Ian Todd, the high-powered federal Conservative operative who was appointed last week as mid-ranking cabinet minister Rick Thorpe's assistant, is rumoured to be in line to replace Lara Dauphinee as the premier's traveling aide, says a senior government insider. Ms. Dauphinee, who worked in Gordon Campbell's constituency office before becoming his deputy chief of staff and executive assistant, has been the source of much controversy in the West Annex. One reason: a reported lack of political acumen. As a result, Premier Campbell's appointment calendar (which Ms. Dauphinee keeps) reads like a senior bureaucrat's date book, says another insider - all policy and no politics (although that may not entirely be her fault). If the changeover happens, it would be a major victory for Martyn Brown, the premier's chief of staff, who has been locked in a power struggle with Ms. Dauphinee, adds the insider. Mr. Todd was Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day's chief of staff and Reform leader Preston Manning's right-hand man.