OTTAWA — Leader Pierre Poilievre has been shaping the Conservative Party of Canada as his own since he took the helm nearly a year ago. He’s brought in close friends and collaborators from the Stephen Harper years, as well as fresh talent destined to become rising stars in the party. He is known to keep a tight circle of advisers, among them Jenni Byrne, one of Ottawa’s top powerbrokers.
Politics
The new conservatives: 12 to watch on Canada’s rapidly rising right
Here is our hot take on 12 rising conservatives and why they matter to Canadians.
Anaida Poilievre: Pierre’s secret weapon
Anaida Poilievre may have made her official debut when she delivered a passionate speech to introduce her husband after he won the leadership of the Conservative party last year but she is no stranger to politics. Ana, as she prefers to be called, worked on Parliament Hill for years before she and Pierre first bumped into each other in Centre Block. Anaida is a very involved political spouse, at Pierre’s side at public events and providing feedback on strategy in private. “She understands the (political) game in a way that almost nobody does, and almost no political spouse in history has ever, because she actually worked in active politics,” one insider close to the Poilievres said. “She’s an adviser in her own right on any number of things — communications, media relations, she’s done almost all of it.”
As a former political staffer and trilingual immigrant woman, she has proven to be a political asset for her husband, softening his rough edges. Anaida is featured in an advertising campaign launched in August by the party, and Canadians can expect to see more of her as a federal election approaches.
The MPs
Shuvaloy ‘Shuv’ Majumdar: Foreign intelligence authority
The new Conservative MP for Calgary-Heritage after winning a by-election in July, Shuvaloy Majumdar is expected to play a role in the party caucus on foreign affairs given his extensive background on the file. Early on in his career, Majumdar was an operative of the International Republican Institute in Afghanistan and Iraq, a Washington organization focused on freedom and democracy formerly chaired by the late U.S. senator John McCain. Between 2011 and 2015, Majumdar served as senior policy director to former foreign affairs minister John Baird. After 2015, he joined the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to lead its foreign policy and national security program while also working for Harper & Associates.
More importantly, insiders say Majumdar embodies the type of MP the party needs more of — someone with hands-on experience who could be valuable in a future Conservative cabinet.
Arpan Khanna: Cultural connector
A former party staffer who worked at the federal and provincial levels, Arpan Khanna was tapped by Poilievre to be one of his co-chairs in Ontario in the leadership campaign and later as his national outreach chair. Elected MP in the Oxford, Ontario riding after a by-election battle in June, Khanna is expected to play an important role in connecting Poilievre with multicultural voters. “Arpan is a real political organizer, specifically with ethnic communities. He understands how to motivate voters,” said Melanie Paradis, president of Texture Communications, and Erin O’Toole’s former director of strategic communications. Khanna is also described by insiders as a hard worker and well-liked — he managed to fill a room with supporters for his swearing-in ceremony in mid-August.
Melissa Lantsman: Coalition architect
Melissa Lantsman has been active on all fronts since she became deputy leader of the party nearly a year ago. Whether she is leading the charge at the House of Commons, flying across the country to partake in conversations about the future of the Conservatives or courting cultural communities in the Toronto area, Lantsman — an openly gay and Jewish woman — has been instrumental in broadening the party’s appeal. “Outside of Ottawa, her hustle and drive are leading the formation of a new voter coalition for the Conservative party that is responsive to the economic hardship Canadians are facing today,” said Jamie Ellerton, founding partner at Conaptus PR and longtime Conservative strategist.
She has an active role on the party’s leadership team. “She is a constant voice at the table to keep the party focused on solutions that will help the greatest number of Canadians so the party is both culturally relevant and speaks with voters in a way that has not been done effectively since 2011,” said Ellerton.
Adam Chambers: Fiscal firepower
He has been flying under the radar for some time but sources say Adam Chambers has been busy in the background working on the Conservative campaign platform for the next election. First elected in 2021 as MP for Simcoe North, Ontario, Chambers brings previous experience in government as well as the private sector. He worked as an executive assistant for then finance minister Jim Flaherty during the 2008 global recession, continued his studies, then returned to Ottawa as Flaherty’s director of policy for his last budget in 2014. Chambers then went on to join Canada Life, one of the country’s largest life insurance companies, as director of strategy, then assistant vice president, before returning to politics. Now a member of the House of Commons finance committee, Chambers has proven to be a relentless opponent against Liberal fiscal policies and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The Thinkers
Jamil Jivani: The provocateur
Already known among National Post readers, Jamil Jivani is taking on a new challenge in attempting to succeed Erin O’Toole as the next MP for Durham, Ontario. He won the nomination in late August and is awaiting the by-election, which hasn’t been called. Jivani is seen as someone who could shake up the party and spark debate on issues it has steered away from, such as immigration and identity. “There’s a new faction brewing in the conservative movement that he is representative of, that is a little bit more nationalist and less focused on lower taxes, free market and lower regulation,” said one insider close to the party.
Jivani has a compelling life story that he’s widely shared. Raised by a single mom in the suburbs of Toronto, he was labelled illiterate by the public school system at age 16. With the help of mentors, he went on to graduate from Yale Law School. Last year, he launched a lawsuit against Bell Media, claiming he was unjustly fired as a radio host for not fitting the stereotype of a Black man (Bell Media denies this claim). More recently, he was president of the Canada Strong and Free Network, a think tank formerly known as the Manning Centre that was founded in 2005 by Preston Manning to promote conservative principles.
His columns in the Post were critical of Liberal “woke” politics. “He’s unafraid to weigh in on the more controversial issues, and if you’re going to do that you need to be able to do it in an eloquent fashion and, frankly, from a position of compassion and understanding,” said Michael Solberg, partner at New West Public Affairs, and a former political strategist at the federal and provincial levels in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
Sean Speer: The trendspotter
As The Hub’s editor at large (and a former National Post columnist), Sean Speer has played a significant role in creating a place for smart discussions on the conservative movement outside the party. Speer is usually one of the first to identify emerging trends and strategies. He zeroed in on the generational gap between Pierre Poilievre (millennials) and Jean Charest (Boomers) in last year’s leadership race. A year and a half later, younger voters, especially young males, are flocking to Poilievre’s Conservative party, according to opinion polls.
Insiders said that Speer, a former senior adviser to Stephen Harper, is more likely to continue to influence the conservative movement from the sidelines through his analysis, podcasts and interviews for The Hub. “I think Sean is one of the better analysts from the outside who is sympathetic and gets it, but is not so biased that it’s easily written off,” said Ginny Roth, partner at Crestview Strategy, former organizer for the PC Party of Ontario, and long-time conservative strategist. “He has his own venture and he’s committed to that, so he’s unlikely to suddenly drop it and go onto a campaign or into government.”
Speer is also well-connected to U.S. conservative commentators such as David Frum, whom he speaks to for his bi-weekly video series on The Hub. And he recently spoke with Mathieu Bock-Côté, one of Quebec’s most influential and controversial columnists, about the province’s nationalism. For staying on top of emerging conservative trends and debates, Canadians can keep an eye on Speer.
Ben Woodfinden: Policy brewmaster
A doctoral student and political theorist at Montreal’s McGill University, Ben Woodfinden has taken a leave from his studies to take on the job of director of communications for Poilievre. He is seen as someone with a big brain who thinks about big ideas, but can then translate them into key messages and slogans. “I think he perfectly aligns with Pierre in terms of the way that Pierre thinks about things, and the very deep thought that they both put into what seems like very simple communications, and the way Pierre relates to the everyday person,” said one insider close to the party.
Poilievre had just launched his leadership campaign and Woodfinden was already predicting that his messaging on elite “gatekeepers” would be a winning strategy. Later, Woodfinden was mulling the state of Canadian conservatism in a post-Harper era and rejected the overused labels of “Red Tories” and “Blue Tories.” He is on board with the “Canada is broken” message and the Liberals being “out of touch.”
The Strategists
Steve Outhouse: Campaign closer
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith can thank a pastor from the Ottawa area for helping her win a majority government in May. Steve Outhouse, a former Baptist preacher and seasoned political operative, is not a front man but is known across the Canadian conservative spectrum for uniting people behind the cause. He ran both of Leslyn Lewis’ campaigns for Conservative party leadership before he was tapped by the United Conservative Party (UCP) to become their campaign manager in the provincial election last May.
“As an outsider, he came into Alberta in a party that required repair, required stabilization, where there were a lot of big personalities involved, and a situation where the stakes were very high,” said Solberg at New West Public Affairs. Outhouse, he said, managed to get people to focus on the ground game, knocking on doors, identifying their support and, most importantly, getting out the vote. “I think he had an uncanny ability to rise above the noise and avoid the distraction, and just make sure that he was doing what matters at the end of the day, which is getting people out to the polls,” said Solberg. That ultimately made the difference in a very close race in Alberta.
Anthony Koch: The outside voice
The former spokesman for Poilievre during the leadership race, Anthony Koch sometimes gets into trouble for speaking his mind on X (formerly Twitter). Political insiders wouldn’t have it any other way: “Anthony is Anthony, right? I think he brings a lot of hot takes that we need a little more of.” One of those infamous “hot takes” is when Koch tweeted that “the average MP is a moron with the political instincts of a goat,” in commenting on greater MP independence around the time three Conservative MPs met with populist German politician Christine Anderson, known for her anti-Islam views. Koch’s tweet was subsequently deleted, and Poilievre condemned Anderson’s views as “vile,” while insisting his MPs were unaware of her politics.
After the leadership run Koch decided to stay with the conservative movement, but not the party, as a public affairs consultant and political analyst in Montreal. But expect him to play a key role in an upcoming federal campaign. Koch remains a trusted voice in Poilievre’s inner circle, and continues to shape the media narrative. He is a reliable source for journalists and commentators to find out what Poilievre is really thinking and is considered one of the few conservatives who really understands the complicated political dynamics between Quebec and the rest of Canada — and can explain that coherently in English and in French. Canadians can now catch his hot takes on CBC’s Power and Politics.
Carl Vallée: Quebec whisperer
There was a certain buzz in Quebec a few months back when Poilievre met with Quebec Premier Francois Legault for the first time. Carl Vallée, managing director at strategy advisers Teneo, was the link in arranging that meeting, according to sources. “Whenever a leader of the opposition wants to meet the premier there are official channels, but in terms of the massaging and telling Mr. Legault this might be a good idea, Carl was instrumental,” said a political insider with knowledge of the situation.
There are few people who Poilievre turns to for advice on Quebec issues and one of the most influential is Vallée. Both men know each other from their days in Stephen Harper’s government. When Vallée was Harper’s spokesperson, Poilievre was serving as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister. After leaving politics, Vallée went on to a career in public relations in Montreal and briefly joined Legault’s transition team as a senior adviser after his victory in 2018. A proud Quebec nationalist, he’s seen as both a CAQ supporter and Conservative party loyalist with Harperite credentials.
“Carl is very unique in that both camps claim him completely,” said the insider. With the polls saying the Conservative party is gaining ground in Quebec, expect Poilievre to have Vallée’s number on speed dial as he courts the nationalist vote.
Paul Taillon: Digital mastermind
Part the curtains behind Poilievre’s attention-grabbing ads and social media content and you will find Paul Taillon, chief strategy officer at Mash Strategy. Used to keeping a low profile, Taillon is “the glue behind 90 per cent of the (party’s) digital content,” according to one insider. “He’s thoughtful. He’s very calm under pressure. And one of the things that I think is his strongest suit is that he’s very intuitively aware of where the public is and what the public is thinking,” said a former close collaborator.
Taillon has over a decade of experience in digital communications, having worked for Saskatchewan premiers Brad Wall and Scott Moe, and more recently as former Alberta premier Jason Kenney’s director of digital strategy. Insiders say Taillon, and to a lesser extent his boss Derek Robinson, CEO of Mash Strategy, are a great match for Poilievre, who is known for coming up with his own ideas, but needs talented people to execute them. “Just the fact that Paul did it for the leadership and learned it, it’s like, ‘OK, now you can’t leave,’” said the source close to Taillon.
A few more conservatives worth watching
Michael Wilson: Ontario organizer
A partner at Bay Street law firm Goodmans, veteran political organizer and close ally of Jenni Byrne, Michael Wilson is already influential as the lawyer for the Conservative Party of Canada. But expect party stewards to tap his vast political talents and connections to get Ontario to vote Conservative in the next federal campaign.
Raquel Dancho: Security watchdog
Canadians may already know Raquel Dancho, the Conservative MP for Kildonan–St. Paul, Manitoba, as someone who regularly butted heads with former public safety minister Marco Mendicino and other Liberals in the House of Commons. An effective performer in caucus, Dancho successfully zeroed in on public safety as one of the Liberals’ weaknesses. Now people can watch her stake her ground against Dominic LeBlanc, the new minister of public safety.
Brooke Pigott: Data detective
A former director of public opinion research for Stephen Harper, Brooke Pigott is now the lead researcher for pollster Yorkville Strategies in Vancouver. Pigott will no doubt be working overtime in the backrooms come the next election, as she is often tapped by good friend Byrne to unpack the trends behind the numbers.
OTTAWA – The federal agency that investigates election infractions found insufficient evidence to support suggestions Beijing wielded undue influence against the Conservatives in the Vancouver area during the 2021 general election.
The Commissioner of Canada Elections’ recently completed review of the lingering issue was tabled Tuesday at a federal inquiry into foreign interference.
The review focused on the unsuccessful campaign of Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu in the riding of Steveston-Richmond East and the party’s larger efforts in the Vancouver area.
It says the evidence uncovered did not trigger the threshold to initiate a formal investigation under the Canada Elections Act.
Investigators therefore recommended that the review be concluded.
A summary of the review results was shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. The review says both agencies indicated the election commissioner’s findings were consistent with their own understanding of the situation.
During the exercise, the commissioner’s investigators met with Chinese Canadian residents of Chiu’s riding and surrounding ones.
They were told of an extensive network of Chinese Canadian associations, businesses and media organizations that offers the diaspora a lifestyle that mirrors that of China in many ways.
“Further, this diaspora has continuing and extensive commercial, social and familial relations with China,” the review says.
Some interviewees reported that this “has created aspects of a parallel society involving many Chinese Canadians in the Lower Mainland area, which includes concerted support, direction and control by individuals from or involved with China’s Vancouver consulate and the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in China.”
Investigators were also made aware of members of three Chinese Canadian associations, as well as others, who were alleged to have used their positions to influence the choice of Chinese Canadian voters during the 2021 election in a direction favourable to the interests of Beijing, the review says.
These efforts were sparked by elements of the Conservative party’s election platform and by actions and statements by Chiu “that were leveraged to bolster claims that both the platform and Chiu were anti-China and were encouraging anti-Chinese discrimination and racism.”
These messages were amplified through repetition in social media, chat groups and posts, as well as in Chinese in online, print and radio media throughout the Vancouver area.
Upon examination, the messages “were found to not be in contravention” of the Canada Elections Act, says the review, citing the Supreme Court of Canada’s position that the concept of uninhibited speech permeates all truly democratic societies and institutions.
The review says the effectiveness of the anti-Conservative, anti-Chiu campaigns was enhanced by circumstances “unique to the Chinese diaspora and the assertive nature of Chinese government interests.”
It notes the election was prefaced by statements from China’s ambassador to Canada and the Vancouver consul general as well as articles published or broadcast in Beijing-controlled Chinese Canadian media entities.
“According to Chinese Canadian interview subjects, this invoked a widespread fear amongst electors, described as a fear of retributive measures from Chinese authorities should a (Conservative) government be elected.”
This included the possibility that Chinese authorities could interfere with travel to and from China, as well as measures being taken against family members or business interests in China, the review says.
“Several Chinese Canadian interview subjects were of the view that Chinese authorities could exercise such retributive measures, and that this fear was most acute with Chinese Canadian electors from mainland China. One said ‘everybody understands’ the need to only say nice things about China.”
However, no interview subject was willing to name electors who were directly affected by the anti-Tory campaign, nor community leaders who claimed to speak on a voter’s behalf.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
In other testimony Tuesday, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told the inquiry that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told the inquiry Tuesday that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
WINNIPEG – The federal New Democrats have kept a longtime stronghold in the Elmwood-Transcona riding in Winnipeg.
The NDP’s Leila Dance won a close battle over Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds, and says the community has spoken in favour of priorities such as health care and the cost of living.
Elmwood-Transcona has elected a New Democrat in every election except one since the riding was formed in 1988.
The seat became open after three-term member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie resigned in March to take a job with the Manitoba government.
A political analyst the NDP is likely relieved to have kept the seat in what has been one of their strongest urban areas.
Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh worked hard to keep the seat in a tight race.
“He made a number of visits to Winnipeg, so if they had lost this riding it would have been disastrous for the NDP,” Adams said.
The strong Conservative showing should put wind in that party’s sails, Adams added, as their percentage of the popular vote in Elmwood-Transcona jumped sharply from the 2021 election.
“Even though the Conservatives lost this (byelection), they should walk away from it feeling pretty good.”
Dance told reporters Monday night she wants to focus on issues such as the cost of living while working in Ottawa.
“We used to be able to buy a cart of groceries for a hundred dollars and now it’s two small bags. That is something that will affect everyone in this riding,” Dance said.
Liberal candidate Ian MacIntyre placed a distant third,
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say the Liberals have “all sorts of reflections” to make after losing a second stronghold in a byelection in Montreal Monday night.
His comments come as the Liberal cabinet gathers for its first regularly scheduled meeting of the fall sitting of Parliament, which began Monday.
Trudeau’s Liberals were hopeful they could retain the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, but those hopes were dashed after the Bloc Québécois won it in an extremely tight three-way race with the NDP.
Louis-Philippe Sauvé, an administrator at the Institute for Research in Contemporary Economics, beat Liberal candidate Laura Palestini by less than 250 votes. The NDP finished about 600 votes back of the winner.
It is the second time in three months that Trudeau’s party lost a stronghold in a byelection. In June, the Conservatives defeated the Liberals narrowly in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election, and losing a seat in both places has laid bare just how low the party has fallen in the polls.
“Obviously, it would have been nicer to be able to win and hold (the Montreal riding), but there’s more work to do and we’re going to stay focused on doing it,” Trudeau told reporters ahead of this morning’s cabinet meeting.
When asked what went wrong for his party, Trudeau responded “I think there’s all sorts of reflections to take on that.”
In French, he would not say if this result puts his leadership in question, instead saying his team has lots of work to do.
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet will hold a press conference this morning, but has already said the results are significant for his party.
“The victory is historic and all of Quebec will speak with a stronger voice in Ottawa,” Blanchet wrote on X, shortly after the winner was declared.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party had hoped to ride to a win in Montreal on the popularity of their candidate, city councillor Craig Sauvé, and use it to further their goal of replacing the Liberals as the chief alternative to the Conservatives.
The NDP did hold on to a seat in Winnipeg in a tight race with the Conservatives, but the results in Elmwood-Transcona Monday were far tighter than in the last several elections. NDP candidate Leila Dance defeated Conservative Colin Reynolds by about 1,200 votes.
Singh called it a “big victory.”
“Our movement is growing — and we’re going to keep working for Canadians and building that movement to stop Conservative cuts before they start,” he said on social media.
“Big corporations have had their governments. It’s the people’s time.”
New Democrats recently pulled out of their political pact with the government in a bid to distance themselves from the Liberals, making the prospects of a snap election far more likely.
Trudeau attempted to calm his caucus at their fall retreat in Nanaimo, B.C, last week, and brought former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney on as an economic adviser in a bid to shore up some credibility with voters.
The latest byelection loss will put more pressure on him as leader, with many polls suggesting voter anger is more directed at Trudeau himself than at Liberal policies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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