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“Money was never the issue,” one source told The Vancouver Sun via email, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He supported the view of the second source, who told The Sun that Conservatives determined during two sets of talks that Mulcair was “so far out there” on issues like climate change that Harper couldn’t have trusted him to be a team player.

Mulcair, according to NDP and Conservative sources, was interested in becoming president of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, a since-disbanded arm’s-length organization that produced critical reports on the government’s environmental record.

But the Conservatives planned at the time to name longtime Conservative insider David McLaughlin to that post.

Instead, the Conservatives wanted Mulcair to serve as a senior adviser to the government, who would not have permission to go public with his strong views on the environment.

One of the two Tory insiders said John Baird, then the environment minister and assigned by Harper to boost the party’s image on the environment, was looking for outside public figures who would give the government credibility on matters like climate change.

“Where (discussions) began to fade was when it was clear that he wasn’t” going to keep his criticisms private, the insider told The Sun. “You can’t work for the government and be holding press conferences or holding interviews against the government, and it was clear he was so far out there on the issues.”