Documentary evidence shows that the Conservative Party paid Warren Kinsella to "Seeek and Destroy Bernier's PPC Party". When Scheer was asked eight consecutive times whether this was true he replied “As a rule, we never make comments on vendors that we may or may not have engaged with.” I have zero use for Bernier, his party, or their policies and beliefs, but this also raises questions about Scheer's ethics, whether he is who he says he is, and whether the Cons violated election law. The Cons goal was to make themselves look more enlightened on racial issues. In attacking the PPC that meant they only had to be a millimetre above the racist dirt of the PPC.
Warren Kinsella's Daisy Group consulting firm was behind a social media campaign to put the People's Party of Canada (PPC) on the defensive and keep leader Maxime Bernier out of the federal leaders' debates, according to documents provided to CBC News.
The documents outline the work done by several employees of Daisy on behalf of an unnamed client. A source with knowledge of the project told CBC News that client was the Conservative Party of Canada. ...
According to a source with knowledge of the project, who spoke to CBC News on condition they not be named, the objective of the plan, dubbed "Project Cactus," was to make the Conservative Party look more attractive to voters by highlighting PPC candidates' and supporters' xenophobic statements on social media. The source added that Daisy employed four full-time staffers on Project Cactus at one time.
Kinsella is a lawyer, anti-racism activist and former Liberal strategist who has been a vocal critic of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.
Repeatedly asked to confirm or explain his party's involvement during a campaign event in Toronto on Saturday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to answer. "As a rule, we never make comments on vendors that we may or may not have engaged with," he said repeatedly. ...
Trudeau was asked today if he has concerns his party could also have been targeted, but he did not answer directly. "We've seen through this campaign that the Conservatives have had to use the policies of fear and division and indeed, just make stuff up in order to get their message across," he said, during an event in Hamilton. Why? It's because they have nothing to offer Canadians except $53 billion worth of cuts."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said any plan to "subvert" a political party, paid by another party, is "troubling. I've made it clear that I don't believe someone like Mr. Bernier should have a platform to spread hateful messages. I think his messages are wrong," he said during a campaign event in Vancouver. But at the end of the day, people should be able to discuss and express their opinions, as long as they're not hateful and divisive, and be able to have the forum to do that." Singh said Scheer should be more transparent and explain his party's actions. ...
Documents seen by CBC News outline a plan to "seek and destroy" the PPC and prevent Bernier from getting into the leaders' debates. ...
In the documents seen by CBC News, drafted prior to the launch, STAMP is described as a screen for the project and its client. "Daisy will create an arm's-length organization that cannot be linked to the client or any participating organization. This organization will run a proxy war room public relations campaign that allows real Canadians to shine a light on the prejudice and hate that is associated with the PPC," a Daisy consultant writes. ...
The STAMP Out Hate account lambasted the PPC, its candidates and its supporters right up until June 29, a day before new election rules regarding third-party advertisers came into effect. The account has since stopped attacking Bernier's party but has continued to tweet anti-racist messages.
The emails outlining the plan for Project Cactus say "Daisy will work to ensure this campaign is not named as a third party." Later, in the Whatsapp chat provided to CBC News, a Daisy Group employee asks when the date for third-party spending rules kick in. Another employee replies, "June 30" and the first employee responds, "great thanks!"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/project-cactus-maxime-bernier-1.5327555