Canada's Ambassador To Costa Rica Being Pressured To Quit
A report on Canada's private national television network, CTV, says that the newly elected Conservative (Tories are their are known in Canada) government is pressuring five Liberal appointed diplomats to quit their post, including Mario Laguë, Canada's ambassador to Costa Rica.

The report says that the "Tories" are asking the diplomats to voluntarily to "pack their bags and come home".

Sources say a senior bureaucrat in Foreign Affairs recently phoned the diplomats and told them that Frank McKenna, former ambassador to the United States, set the precedent by resigning so quickly after the election.

The bureaucrats urged the diplomats to follow McKenna's lead.

McKenna resigned as ambassador because it was such a sensitive post and that he wouldn't be perceived as having the support of the prime minister. To replace McKenna, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed former Conservative finance minister Michael Wilson, who co-chaired the Tory federal election campaign in Ontario.

Allan Rock, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations resigned soon after.

The five diplomats, appointed during the last couple of years by the former Liberal government are, Stan Keyes, currently serving as the Consul General in Boston; Patrick Parizot, currently serving as ambassador to Portugal; Bhupinder Liddar, currently serving on the UN's special committee on the environment in Nairobi, Kenya; Pamela Wallin, currently serving as consul general in New York; and, Mario Laguë.

Diplomats have traditionally been allowed to serve their full terms even when there is a change in government. Liberals say the Conservative government is being heavy-handed.

"It's a witch hunt, it's not in our traditions," said Liberal foreign affairs critic Stephane Dion. "We respect the capacities to have professional officials working for their country when the Government changes."

The NDP's foreign affairs critic, Alexa McDonough, said these tactics smack of "intimidation." She says the Government should justify why these diplomats should return before their terms are up.

"If Canadian interests are being well served, they should be able to continue and fulfill their terms. If there's cause for removal then the government should make a case for their removal," McDonough said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said all five "are currently serving in their posts," and that "they don't comment on personnel matters."

Mr. Laguë was installed as Ambassdor in October of 2004 and Laguë was the former director of communications for Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, and was among six new diplomatic appointments announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs at the time.

Laguë, in addition to having relevant foreign-service experience also had worked in the Quebec government's Ministry of International Affairs, where he served as provincial delegate to Venezuela and Mexico.

Laguë’s appointment was been attacked in Ottawa by critics of the government as soon as the appointment was known.  Critics said that the appointment was political patronage, while the government defended it's decision saying that that Laguë was an experienced diplomat in his own right.

The controversy over the Laguë appointment was that he had been linked to a scandal that surfaced that year involving a federal government $100 million sponsorship program. Critics said that the program placed money into Liberal supporting advertising agencies that involved double billing and false invoices.

The scandal was known in Canada as "adscam" and Laguë came to be known as Martin's "spin doctor".

The reports at the time made no suggestion that Laguë was involved in any illegal activity, however, he was responsible for smoothing over the situation with the Canadian press.