Ian Brodie has been Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff since February 2006. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) There are suggestions of an impending shuffle at the highest levels of the Prime Minister's Office.

The CBC's Keith Boag reported Wednesday night he is hearing that Ian Brodie, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, is about to step down.

There are indications from Conservative insiders that Brodie will be replaced by Guy Giorno, a key aide to former Ontario premier Mike Harris. Brodie had been named as being responsible for the original leak in March in the so-called Naftagate issue involving U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Brodie allegedly told reporters that Obama advisers had privately assured Canadian diplomats that Obama's tough talk on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement was essentially rhetoric.

The story caused an uproar in the United States and came in the final days of the Democratic primary in Ohio, which Obama ended up narrowly losing to Hillary Clinton.

Brodie has served as Harper's chief of staff since he became prime minister more than two years ago.

The bearded academic is widely credited with being the disciplinarian who brought order and rigour to an office that was seen as chaotic in the early days.

As Harper's gatekeeper, he had the absolute confidence of his boss and used it to corral an inexperienced minority cabinet.

With files from the Canadian Press