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The Ontario Tories are snapping up some of their federal counterparts’ top staff with the appointment of three advisors who served major cabinet ministers in Stephen Harper’s former government.

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PC leader Patrick Brown has appointed Nick Pappalardo as his permanent chief of staff after months of speculation and a lengthy process to determine who would land in the role. Pappalardo served in the same post for then-transportation minister Lisa Raitt from May 2014 until the election call.

Paul Hong will also join Brown’s office as deputy chief of staff responsible for tour and stakeholder relations after a stint as director of policy to Jason Kenney when he was minister of defence. Prior to that, Hong was an “advisor to three ministers of foreign affairs. He is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School, and the Royal Military College of Canada,” according to a short biography on a Huffington Post article he wrote about Canada’s foreign policy in China. Hong is also known for strong outreach efforts, which synchronizes well with how Brown has sought to emulate Kenney’s success ahead of the 2011 election with wooing voters in Ontario suburbs.