In the comments to this post, Dave Mann points us to a profile of the Tony Clement staffer who apparently threatened a school for disabled children as a result of its daring to allow an opposition MP to participate in a Hanukah event. And Georganne Burke's background may make the story particularly worth following.
To start with, Burke's background features six years of involvement with the Cons prior to being hired into a senior position. As a result, the Cons plainly can't get away with their preferred defence of blaming the inexperience of staffers who supposedly don't know the limits of acceptable conduct.
Instead, they'll plainly have to answer for the fact that whatever perspective Burke offered would be a product of their party's internal mindset under Harper. And it'll only look worse for the Cons that her job title includes "caucus relations", suggesting a regular link to the party's MPs as a whole.
Mind you, one MP and his department also figure to come under particular scrutiny. Given that Burke was hired for "stakeholder relations" based on a resume focused on "outreach to ethnic, cultural and religious communities", there looks to be plenty of room for discussion as to just what Clement expected in hiring her, and to what extent orders to interfere with the Zareinu Educational Centre or other stakeholders might have originated above Burke's position. And of course there's every reason for the communities within Burke's job description to raise the question of whether they'll be next in line for the same types of tactics.
As a result, the facts reported to date look to be only the outer layer of a story which could prove to be the best present any opposition party could ask for. And what's inside figures to be a huge help to the democratic coalition in highlighting the need for a change in government.
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