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 Peoplesa国际传媒檚 Party of Canada.
The Globe and Mail reported that strategist Warren Kinsella and his firm Daisy Group were hired to sa国际传媒渟eek and destroysa国际传媒� Berniersa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 offer comments on contracts that may or may not exist on vendors we may or may not have a relationship with,sa国际传媒� he said, repeatedly.
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Bernier formed the Peoplesa国际传媒檚 Party of Canada sa国际传媒� a populist, libertarian movement steeped in nationalist sentiment and aimed at draining support from the right-wing flank of the Tories sa国际传媒� after he narrowly lost the Conservative leadership race to Scheer.
sa国际传媒淭his is the kind of dirty politics that fuels Canadianssa国际传媒� cynicism about politics,sa国际传媒� 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 Canadasa国际传媒檚 election laws.
sa国际传媒淭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.sa国际传媒�
He even suggested that Kinsellasa国际传媒檚 so-called sa国际传媒渟eek-and-destroysa国际传媒� campaign might have had a hand in the satirical Rhinoceros partysa国际传媒檚 decision to field a candidate also named Maxime Bernier in the leadersa国际传媒檚 Quebec riding of Beauce in hopes of confusing voters.
Kinsella didnsa国际传媒檛 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 sa国际传媒渕any months ago.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚t was always going to be disclosed, by law. It was in no way inappropriate or wrong,sa国际传媒� Kinsella wrote. sa国际传媒淥pposing organized bigotry is always appropriate and right. We were and are fiercely proud of the work we did.sa国际传媒�
In the statement, Kinsella implied that details about the campaign were leaked by a former employee sa国际传媒� a sa国际传媒渉atersa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� who sa国际传媒渕ade anti-Semitic, intolerant remarks and stole from our companysa国际传媒� before going on to assist Berniersa国际传媒檚 party, which he insisted is undeserving of sympathy.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 help racists,sa国际传媒� he wrote.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the allegations are troubling and called on Scheer to address them directly.
sa国际传媒淐anadians should expect transparency from leaders,sa国际传媒� 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.
sa国际传媒淭hey should be able to answer those type of questions. If theresa国际传媒檚 evidence to suggest he was involved in the hiring of someone for a certain task he should be able to answer those questions.sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淚 think wesa国际传媒檝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,sa国际传媒� the Liberal leader said.
Contrary to the facts, Scheer has been insisting that Trudeau is sa国际传媒渙penly talkingsa国际传媒� about a coalition with the NDP after Mondaysa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒減rogressive government,sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒� 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 partysa国际传媒檚 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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