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Harper's chief of staff causing tensions in Tory circles


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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Depending on what side of the Giorno fence they sit, Conservatives either say he's made the PM's office more open and collegial or else sent the "bunker-like" operation into complete disarray.

His critics inside government and within the party ranks, who spoke to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity, say the former lawyer and Queen's Park operative has alienated a growing number of senior public servants, the powerful lobbying world, party brass and some caucus members.

"It's a question of experience and judgment," said one senior Conservative. "Tact, diplomacy, are all missing."

"He's a smart guy who will actually do work," said one Ontario Conservative. "The problem comes when he has to manage people or he has to make a judgment call."

Some Conservatives keep denying there is any problems but it is hard to reconcile the fact these whisper campaigns continue.

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People like Giorno, whose position dictates that they take action and make things happen, are often a lightning rod for anything that is perceived as not going according to plan. I'm not sure that there are that many critics as Dobbin would like to see. He certainly seems to have some important skills that are important to any successful party - and these points are raised on the record - not by an anonymous source:

Conservative caucus chairman Guy Lauzon said he's been impressed by Giorno, particularly his attention to the views of ordinary MPs.

On Friday, Giorno was leading a seminar for ministerial staff on how better to meet the needs of caucus.

"When you bring an issue to him he's good at building bridges and getting rid of gnawing problems," said Lauzon.

Yaroslav Baran, chief of staff to Government House Leader Jay Hill, feels similarly.

"He's very open, he has a consultative style, and generally speaking he's very action oriented," said Baran.

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People like Giorno, whose position dictates that they take action and make things happen, are often a lightning rod for anything that is perceived as not going according to plan.

I assume that means you acknowledge that things are not going according to plan.

I'm not sure that there are that many critics as Dobbin would like to see. He certainly seems to have some important skills that are important to any successful party - and these points are raised on the record - not by an anonymous source:

You never know who will plunge the knife in your back. Not good to assume that rumours are just rumours in politics.

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IME, to be successful, a Chief of Staff has to be a tough a**hole. ("Rahm Israel Emanuel... is noted for his combative style... ") Wikipedia

But here's the key quote (IMHO) about Giorno from the OP above:

"He's trying to loosen the control that PCO exercises over PMO," argued one government staffer.

"Everything gets funnelled through PCO. Giorno was just pushing back against that. Giorno decided to take them on."

I can perfectly understand why the PMO Chief of Staff would want to reign in the PCO and why the (too) large PCO would start bleating to journalists.

Lastly, the Mulroney angle may have legs. Unfortunately, Brian Mulroney seems to think that setting fire to his neighbour's house will stop the fire in his own place.

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"Harper's chief of staff causing tensions in Tory circles"

And who really cares?

He will do what he is either hired or told to do.

If he does not, he will be fired or asked to leave.

Nothing truly news worthy or earth shattering here.

Borg

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If he does not, he will be fired or asked to leave.

Nothing truly news worthy or earth shattering here.

Yet some Conservatives keep taking their complaints to the media.

It is a surrogate battle. People choose to attack the Chief of Staff when they really want to attack Harper.

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I assume that means you acknowledge that things are not going according to plan.

There are ALWAYS going to be things that don't go according to plan.....and of course, those are the juicy tidbits that reporters look for. Always overlooked are the many things that DO go right, along with the loyalty that is generated. What I saw from the article you posted, is that Giorno seems to be good at listening to the backbenchers and establishing a bottom-up inclusiveness. That sounds pretty effective to me. I really don't have any conclusive observations or proff that Giorno is a terrific guy or not - but I do know that you can't please all of the people all of the time.......and when you are a man of action - as Giorno appears to be - some people are bound to get their noses out of joint. Problems occur when too many people continually cannot reconcile with a particular person/position. I see no evidence of any such event happening in the Conservative Party.

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Yet some Conservatives keep taking their complaints to the media.

It is a surrogate battle. People choose to attack the Chief of Staff when they really want to attack Harper.

I see you've acquired a new Tory obsession, that Harper is under attack from within.

What happened to the election you insisted was happening right about now?

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Yet some Conservatives keep taking their complaints to the media.

It is a surrogate battle. People choose to attack the Chief of Staff when they really want to attack Harper.

Just wait for the polling numbers to keep collapsing. Before its through, the Conservatives will be burning Harper in effigy, just like the Liberals did Paul Martin.

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Just wait for the polling numbers to keep collapsing. Before its through, the Conservatives will be burning Harper in effigy, just like the Liberals did Paul Martin.

It certainly is true that the Liberals eat their young (or old)....first Martin, then Dion. That's a symptom of the Liberal Party being controlled in the shadows by their backroom boys.....when it's time for Harper to exit stage right, I think you'll find that the Party will be much more gracious. I wouldn't hold your breath though, I think Mr. Harper will be around for a few more years.

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Problems occur when too many people continually cannot reconcile with a particular person/position. I see no evidence of any such event happening in the Conservative Party.

We can certainly see that there might be a problem between the PCO and PMO.

I expect we might hear more of a hue and cry if polling numbers don't improve.

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Just wait for the polling numbers to keep collapsing. Before its through, the Conservatives will be burning Harper in effigy, just like the Liberals did Paul Martin.

Paul Martin had majority support in the polls just prior to the last election. He was leading in personal popularity until the last part of the election when the RCMP investigation was announced.

Martin resigned before he was asked to quit.

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I see you've acquired a new Tory obsession, that Harper is under attack from within.

So reporters just making up stories, right? Nothing happening? All is well?

What happened to the election you insisted was happening right about now?

I said Harper wanted to run against Dion before the next leader was decided. Well, did Dion stay in power? Did the Liberals have a costly leadership race?

No. And the reason is because the Liberals knew that Harper was going to call an election before May if they left him an opening.

So am I completely wrong or does that sound like something Harper would do?

Remember I said all along that Harper would call an election without a confidence vote and before the term ended last election. I was told that would be impossible. Can't recall if that was you but it certainly was a lot of ardent Conservative supporters who swore up and down that that would never happen. Ever.

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By all means believe what you want.

Sounds like you and Liberal supporters are the ones with wishful thinking.

When Conservatives are unhappy, they say it. Publicly. Remember what happened to Stockwell Day? What about Bill Casey?

When Liberal sycophants use unnamed sources it means that they are lying.

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"unidentified insiders" is Liberal code-speak for "we are making this crap up".

Lol, I like that.

Jdobbin and many other like to paint PM Harper as this cold, heartless tyrant who wants to crush our civil liberties. Well I challenge them to show us where our civil liberties are being scaled back. Pm Harper is a leader we need. We need a leader that has the ability to say "NO" sometimes. I don't want a leader that tries to please everyone. I want a leader who can say "NO".

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Read the finger printing thread.

So, for his 3 years in power, this is all you have? A proposed idea?

Where are the soldiers....with guns... in our cities...in Canada?

.

Where are the heavy military aircraft carriers? The peeled back abortion laws? The weakened health care funding?

.

I guess we finally answered the question of Harpernomics too from Dion. His ads asked if Canada really wanted more of this...Canada emphatically said yes in 2008.

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So, for his 3 years in power, this is all you have? A proposed idea?

I'm sure ther are more examples, but i don't bother to keep track of everything. You forget that I supported Harper until the end of November.

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Yes and we know all the media are Liberals so nothing they say about Conservatives is true.

Not all, but most. G&M, TorStar, CBC, CTV do little other than regurgitate supplied Liberal talking points. Even the National Post has Don Martin as their token Liberal shill.

The writer of this particular article, Jennifer Ditchburn, has a history of writing inflammatory anti-CPC op-ed pieces with unnamed sources as her "evidence".

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G&M, TorStar, CBC, CTV do little other than regurgitate supplied Liberal talking points.

Yes, they're all a bunch of Liberal hacks....a huge media conspiracy. :rolleyes: I'd really love to see what some on the right would consider to be unbiased news.

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