OTTAWA—A junior Conservative staffer has used his Facebook page to lash out at Tory restrictions on the number of media questions the prime minister answers on the campaign trail, calling it stupid and a threat to Stephen Harper's public image.

“Can someone in the war room please save the PM's image by allowing him to answer more than five questions a day?!?” Tony Phillips, an assistant to British Columbia MP Dona Cadman, wrote last week.

“When Sun Media starts to attack our AMAZING government, you know stupidity has prevailed amongst communications people.”

Phillips has worked since 2008 as a communications and legislative assistant to Cadman and is currently working on Cadman's re-election campaign in the riding of Surrey North.

On his Facebook page, Phillips' policy positions sit alongside comedic photos of him on Parliament Hill, making gangsta-rap gestures with his hands and sticking out his tongue. His online profile says he graduated from law school in 2008 and is a fan of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Lady Gaga, among others.

Phillips refused to elaborate on his opinion of the Conservative media strategy when contacted Sunday by The Canadian Press.

“I can't comment on that because that's a personal Facebook page and being in the political position I'm in, that would not be the best career move for me,” he said in a very brief telephone interview.

“I did (share my opinion) with my 800 (Facebook) friends, of which you are not one of them, so ... I think I have to tighten my security settings again.”

Reporters have cried foul over the Conservative decision to restrict the number of questions at Harper's daily press conferences. National reporters are allowed a total of four questions, with one set aside for a local reporter.

There was no immediate word on whether Phillips would be disciplined for his comments. Conservative spokesman Ryan Sparrow would only say, via email, that the party is “focused on issues that matter to Canadians like the economy and lower taxes, not political strategy.”

Phillips is not the first person to criticize his employer on the Internet. Two workers at a British Columbia car dealership were sacked for what they wrote about their employer and their managers on Facebook. They accused their bosses of being corrupt and mused about committing acts of violence against them.

The B.C. Labour Relations Board recently upheld their dismissal. The incident, which occurred in Pitt Meadows just west of Vancouver, is believed to be the first such case in Canada.

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But in another case in the United States, a panel sided with the worker. The National Labor Relations Board there ruled Dawnmarie Souza was illegally fired from her job as an emergency medical technician after she criticized her supervisor on her personal Facebook page and traded messages about it with other employees.

The board ruled the Facebook page was somewhat akin to a water cooler, and said employees have the right to share their thoughts.

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