David McLaughlin has worked with PC governments in New Brunswick and Ottawa for over 13 years as a senior aide. In 1993 he was appointed as chief of staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. He went on to serve Kim Campbell as a senior political and policy adviser during the 1993 election campaign. In 2006 he was named chief of staff to federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty in the new Conservative Party of Canada government.