The Liberal Party of Canada acknowledged on Sunday that two of its campaign staffers planted inflammatory buttons bearing “Stop the Steal” messaging at a conservative conference last week in Ottawa.
The buttons, scattered throughout the Canada Strong and Free Networking conference venue, featured Trump-style election denial slogans and another design that crossed out Conservative national campaign director Jenni Byrne’s name in favor of strategist Kory Teneycke.
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“After many news reports last week about conservative infighting and prominent Trump allies being hosted at this Canadian conservative conference, it’s been reported that Liberal campaigners had created buttons poking fun at those reports — which regrettably got carried away,” Liberal spokesperson Kevin Lemkay said in an email.
The incident came to light after attendees discovered the buttons seemingly placed to create the impression that conference participants distributed them. According to CBC News, a journalist at a pub near Parliament Hill overheard a Liberal staffer describing the operation to colleagues, unaware that media were present.
Conservative campaign spokesperson Simon Jefferies condemned the tactics, saying: “The Liberals have been caught red-handed importing American-style politics to Canada.”
When confronted, the involved staffer initially confirmed the action before denying it upon learning CBC News would report on the operation, according to sources.
The Conservative Party noted that people working on Pierre Poilievre’s campaign were instructed not to attend the conference and instead focus on door-knocking efforts.
“It’s unfortunate, but not surprising that the Liberals would seek to misrepresent the views of attendees of our conference,” said Canada Strong and Free Network spokesperson Alex Spence in a statement. The organization added that these “divisive, gimmicky tactics say more about the Liberals than they do of the united and growing Conservative movement.”
The “Stop the Steal” slogan became a rallying cry for those who believed Trump had won the 2020 election, including the January 6 rioters who stormed the US Capitol.
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