With election day less than 48 hours away, Andrew Scheer suddenly found himself in the hot seat Saturday as reports linked the Conservative party to a co-ordinated effort to smear former caucus colleague Maxime Bernier and his nascent populist PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Party of Canada.
The Globe and Mail reported that strategist Warren Kinsella and his firm Daisy Group were hired to B次元官网网址渟eek and destroyB次元官网网址� BernierB次元官网网址檚 party and portray its supporters as racist. A source with direct knowledge of the project said the client was the Conservatives, the Globe reported.
The Conservative leader, whom polls suggest is locked in a neck-and-neck duel with Liberal rival Justin Trudeau, refused to confirm, deny or even acknowledge the report during a news conference in Toronto that featured few questions about anything else.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 offer comments on contracts that may or may not exist on vendors we may or may not have a relationship with,B次元官网网址� he said, repeatedly.
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Bernier formed the PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Party of Canada B次元官网网址� a populist, libertarian movement steeped in nationalist sentiment and aimed at draining support from the right-wing flank of the Tories B次元官网网址� after he narrowly lost the Conservative leadership race to Scheer.
B次元官网网址淭his is the kind of dirty politics that fuels CanadiansB次元官网网址� cynicism about politics,B次元官网网址� Bernier told a news conference of his own, adding that he had filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Canada Elections, the office that enforces CanadaB次元官网网址檚 election laws.
B次元官网网址淭his secret campaign is an attack on the integrity of our democratic process. We had suspected for a long time that many of the supposed scandals of the last month had been fabricated by opponents.B次元官网网址�
He even suggested that KinsellaB次元官网网址檚 so-called B次元官网网址渟eek-and-destroyB次元官网网址� campaign might have had a hand in the satirical Rhinoceros partyB次元官网网址檚 decision to field a candidate also named Maxime Bernier in the leaderB次元官网网址檚 Quebec riding of Beauce in hopes of confusing voters.
Kinsella didnB次元官网网址檛 confirm or deny the project to the Globe, but said generally his firm has worked on anti-racism campaigns. Later in the day, after his social media accounts vanished from the internet, he posted a statement on his website defending his work, which he said ended B次元官网网址渕any months ago.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚t was always going to be disclosed, by law. It was in no way inappropriate or wrong,B次元官网网址� Kinsella wrote. B次元官网网址淥pposing organized bigotry is always appropriate and right. We were and are fiercely proud of the work we did.B次元官网网址�
In the statement, Kinsella implied that details about the campaign were leaked by a former employee B次元官网网址� a B次元官网网址渉aterB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� who B次元官网网址渕ade anti-Semitic, intolerant remarks and stole from our companyB次元官网网址� before going on to assist BernierB次元官网网址檚 party, which he insisted is undeserving of sympathy.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 help racists,B次元官网网址� he wrote.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the allegations are troubling and called on Scheer to address them directly.
B次元官网网址淐anadians should expect transparency from leaders,B次元官网网址� Singh said during a campaign stop in B.C., where the New Democrat frontman is seeking to capitalize on momentum few observers would have anticipated at the start of the campaign.
B次元官网网址淭hey should be able to answer those type of questions. If thereB次元官网网址檚 evidence to suggest he was involved in the hiring of someone for a certain task he should be able to answer those questions.B次元官网网址�
Justin Trudeau, for his part, used the report to buttress his now-familiar charge that the Conservatives are using dirty tricks and misinformation to propel their election effort.
B次元官网网址淚 think weB次元官网网址檝e seen throughout this campaign that the Conservatives have had to use the politics of fear and division and indeed just make stuff up in order to try and get their message across,B次元官网网址� the Liberal leader said.
Contrary to the facts, Scheer has been insisting that Trudeau is B次元官网网址渙penly talkingB次元官网网址� about a coalition with the NDP after MondayB次元官网网址檚 vote, one that would raise the GST, personal income taxes and cancel social transfer payments to the provinces in order to finance their big-ticket promises.
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Trudeau has urged the need for a B次元官网网址減rogressive government,B次元官网网址� but repeatedly refused to answer a variety of questions Saturday about minority scenarios, sticking instead to a message that Canadians have an important choice to make on Monday and stressing issues of affordability, gun control and fighting climate change.
Trudeau was in the midst of a marathon day of campaigning B次元官网网址� he started early near Niagara Falls, Ont., with plans to end with a late-night rally in Calgary after a stop in Winnipeg along the way.
Meanwhile, in Ottawa Centre, the Liberals brought in heavy hitter Jean Chretien, with the former prime minister helping to rally the troops at an event for Catherine McKenna.
Singh was in Vancouver, where a real-life example of his momentum in the polls presented itself, as a line of people wrapped around a downtown city block to get into a rally with at least 400 people were already in attendance.
Earlier in the day, Singh touted his plan to build 500,000 affordable housing units and fight speculation and money laundering that drive up housing prices.
The Green partyB次元官网网址檚 Elizabeth May was spending her day in and around Vancouver, boosting local candidates with sign-waves and door-to-door canvasses, but she finishes with a big regional rally at Canada Place featuring environmentalist David Suzuki.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
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