Bot campaign furor a ‘wake-up call’ greater insight, regulation needed, says expert

‘This is a phenomenon that is happening across all social media platforms, but we don’t have really good insight into how widespread it is,’ says Concordia’s Fenwick McKelvey.
Conservatives’ TV ad tells us a lot

Conservatives will employ negative ads to get their message across even though the polls indicate they are well ahead in the race. This is a little surprising since the ‘book’ says if your party is way out front, you should probably stick to positive messaging.
‘It could be a great night for the NDP’: potential byelection wins could trigger end of Lib-NDP agreement, say political players

‘If you thought Toronto-St. Paul’s was a world of pain for Justin Trudeau, not doing well in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun would be another devastating blow,’ says pollster Nik Nanos.
NDP sets sights on Montreal-area Liberal stronghold LaSalle-Émard-Verdun

Craig Sauvé was an NDP regional director in the 2011 election which saw the left-of-centre party win 59 of 75 seats in Quebec, including this Montreal-area riding.
MPs facing notable riding shifts next election are doing ‘double duty’ this summer

Many MPs whose ridings are adding new territory ‘are taking full advantage of this summer to get to know some of these communities a little better,’ says Conservative MP John Williamson.
‘It’s all out war now’: Liberal MPs, senior Grits predict a ‘volatile’ summer with ‘lots of political games’ and ‘machinations’ at the ‘rockiest’ time of Trudeau’s leadership

Damaging PMO leaks about Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is ‘not a great style of leadership,’ says Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research.
Upcoming Montreal byelection will be ‘a pretty important stay-or-go indicator’ for PM Trudeau, say political insiders and MPs

The Liberals are highly likely to win the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun race, but things could get complicated in the three-way contest between the Liberals, Bloc, and NDP, says former Liberal staffer Jeremy Ghio.
Once a coveted safe Liberal seat, Toronto-St. Paul’s now a ‘swing riding’ and leaning Conservative, says pollster Lyle

A veteran GTA Liberal says that their party will win the Toronto-St. Paul’s byelection, but with a single-digit margin.
Trudeau internally announces provincial campaign co-chairs for next election, Liberal sources say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the newly appointed national campaign committee ‘unequivocally’ last week that he will lead the party in the next election, according to Liberal sources.
Parties should ‘govern themselves’ but must better regulate nominations and voter data, says former candidate Maddeaux

Digital privacy expert Colin Bennett says complaints of improper use of Conservative voter lists in the York region riding contest offer a ‘real-life example’ of the problems with parties self-regulating their nomination races.