By Jack Hauen and David Hains

Ministers have undertaken a miniature staffer shuffle to fill some holes left behind by those who have departed for Ottawa.

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Health Minister Christine Elliott’s former spokesperson Hayley Chazan has moved to Solicitor General Sylvia Jones’s office, where she’ll replace Richard Clark as director of communications. Clark left his post to join Premier Doug Ford’s office in June after the departure of former communications director Simon Jefferies, and deputy communications director Veronica Green, who both left to join Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservative campaign in May. Ford also recently saw the departures of his executive director of strategic communications, David Tarrant, and his director of public appointments, Alicia Markson.

Another Elliott spokesperson, Travis Kann, confirmed that Chazan’s move was to fill the gap left behind by Clark, and not part of a broader staffer shuffle across ministries.

But a government source told QP Briefing on background that more changes could come soon as contracts are set to expire as the PCs mark one year in power on June 29, noting that the health file in particular could see more changes.

Ford spokesperson Ivana Yelich did not respond by press time to an emailed question about the potential of contract expirations leading to more staffing changes.

The premier’s office has also seen recent additions, including a familiar face from Toronto city hall, when the premier was a city councillor.

Earl Provost, a Liberal who was the chief of staff to former mayor Rob Ford, has joined the premier’s office as a senior policy adviser on intergovernmental affairs. The addition of Provost in the role comes as the provincial government has climbed down from some of its most controversial municipal policies, including provisions in omnibus Bill 66 and funding cuts to public health and social services. The municipal pushback has sometimes caught the government flat-footed, often failing to provide specific details or policy explanations days after the news is first announced.

The government has also signalled a shift in its approach to the Liberals in Ottawa, with the premier laying off of the heated rhetoric from earlier in his mandate.

Provost joins a long list of staffers who know the premier from his city hall days, including Amin Massoudi, Simone Daniels, Dan Jacobs and Nico Fidani.

People on the move: PCs see a staffer shuffle as Ottawa departures have a ripple effect through ministries

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