Bev Desjarlais - After Defeat

After Defeat

After her defeat, Desjarlais took a job in Ottawa as Director of Parliamentary Affairs in the office of Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans' Affairs in the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. The reaction from her former NDP colleagues was mixed. Caucus Chair Judy Wasylycia-Leis described her decision as "mind-boggling and very disappointing", and commented that it was "hard to understand how Bev could have gone from being an active New Democrat to actually supporting and upholding the Stephen Harper agenda". Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer said that Desjarlais had always worked well with MPs of all parties, and that she and Thompson would "work well together".