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Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s message of thanks to the federal public service Tuesday sparked a withering response from two big federal unions – a measure of just how fractious the relationship between the Conservatives and the bureaucracy had become by the time of the government’s defeat last month.

Harper’s letter, sent to public servants through their deputy ministers on his last day in office, made no mention of the tensions that sometimes marked his dealings with government workers.

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“Over the last nine years my team and I have worked very closely with the Public Service of Canada to improve the prosperity, security and well-being of Canadians and improve Canada’s position in the world,” he wrote.

“I am very proud of the remarkable work we have accomplished together towards meeting these objectives. I would like to thank each and every one of you for the support you have shown my team and me over three successive parliaments and for the dedication you have demonstrated in delivering for Canadians.