Pierre Poalievre may be known for his understanding of social media, but his campaign has received some help from a conservative meme machine.
Jeff Balingol’s company, Mobilize Media, has been detained by the Poilievre Conservatives’ leadership campaign, sources familiar with CBC News said.
CBC News does not reveal the identity of the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly about it. Poilievre’s campaign declined to comment.
Ballingall specializes in shared, anti-liberal messages that often take on a mocking or outraged tone. His Canada Proud and Ontario Proud accounts have gained hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook and tens of thousands more on Twitter and Instagram.
Mobilize Media declares itself to offer digital strategies, encourage online communities to support the campaign, and help customers gather “data clusters” to lead the campaign “and measure its impact.”
By itself, Poilievre has already created content on social media that has been shared hundreds of thousands of times. But expanding his messages online from Ballingall’s assets undoubtedly helps the candidate.
A recent publication in Canada Proud, for example, includes a news article on Poilievre’s energy policy, along with the commentary “Money for Canadians, not dirty dictatorships. Do you agree with Pierre Poalier?
Another compared photos of a rally of Pierre Poaliever to hundreds in attendance with a photo of rival candidate Jean-Charest holding a meeting in what is said to be the same room with less than two dozen visible supporters. The caption read, “Hurray and a half.” It has been shared over 800 times.
Then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole spoke to supporters of a rally in Richmond Hill, Ont, on August 17, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press)
In the last leadership campaign, eventual winner Erin O’Toole also worked with Ballingall. At the time, Ballingle told The National Post that Proud’s pages would remain neutral – although both regularly included content that flattered O’Toole.
Balingol was a shareholder in the conservative news site The Post Millennial, but has since sold his shares, according to a media official.
Contradictory messages
Ballingall’s donation-funded pages provoke verbal blows that can raise eyebrows coming directly from a politician.
An example is a publication that says that while inflation makes Canadian money “less expensive”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “useless”.
While Ballingall’s services can boost the campaign, Proud’s pages have come under considerable criticism.
Jeff Balingol says his communications company’s “bread and butter” are women aged 55 and over. (CBC)
On the eve of the provincial elections in Ontario in 2018, CBC News reported that comments insulting the appearance and sexual orientation of then-Prime Minister Kathleen Winn were visible on the Ontario Proud Facebook page. Some of the comments use obscene words, and one reader said he wondered why no one had shot Win.
“We will not comment on a website that supports obscene, hateful or offensive comments,” Win’s office said at the time.
Critics such as Press Progress, a 2013 Broadbent Institute news outlet, condemned some of Canada Proud’s publications as racist – including a March 2021 publication that suggested the Trudeau government put skin color ahead of age and medical history when deciding who should be vaccinated.
In fact, the National Immunization Advisory Committee said that racist communities are disproportionately affected by COVID and are among the risk groups that should be prioritized.
Ballingall’s pages also regularly criticize the CBC, which Poilievre said he would pay if he became prime minister.
Although Balingol’s techniques have been reviewed and criticized, his ability to reach out to conservative sympathizers clearly remains appealing to campaigns.
In a 2019 interview with Toronto Life magazine, Ballingall was asked to identify Ontario Proud’s biggest fans.
“Our bread and butter are women aged 55 and over. They are the most active on Facebook and the members of this demographic group also vote the most, so it is important to reach these people, “he told the publication.
“I tell my team, ‘How would you explain this political issue to your aunt?’ Simplify it, explain why it matters, don’t patronize. “
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