formidable team. Our clients can be assured that we will have the right people in place to help them meet — and often exceed — their goals and expectations”, said LaRocque.
Entering its 8th year of finding the common good, Compass Rose has long been known to put Canadians at the centre of its public policy work, including investing in forums and podcasts that drive important national discussions and debates including The Paul Wells Show and the Toronto Star’s It’s Political with Althia Raj. As Paul Wells noted following his inaugural podcast, “there are lots of companies and organizations that don’t support work like this. You’d better believe I’m happy to tell you about the ones that do."
About Compass Rose
Compass Rose is a full-service bilingual public affairs firm in Ottawa that helps companies and organizations find the common good. By assembling and understanding different voices and viewpoints from coast-to-coast, we help our clients of all sizes across all industries uncover the best policy direction — not just for their organizations, but for all Canadians.
We work with clients across a wide variety of sectors, specializing in government relations, strategic communications, targeted information campaigns, relationship building and profile raising. At the core of everything we do is a commitment to providing clients with real time intelligence on Canada’s public policy landscape, and an overarching resolve to drive results for our clients.
Our strength is built on our team with extensive experience in public policy, stakeholder engagement, communications, campaigns, and advocacy — all based on the unsurpassed understanding of national issues and a commitment to provide the best in communications analysis and advice.