Last week, the premier's office put an end to months of speculation by announcing that Finance Minister Gary Collins would be replacing chief of staff Martyn Brown as the head of government communications. But now there's a new question for public affairs bureau staffers to ponder: who'll be Minister Collins's second-in-command? We should officially find out next week. But, in the meantime, rumours abound among insiders that Athana Mentzelopoulos is the lead candidate.
Ms. Mentzelopoulos was hired back in January as the Campbell administration's deputy minister of intergovernmental relations - a somewhat hapless job, since most of those relations are micromanaged by the West Annex. But she's better known for being one of Lord David of Anderson's vassals. Ms. Mentzelopoulous served the aristocratic cabinet minister in a variety of roles between 1997 and 2003, including working as his executive assistant (read: chief of staff). She is married to Vancouver Sun deputy managing editor Stewart Muir, was cabinet minister Christy Clark's maid of honour and reportedly has a past close connection to the premier's deputy minister Ken Dobell.
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