Liberals failed to win any seats in Alberta in 2019 but are now competitive in at least four ridings, say top strategists and insiders
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not able to win any seats in the last federal election in Alberta, the bedrock of the Conservative Party’s base, but the Liberals are now competitive in at least four ridings, chiefly because of the unpopularity of provincial and federal Conservatives and due to the federal government’s effective handling of […]
Erin O’Toole and the Harper paradox
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole has caught himself up in what I like to call the “Harper paradox.” That paradox is this: the more O’Toole tries to bury the memory of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, the more Harper’s shadow seems to loom over him. Now, before I go on, there’s a couple […]
MP Pierre Poilievre builds ‘personal campaign message’ with debut campaign ad, says political marketer
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre’s professionally produced 30-second ad under the slogan “fighting for you” allowed the six-term MP to stand out as a candidate and tell an “impactful” and “authentic” story, say Conservative strategists. Dennis Matthews, president of Creative Currency and the Conservative Party’s national marketing lead in 2015, said often an election campaign is […]
Election 2021 won’t be pay TV worthy
HALIFAX—Try as some might—including pollsters, consultants, ex-politicians, and ever-infernal party “insiders,” Election 2021 will not be an item for pay TV. Which is to say, it will have as much drama as a morning in traffic court when the ticketing officer doesn’t show up. What’s coming down in perhaps days is a political mismatch. The […]
Sloan should ditch his party idea
OAKVILLE, ONT.—It seems former Conservative MP Derek Sloan wants to form his own political party—tentatively called “True North”—as a vehicle to promote his ideological values. Essentially, he wants to create a party that’s unabashedly to the right of Canada’s Conservatives. Now, I get why Sloan wants to do this, and I also get why “true […]
Homeless green voters are an election wild card
CHELSEA, QUE.—While forests burn, glaciers melt, droughts threaten, and no end of climate disruption feeds an undercurrent of concern across the country, green-motivated voters can be forgiven for feeling confused and adrift. Their obvious home, the Green Party, has been imploding. Its senior ranks have been squabbling over Israel and Palestine, while its besieged leader, […]
An election may be the best thing for Erin O’Toole
Amid steadily deteriorating poll numbers, many Conservatives are thinking about the party’s prospects as we approach an expected federal election. Not surprisingly in our leadership-obsessed times, some are blaming what they believe is a poor performance by Erin O’Toole. What this conventional wisdom misses, however, is that an election may just be the best thing […]
Will the election pit Rocky against Thanos?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—About three thousand years ago, the ancient Greeks invented what we call “drama” and ever since then our society has had an insatiable taste for the dramatic. We want our stories loaded with excitement, we want them to trigger our emotions, we want villains to boo, heroes to cheer, we want plots jam-packed with […]
Election campaign call ‘critical’ for O’Toole to break through and bridge gap with Liberals following pandemic, say politicos
With election speculation swirling and party leaders beginning to criss-cross the country, strategists and political observers say that although Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole may not have a lot of time left available to further endear himself to voters, an election call will wake Canadians up from a pandemic political slumber. This could benefit the opposition […]
Money talks: Bloc’s fundraising may be cause for concern for Grits, Tories in Quebec
Politicos are gearing up for an impending election call with party leaders, incumbent MPs, and candidates already busy hitting the pavement, and Conservatives are heading into the likely election once again with the best-stocked war chest, having raised almost $6-million more than the Liberals in 2020. “Clearly, Conservatives have the advantage on better organization techniques […]
