New pro-Conservative ‘PAC’ launches ad campaign blasting Justin Trudeau, aims to fight unions
Canadian voters, prepare for the PAC attack.
HarperPAC, a new, pro-Conservative political action committee, is launching an ad campaign leading up to the Oct. 19 federal election to promote Prime Minister Stephen Harper and take on third-party groups trying to take down the Tory government.
Organized by some longtime Harper supporters, HarperPAC says it “aims to defend the interests of everyday Canadians against the tide of cash from professional leftist agitators and big union bosses that has been earmarked to take down the Conservative government.”
Its first radio spot attacks Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and says he is not ready to be prime minister.
“After months of mistakes, Justin Trudeau’s poll numbers are free-falling. Canadians from coast to coast now think he is unfit to be prime minister,” says the voiceover in the 29-second ad. “But who does Trudeau blame for his low poll numbers? He blames Canadian voters … Can we really trust him to make hard decisions as prime minister?”
Political action committees, or Super PACs as they’ve become known in the United States, are a popular American political tool whereby enormous sums of money are often collected to endorse or oppose specific candidates or pieces of legislation.
The HarperPAC advisory committee includes Conservative activist Stephen Taylor, former director of the National Citizens Coalition (he spurred the #BoycottTims campaign earlier this month when Tim Hortons decided to pull Enbridge ads from its Tims TV), as well as a number of longtime seniors staffers in the Harper government and former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis.
“Unions in Canada have amassed a war chest of millions and plan to relentlessly attack Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. We are levelling the playing field,” Taylor, spokesman for HarperPAC, said in a news release Monday.
“Justin Trudeau represents dangerous and unpredictable change, while Thomas Mulcair’s NDP is eager to implement the same disastrous economic formula that ruined provinces for whole generations.”
The political action committee says it will raise money from “concerned Canadians” across the country to push back against such attacks.
The group says it is purchasing advertising to “inform Canadians of the important choices they face on election day in October.”
The release says HarperPAC is a project of the “ConservativePAC Foundation.” In an email, Taylor said the ConservativePAC Foundation is a non-profit corporation registered with Industry Canada, of which he is the sole director.
Asked if ConservativePAC Foundation is planning other campaigns leading up to the election, Taylor said HarperPAC “is the only focus right now.”
Earlier this month, a group called Engage Canada, which is organized by some former Liberal and New Democratic political operatives and partially funded by unions, launched its own anti-Conservative ad campaign designed to help end the Harper government’s almost decade in power. The group calls itself “a broad based, grassroots organization.”
The latest Engage Canada ad, titled Neglect, says “inequality is skyrocketing” under the Conservative government, and that income for the wealthiest five per cent has increased 12 times faster than for the rest of Canadians.
“For too long, wealthy conservative Super PACs like Working Canadians and Conservative Voice have spent millions protecting wealthy conservative interests and monopolizing political discussion in Canada,” Engage Canada says on its website. “The middle class in Canada is struggling and the Harper Conservatives have only made things worse.”
Canadians can expect to see an orgy of advertising from political parties and third parties alike leading up to the official election campaign.
Elections Canada rules cap spending by third parties, such as union groups and political action committees, at $205,800 for a 37-day writ period, of which no more than $4,116 can be spent “to promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a particular electoral district.”
Those amounts increase on a pro-rated basis if the official campaign is longer than 37 days.
The HarperPAC advisory committee:
- Stephen Taylor, former director, National Citizens Coalition
- Kasra Nejatian, former director of strategic planning for then-immigration minister Jason Kenney
- Michele Austin, former chief of staff to ministers Rona Ambrose and Maxime Bernier
- Jonathan Denis, former Alberta justice minister
- Dan Mader, former chief of staff to associate minister of defence Julian Fantino
- Chris Froggatt, former chief of staff to longtime minister John Baird
- Zoe Addington, former director of policy for minister Tony Clement and past spokesperson for Canadian Natural Resources Limited
- Brad Tennant, former director of political operations for the Wildrose Party in Alberta
Posted in: News Tags: Canadian Politics, Canada, Stephen Harper
New pro-Conservative ‘PAC’ launches ad campaign blasting Justin Trudeau, aims to fight unions
Canadian voters, prepare for the PAC attack.
HarperPAC, a new, pro-Conservative political action committee, is launching an ad campaign leading up to the Oct. 19 federal election to promote Prime Minister Stephen Harper and take on third-party groups trying to take down the Tory government.
Organized by some longtime Harper supporters, HarperPAC says it “aims to defend the interests of everyday Canadians against the tide of cash from professional leftist agitators and big union bosses that has been earmarked to take down the Conservative government.”
Its first radio spot attacks Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and says he is not ready to be prime minister.
“After months of mistakes, Justin Trudeau’s poll numbers are free-falling. Canadians from coast to coast now think he is unfit to be prime minister,” says the voiceover in the 29-second ad. “But who does Trudeau blame for his low poll numbers? He blames Canadian voters … Can we really trust him to make hard decisions as prime minister?”
Political action committees, or Super PACs as they’ve become known in the United States, are a popular American political tool whereby enormous sums of money are often collected to endorse or oppose specific candidates or pieces of legislation.
The HarperPAC advisory committee includes Conservative activist Stephen Taylor, former director of the National Citizens Coalition (he spurred the #BoycottTims campaign earlier this month when Tim Hortons decided to pull Enbridge ads from its Tims TV), as well as a number of longtime seniors staffers in the Harper government and former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis.
“Unions in Canada have amassed a war chest of millions and plan to relentlessly attack Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. We are levelling the playing field,” Taylor, spokesman for HarperPAC, said in a news release Monday.
“Justin Trudeau represents dangerous and unpredictable change, while Thomas Mulcair’s NDP is eager to implement the same disastrous economic formula that ruined provinces for whole generations.”
The political action committee says it will raise money from “concerned Canadians” across the country to push back against such attacks.
The group says it is purchasing advertising to “inform Canadians of the important choices they face on election day in October.”
The release says HarperPAC is a project of the “ConservativePAC Foundation.” In an email, Taylor said the ConservativePAC Foundation is a non-profit corporation registered with Industry Canada, of which he is the sole director.
Asked if ConservativePAC Foundation is planning other campaigns leading up to the election, Taylor said HarperPAC “is the only focus right now.”
Earlier this month, a group called Engage Canada, which is organized by some former Liberal and New Democratic political operatives and partially funded by unions, launched its own anti-Conservative ad campaign designed to help end the Harper government’s almost decade in power. The group calls itself “a broad based, grassroots organization.”
The latest Engage Canada ad, titled Neglect, says “inequality is skyrocketing” under the Conservative government, and that income for the wealthiest five per cent has increased 12 times faster than for the rest of Canadians.
“For too long, wealthy conservative Super PACs like Working Canadians and Conservative Voice have spent millions protecting wealthy conservative interests and monopolizing political discussion in Canada,” Engage Canada says on its website. “The middle class in Canada is struggling and the Harper Conservatives have only made things worse.”
Canadians can expect to see an orgy of advertising from political parties and third parties alike leading up to the official election campaign.
Elections Canada rules cap spending by third parties, such as union groups and political action committees, at $205,800 for a 37-day writ period, of which no more than $4,116 can be spent “to promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a particular electoral district.”
Those amounts increase on a pro-rated basis if the official campaign is longer than 37 days.
The HarperPAC advisory committee:
- Stephen Taylor, former director, National Citizens Coalition
- Kasra Nejatian, former director of strategic planning for then-immigration minister Jason Kenney
- Michele Austin, former chief of staff to ministers Rona Ambrose and Maxime Bernier
- Jonathan Denis, former Alberta justice minister
- Dan Mader, former chief of staff to associate minister of defence Julian Fantino
- Chris Froggatt, former chief of staff to longtime minister John Baird
- Zoe Addington, former director of policy for minister Tony Clement and past spokesperson for Canadian Natural Resources Limited
- Brad Tennant, former director of political operations for the Wildrose Party in Alberta
Posted in: News Tags: Canadian Politics, Canada, Stephen Harper
New pro-Conservative ‘PAC’ launches ad campaign blasting Justin Trudeau, aims to fight unions
