OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff's office has a new look, with a bevy of veterans replacing the Liberal leader's inexperienced inner circle.

Announcing the new senior staff lineup was the first task for Peter Donolo, who officially began as Ignatieff's new chief of staff Tuesday.

Donolo is himself a veteran, having served as communications director to former prime minister Jean Chretien. And he's chosen to surround himself with other experienced players.

"This is a very seasoned group of proven individuals with a wide breadth of experience in politics and the wider public sphere," Donolo said in a message to Liberal colleagues.

The new recruits include:

-- Mario Lague, one-time communications director to former prime minister Paul Martin, former diplomat and former senior bureaucrat. Lague will take over as Ignatieff's communications director.

-- Pat Sorbara, a longtime organizer and former senior adviser in David Peterson's Liberal government in Ontario. Sorbara was named Ignatieff's chief operating officer.

-- Brian Bohunicky, a former top ministerial aide during the Chretien years. He takes over the Liberal caucus research bureau and will be a senior policy adviser to the leader.

-- Heather Chiasson, another Chretien-era organizer and longtime party worker. She will be Ignatieff's liaison with the party.

Donolo has also shuffled some of the aides who remained in the office after the exodus of the last couple of weeks.

Jean Marc Fournier, a former Quebec cabinet minister who had been advising Ignatieff on the province, becomes principal secretary. Jim Pimblett, formerly legislative assistant, becomes Ignatieff's executive assistant.

Ignatieff fired longtime supporter Ian Davey as his chief of staff several weeks ago, amid plunging poll numbers, repeated miscues and flip-flops.

Davey's departure was followed by an exodus of other top aides, most of whom had been with Ignatieff since he returned to Canada from Harvard University three years ago.

Many Liberals have blamed Ignatieff's inexperienced inner circle for the party's nose diving fortunes.