Harper spokesman quits for private sector, Canadian Tire exec steps in

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Stephen Harper's spokesman is stepping down and the Prime Minister, a veteran of retail politics, has tapped the ranks of one of the country's biggest corporate retailers for someone new to sell his government to Canadians.

Jason MacDonald, director of communications to the Prime Minister, is leaving after 18 months on the job to join the Canadian arm of Hill+Knowlton, a global public affairs and government relations firm.

Replacing him in the Prime Minister's Office is Rob Nicol, who has spent five years working in the executive ranks of Canadian Tire.

Mr. Nicol, in his mid-forties, is a veteran of Ontario provincial politics, having served in the former Mike Harris government, including as the premier's director of communications.

It's there Mr. Nicol met Guy Giorno, the former chief of staff to Mr. Harris who's now a fixture in federal Conservative politics – most recently as the party's national chair for the 2015 campaign. The two are good friends.

Mr. MacDonald, 43, is the second high-profile member of Mr. Harper's team to head for the exit this month with the federal election campaign expected to commence in less than 30 weeks.

John Baird, 45, resigned as foreign affairs minister on Feb. 2 and publicly announced he was leaving federal politics the next day, saying he'd accomplished all he wanted after 20 years in public office.

Although Mr. MacDonald is not an elected official like Mr. Baird, he was responsible for managing Mr. Harper's communication with Canadians.

Mr. MacDonald's departure has been in the works for months, though, sources say, and this gave Mr. Harper time to hire Mr. Nicol.

In both cases, the foreign affairs minister and the chief spokesman are leaving at the last possible window for such departures before the Conservative election machine swings into high gear.

Tories and, indeed, partisans of all stripes in Ottawa who stay from this point on, are in effect committing themselves to six months of work – including as many as five weeks of unpaid leave during the campaign – to see the fight through to Oct. 19, the expected election date.

Mr. MacDonald was Mr. Harper's eighth director of communications since the Conservatives took office nine years ago. The job of selling the prime minister is a gruelling 24/7 position in any government and the average tenure for the post is about 14 months.

The Conservative Leader will attempt to win a fourth consecutive mandate from voters this fall – a rarity in Canadian politics.

The Tories are almost tied in the polls with Justin Trudeau's Liberals these days, a rise in support for the government after it shifted focus to national security and anti-terror matters in the months after the deadly attacks on Canadian soldiers in October.

Friends and former colleagues of Mr. Nicol describe him as low-key and unassuming but adept at leading groups of people.

Mr. Nicol last worked in politics 13 years ago, at Queen's Park, but he has dipped a toe in the federal scene. He performed some communications work, chiefly writing, for the Conservatives in the 2008 federal election campaign, sources say.

Mr. Nicol rose through the executive ranks of Canadian Tire since joining the retailer in 2010 and his most recent post there was vice-president of corporate affairs, a job with massive scope not unlike director of communications for the prime minister.

He was responsible for all communications with Canadian Tire stores and employees as well as corporate employee communications and government relations, or lobbying, activities for the retailer's family of companies including Sport Chek and Sports Experts.

Coincidentally, another former Harper PMO director of communications, Sandra Buckler, only recently joined Canadian Tire as vice-president of communications.

The retailer's executive ranks also includes Duncan Fulton, who worked as senior PMO communications staffer during the Chrétien era in Ottawa.

Mr. Nicol's predecessor, Mr. MacDonald, officially leaves the PMO in the middle of next week, and he will take some time off before joining Hill+Knowlton to practise corporate communications.

He will not be lobbying Ottawa in his new job and the government's Federal Accountability Act prevents many former political staffers from lobby work for five years.