Linchpin in 'NAFTA-Gate' to Step Down

Ian Brodie, chief of staff to Canada's prime minister and the key figure in the "NAFTA-gate" scandal, will step down by summer, the Globe and Mail reports. Brodie, the architect of the Conservative Party's victory in 2006 elections, is under investigation in leaks that clouded the Democratic primary in Ohio in March.

Leaked memos suggested that Barack Obama's campaign had contacted Canadian diplomats to reassure them that the candidate's opposition to NAFTA on the campaign trail was mere rhetoric; Hillary Clinton ended up winning the primary by a wide margin. Brodie was later reported to have said Clinton's campaign, not Obama's, made the overtures to Ottawa. (More Canada stories.)