General

Harper’s communications director resigns, citing fatigue

Angelo Perischilli, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Director of Communications for seven months, announced Friday he’s stepping down. In a statement reproduced by the National Post, Perischilli, 63, suggests the job was too exhausting: “This is a prestigious position that requires extremely intense effort and very long hours, which at a certain age, are not an option for a long period of time.”

On his Twitter feed, Postmedia News national columnist Stephen Maher reacted to the statement, saying, “There will be conspiracy theories, but Angelo Persichilli told me months ago that he found workload heavy at PMO and he looked a bit worn.”

Speaking of Perischilli’s appointment last August, the CBC says:

[It] surprised many because he was a political columnist at the time with The Toronto Star and Hill Times and because he doesn’t speak French. He was also a long-time contributor to the Italian-Canadian newspaper Corriere Canadese.

Perischilli’s resignation will only take effect once a successor is named. Harper has had six different communications directors since becoming prime minister in 2006.

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