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Candidates will have to decide who they want on their side and who they want to attack. And how to be noticed in a crowded race
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May 1, 2022 • 23 hours ago • 11 minutes reading • 728 comments Candidates for Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada, top left: Pierre Poalievre, Jean Charest, Patrick Brown. Bottom row left: Leslin Lewis, Scott Aichison, Roman Baber. Photo from files
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The competition officially begins. As of Friday afternoon, at least six candidates had submitted their signatures and big bucks to go to the polls in hopes of becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
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Prepare to see a change in strategy as candidates prepare for the upcoming debate in May. They will have to decide who they want on their side and who they want to attack. And how do some intend to be noticed in a busier race than expected?
Catherine Levescu of the National Post spoke with 10 current and former strategists, some neutral, others working for candidates to get a feel for the strategy on the ground and the challenges ahead.
PIERRE POLYEVR, THE FOREST
There is no doubt that Ontario MP Pierre Poalievre sucks all the oxygen out of the room for his opponents for leadership.
Not only does it attract huge crowds to areas that traditionally do not vote for conservatives, but its attacks on the elite and the “gatekeepers” are being targeted. He does not excuse himself by persecuting his opponents with sometimes vicious advertisements for attack, which make the Tories wonder what this party will look like if he wins the leadership race.
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“No matter what is thrown out of the press or his opponents in this race, the crowds do not stop. And I think that’s probably the most impressive part. “I think he’s a favorite right now,” said Chris Chapin, a Conservative veteran veteran and managing director of the Upstream Strategy Group in Toronto.
People drive from half an hour to several hours to come and see Poliever talk and get a chance to take pictures or talk to him, according to sources. And the numbers don’t lie: he managed to gather more than 1,000 people in the Liberal Fortress of Toronto, 1,200 in Windsor, 450 in Timins.
“The Conservative Party has never seen such crowds in my history of being part of the Conservative movement,” said Jenny Byrne, senior adviser to Poilievre’s campaign.
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Poilievre has been preparing for a long time. He is a well-known man who knocks on the door and regularly informs the party about problems that could arise long ago. He collects data with his petitions and therefore draws up lists of supporters. And his social media game was strong even before Jeff Balingall, founder of Canada Proud, joined the team.
Although his policies have been criticized for being too simplistic or dangerous by opponents, his position is appealing to Canadians who feel abandoned at the cost of anything that is rising, and now at higher interest rates.
“He has done an outstanding job of engaging in this kind of populist sentiment when the country’s elites are creating problems and keeping the little man under their feet. And that includes bringing to light some complex but very important issues for regular Canadians about things like affordability, inflation, housing, “said Michael Solberg, a former Conservative official.
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Byrne said that with a focus on the Ontario election in the coming weeks, Poilievre’s campaign may look a little different, as it will travel to different areas with smaller populations and current membership as well.
With many months left until the vote, the challenge for Poilievre will be to maintain that momentum and not lose like the leaders in the last two leadership races: Maxim Bernier and Peter McKay.
JEAN CAREST, FOCUSED ON POLITICS
Former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest has joined the race, claiming he could “make this party win”, but the reality is a little more challenging. After being out of politics for nearly 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. True connection, good handshake: Charest does not attract crowds, but he takes the time to meet and talk to each person at his events. He has a fantastic memory of names and facts about people that 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 he went to her, he asked, “Where’s my money?” She was stunned.
Paradis, who was previously a close adviser to former leader Erin O’Toole but is now on maternity leave, was on social media and in the press to condemn the false promise of a $ 120 donation made under her name. The troll is believed to have used an old Conservative membership record to make Charest’s campaign a waste of time.
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Charest, of course, was joking about the money. Because of that, she was still a little stunned. “He had never met me before, but he had seen me on TV and remembered him. That completely caught me off guard, “she told the National Post.
Charest tries to put in as much content or policy as possible to generate news
In the eyes of the public, Charest is running a more “media campaign” to deliver his messages, “because he doesn’t have the infrastructure to convey his message to members very quickly and very effectively compared to Pierre Poalier,” said Rudy Husney, a former candidate. for Conservative leadership in 2020 and a former Conservative employee.
Over the past few days, he has given exclusive interviews to the mass media to outline his policies for the healthcare, environment and natural resources sectors.
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“Jean Charest is trying to put in as much content or politics as possible to generate news. But I also think he is doing it to prepare for the debate so that he can really highlight the policies he has already announced, “Husney added.
That is the goal, Charest’s national co-chair Tasha Heyridin confirmed in an interview.
“We wanted to enter the debate with something to say. We do not believe that debates should be just an occasion for confrontation or criticism of your opponent. “We need to have something to bring to the table, which is why we worked very hard for it,” she said.
Kheiriddin said that every time the Charest team presented new political ideas and attracted media attention, membership sales increased.
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“So our strategy has become very focused on politics, which as a person who believes in politics, I really appreciate. And I think that’s also something our membership would appreciate, because it really lets you know what kind of leader Jean would be.
PATRICK BRAVAN, UNDER RADAR
The mayor of Brampton has a reputation as one of the strongest mobilizers in the Conservative coalition, and he remains true to his word, according to his team.
Patrick Brown starts very early in the morning and works until the wee hours, depending on the various social events he will hold across the country. His social media posts show that he meets in small groups with predominantly cultural communities and religious groups, and he has visited certain cities two or three times already in the leadership race.
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“Currently, Mayor Brown is working incredibly hard, trying to meet as many new people as possible to develop our party, especially in communities and regions where we need to win the next election. He is an absolute workhorse. He does 20, 30 events a day, “Fred Delory, chairman of his campaign, told the National Post.
Brown has withdrawn from the mainstream media, but has given more than a hundred interviews to ethnic media, according to DeLorey. And the message he insists on is fighting Quebec’s law on religious symbols, as well as conservatives’ 2015 promises to ban the niqab in citizenship ceremonies and “barbaric cultural practices.”
Brown also benefited greatly from veteran MP Albert Michel Rempel Garner next to him, as she could open many new doors for him in Western Canada.
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“What Patrick had put into it was a huge organization in Ontario and a network across the country, but not much of a presence in Western Canada. What you have with Michelle is someone who is at least equal to him in terms of organizational capacity in Western Canada, if not his boss, to be honest, “…
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