Date of publication: May 01, 2022 • 23 hours ago • 11 minutes of reading • 728 Comments Candidates for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership, top left: Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Patrick Brown. Bottom row from left: Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber. Photo by Files
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The race is officially held. As of Friday afternoon, at least six candidates had submitted their signatures and a lot of money to appear in the final ballot in hopes of becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
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Prepare to see a change in strategies as candidates prepare for the upcoming debates in May. They have to decide who they want on their side and who they want to attack. And how do some people intend to draw attention to a fuller race than expected? Catherine Lévesque of the National Post spoke with 10 current and former strategy analysts, some neutral, some working for candidates, to get a sense of the strategy on the ground and the challenges that lie ahead. PIERRE POILIEVRE, THE FRONT There is no doubt that Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre is sucking all the oxygen out of the room for his opponents in the leadership. Not only does he attract huge crowds to areas that do not traditionally vote Conservative, but his attacks on elites and “porters” are knocking on the door. He has no excuse for chasing his opponents with sometimes vicious attacking ads that make the Tories wonder what this party will look like if it wins the leadership race.
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“Regardless of what has been thrown out of the press or by his opponents in this fight, the crowds do not stop. And I think that’s probably the most impressive part. “I think he’s the undisputed leader here,” said Chris Chapin, a Conservative leadership veteran and chief executive of Toronto-based communications firm Upstream Strategy Group. People drive anywhere from half to a few hours away to see Poilievre talking and have the opportunity to take a picture or chat with him, according to sources. And the numbers do not lie: he managed to gather more than 1,000 people in the Liberal stronghold in Toronto, 1,200 in Windsor, 450 in Timmins. “The Conservative Party has never seen crowds like this in my history as a member of the Conservative movement,” said Jenny Byrne, a senior adviser to the Poilievre campaign.
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Poilievre has been preparing for a long time. He is notorious for knocking on the door and regularly informing the party about issues that would arise much earlier. It collects data with its reports and therefore compiles lists of supporters. And his game on social media was already strong even before Jeff Ballingall, founder of Canada Proud, joined the team. Although his policies have been criticized as overly simplistic or dangerous by opponents, his pitch is appealing to Canadians who feel left behind with the cost of everything rising and even higher interest rates now. “He has done an excellent job of exploiting this kind of populist sentiment where the country’s elites are causing problems and keeping the little man under their feet. “And that includes raising some complex but very important issues for regular Canadians on issues such as affordability, inflation, housing,” said Michael Solberg, a former Conservative executive.
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Byrne said that, with the focus on the Ontario elections in the coming weeks, the Poilievre campaign may look a little different, as it will travel to different areas where the population is smaller and the current members are as well. With many months to go before the vote, the challenge for Poilievre will be to maintain that momentum and not end up losing like the leaders in the previous two leadership races: Maxime Bernier and Peter MacKay. JEAN CHAREST, POLICY FOCUS Former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest has entered the race claiming he can “make this party win”, but the reality has proved a bit more difficult. Having been out of politics for almost a decade, he had to quickly adapt to the reality of being a politician in 2022.
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But some things do not change. A genuine connection, a good handshake: Charest has not attracted crowds, but takes the time to meet and talk to each person at his events. He has a fantastic memory of names and events for people, which can sometimes be disarming. Melanie Paradis went to her local Boston Pizza with her baby to meet Charest for the first time out of curiosity and when she approached her, she asked, “Where is my money?” She was stunned. Paradis, a close adviser to former leader Erin O’Toole but now on maternity leave, has been circulating on social media and in the press to denounce the false $ 120 donation promise made in her name. It is believed that a “troll” used an old list of Conservative members’ data to make Charest’s campaign a waste of time.
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Charest, of course, was joking about money. Paradis was still a little surprised. “He had never met me before, but he had seen me on TV and he remembered it. “It completely surprised me,” he told the National Post. Charest strives to set as much content or news creation policy as possible “To the public, Charest is leading a more ‘media-savvy’ campaign to get his message across, ‘because he does not have the infrastructure to get his message across very quickly and effectively compared to Pierre Poilievre,’” he said. Rudy Husny. a former Conservative candidate in 2020 and a former Conservative executive. In recent days, he has given exclusive interviews to mainstream media to present his policies on health, the environment and the natural resources sector.
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“Jean Charest tries to put as much content or policy as possible in creating news. “But I also think he is doing it to prepare for the discussions, so that he can really highlight the policies he has already announced.” That is the goal, Charest National Co-Chair Tasha Kheiriddin confirmed in an interview. “We wanted to enter the discussions with something to say. We do not think that discussions should be just an excuse to clash or criticize your opponent. “We have to have something to bring to the table, so we are working very hard to do that,” he said. Kheiriddin said that every time the Charest team publishes new political ideas and attracts media attention, member sales increase.
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“So our strategy has become very focused on politics, which as someone who believes in politics, I really appreciate. “And I think it’s also something that our membership would appreciate because it really lets you know what kind of leader Jean would be.” PATRICK BROWN, UNDER THE RADAR The mayor of Brampton has a reputation for being one of the strongest mobilizers in the Conservative coalition and remains true to his word, according to his group. Patrick Brown starts his morning very early and works until the early hours of the morning, depending on the various community events he is going to do across the country. His social media posts show him meeting in small groups with mostly cultural communities and religious groups and he has visited some cities two or three times already in the leadership race.
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“Right now, Mayor Brown is working incredibly hard trying to get as many young people as possible to grow our party, especially in communities and areas where we have to win the next election. He is an absolute workhorse. “He does 20, 30 events a day,” Fred DeLorey, the campaign president, told the National Post. Brown has moved away from the mainstream media, but has given more than 100 interviews to ethnic media, according to DeLorey. And the message it promotes is the fight against Quebec law on religious symbols, as well as the Conservatives’ 2015 promises to ban niqabs at citizenship ceremonies and advice on “barbaric cultural practices.” Brown also benefits greatly from having veteran Alberta MP Michel Rebel Garner by his side, as it could open many new doors for him in Western Canada.
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“What Patrick was involved in was a huge organization in Ontario and a network across the country, but not a large presence in Western Canada. “What you have with Michelle is someone who is at least equal to him in terms of organizational ability in Western Canada, if not his superior honestly,” said Melanie Paradis, a veteran of the two previous leaderships …
