Politics This Morning: Conservative leadership candidates gear up for first debate
Good Thursday morning, Conservative leadership candidates will participate in the first debate of the campaign at 5:30 p.m. today at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, as part of the Canada Strong and Free networking conference. SCOTT AITCHISON, ROMAN BABER, JEAN CHAREST, LESLYN LEWIS and PIERRE POILIEVRE are scheduled to participate, but it looks as though […]
Poilievre, Charest neck-and-neck in early fundraising numbers
Early fundraising numbers show Conservative leadership front-runners Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest are pulling ahead in the six-member field, but drawing from different audiences that strategists say feed into emerging themes that one has populist pull, and the other is an establishment candidate. Seven-term MP Poilievre (Carleton, Ont.), who announced his candidacy on Feb. 5, […]
Family is the guidepost for Charest campaign co-chair Tasha Kheiriddin
The current federal Conservative leadership campaign may well be remembered as a study of contrasts, not only between the candidates—Pierre Poilievre, who’s drawing crowds of those disaffected with the Liberal government, and Jean Charest, who appeals to moderate Conservatives in favour of their party taking more of a big-tent approach—but also the two formidable women […]
Beneath all the vague talk, the causes of populist chaos are clear enough
OTTAWA—The idea of motorcyclists rolling into town and sort of taking over is a unique North American postwar cultural phenomenon. The whole outlaw biker concept, which took shape after a raucous “invasion” by an unexpectedly large crowd of bikers during the July 4 weekend in Hollister, Calif., in 1947, was immortalized by Marlon Brando’s comment […]
Make-or-break May for Conservative contenders
OTTAWA—The Conservative leadership race has gotten real. Wannabe candidates have now fallen out of the competition and six “verified” candidates remain. Just to be clear, they have not been verified as clinically insane for putting their hand up to lead the Conservative Party of Canada, or any political organization for that matter. Rather, they have […]
Trudeau versus Blue Liberals?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—There’s lots of discussion these days about whether the federal Conservatives are moving too far to the right. And yes, I certainly get why that’s happening. But maybe we should also spend some time discussing whether the federal Liberals are moving too far to the left. It’s a point worth considering because, under the […]
‘She is literally birthing the party’s future as Pierre Poilievre’s most essential adviser’: Poilievre’s campaign buoyed by top political player, Jenni Byrne
Political campaign organizers normally don’t attract much attention when they make public appearances on behalf of their candidates. But Jenni Byrne is a unique political operative with a storied career in Conservative circles, and as a key adviser to Tory leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre, she isn’t holding back. In an April 12 episode of CTV […]
Charest strategist Kheiriddin says Conservatives should ‘build a big tent,’ avoid appealing to ‘anger or fear’
Candidates running for the leadership of the Conservative Party who are hoping to “build a big tent” need to do that now, and not appeal to “anger or fear” during the race, according to Conservative commentator and strategist Tasha Kheiriddin. As the party plots its future and moves towards picking a new leader on Sept. […]
It’s still the Harper Party, a fact Poilievre is banking on
HALIFAX—Despite fawning praise from the usual suspects, the only thing Pierre Poilievre has going for him is the political death wish of the hard Right. And that may very well be why he becomes the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Winning the political mud-wrestling contest of the party leadership is a universe […]
Trumpification of Canada playing out in Conservative leadership race
OTTAWA—The Trumpification of Canada is playing out before our eyes in the current Conservative leadership campaign. Make America Great Again is being replaced by the Pierre Poilievre slogan to make Canada free again. Ex-Tory minister Peter Kent, tweeted last week that there was still plenty of time in the race for “moderate conservatives to resist […]
