Wow. Not entirely unexpected.
Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor breaks the news:
Today, Sandra Buckler (left) informed her friends and colleagues that she’ll be leaving the Prime Minister’s office as Director of Communications. Buckler started with the PMO shortly after the Conservatives took power in February 2006 and has served the PM for 28 months. She served in the Conservative war-room during the election and was one of the most effective communicators during that time. Her skills impressed Stephen Harper and the Prime-Minister-elect hired her on as his Comms boss.
When she took the job of communications director to Harper in March of 2006, few members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery knew who she was and almost all gave her a few months — tops — before Harper would fire her, as he had done to William Stairs (the comms director who got him through the election successfully), or Geoff Norquay before him (technically quit but the Grewal affair may have exhausted him) or Jim Armour before him. Harper was getting a reputation with Comms Directors that George Steinbrenner had with managers.
In any event, she defied the pundits and lasted on the job longer than just about anyone thought she would.
Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie is also departing at the end of this month. Presumably, it will be up to his replacement, Guy Giorno, to name a replacement for Buckler.
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