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Bureau Blog

Where not to talk to the NDP

For the record, the Prime Minister’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, responded late yesterday to a Globe and Mail story published online that morning. The story quoted New Democrat spokesman Karl Belanger saying that it was “telling” that the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Guy Giorno, has yet to respond to an email sent to him several days ago by NDP Leader Jack Layton’s chief of staff, Anne McGrath.

The NDP said the email was to follow up on questions the Conservatives had raised about NDP policies during an Aug. 25 meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr. Layton, attended by both Ms. McGrath and Mr. Giorno.

Mr. Soudas offered this response.

“Why would we reply to people who leak e-mail correspondence?” he wrote in an email. “At the end of the day, the best forum for a policy debate is the Parliament of Canada, not backroom cyber-hallways.”

Update Mr. Belanger responds.

“First, we didn't leak the e-mail correspondence. Second, his comments are a bit rich coming from a party who taps into our private phone conversations and then happily broadcast said private call.”