Andrew Scheer is losing his chief of staff on the eve of his one-year anniversary as Conservative Leader.
In a note to his caucus and staff on Friday, Mr. Scheer announced that chief of staff David McArthur is leaving immediately and that the decision is mutual.
Marc-André Leclerc, currently the deputy chief of staff, will become the acting chief of staff. Mr. McArthur will stay on in an advisory role until the end of June.
“When I was elected Leader I asked Mr. McArthur to stay on to ensure the Official Opposition Leader’s Office continued to run as effectively and efficiently as it had been and that we continued to engage our Caucus in a meaningful way,” Mr. Scheer wrote.
“I would like to acknowledge the role David played in our accomplishments over the last 12 months. We have successfully held the Liberal government to account, achieved several victories in the House, and have laid the critical foundation required to regain the voters’ trust in 2019.”
In his own e-mail, Mr. McArthur didn’t specify where he is going but thanked Mr. Scheer and caucus.
“When I accepted this position, my goal was to help guide our Leader and the Caucus through a period of great transition for the Conservative Party of Canada. A year later, as I leave this role, our Caucus is strong and united, and the Conservative Party is performing extremely well in the polls,” he wrote.
“I would like to thank the Leader for the opportunity to serve Canadians and our entire Conservative family. I would also like to thank the Conservative National Caucus for all of the faith they placed in me over the past year.”
Mr. McArthur, a long-time political staffer in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government, was named to the post last June, replacing interim leader Rona Ambrose’s chief of staff, Garry Keller.
Mr. Scheer’s director of media relations, Jake Enwright, is also leaving his post at the end of June. He will be replaced by Brock Harrison, who spent five years with Alberta’s Wildrose party, and is currently director of communications and policy for the Alberta Enterprise Group.
Mr. Enwright said he is taking a job off Parliament Hill, and it has been cleared by both the ethics and lobbying commissioners.
“I’m just really happy to have had the opportunity to serve in the leader’s office,” he said.
Mr. Scheer was elected leader of the party on May 27 last year.
Laura Stone