Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Monday it was “totally unacceptable” for some members of the party’s war room to plant phoney campaign buttons at a conservative gathering in Ottawa last week, and those campaign staffers have been “reassigned” as a result.
“I was unaware of this behaviour but on behalf of my campaign I apologize for it unreservedly,” Carney told reporters during a defence announcement in Montreal.
“I made it absolutely clear to my campaign that this behaviour or anything approximating it, or in that spirit, is unacceptable and cannot happen,” he said.
WATCH | Liberal ‘stop the steal’ buttons at Conservative event ‘totally unacceptable’ Carney says
Liberal ‘stop the steal’ buttons at Conservative event ‘totally unacceptable’ Carney says
The denunciation and staffing change comes after CBC News reported Sunday two Liberal Party staffers attended last week’s Canada Strong and Free Networking (CSFN) Conference where they placed buttons that used Trump-style language and highlighted division within the Conservative Party.
The buttons were scattered in the event space in a way to give the impression that they were made and left by people attending the conference.
One said “stop the steal” — an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Another button had the name “Jenni Byrne” crossed out, with the name “Kory Teneycke” underneath. Byrne is the national campaign director for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Teneycke is a longtime conservative strategist who played a key role in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s re-election campaign. He has been deeply critical of the Conservative Party of Canada’s campaign to date.
A Conservative Party spokesperson denounced the campaign antics.
“The Liberals have been caught red-handed importing American-style politics to Canada. The Liberals are willing to stoke election denial, and even national unity, in a bid to cling to power,” the spokesperson said.
Carney said the people in question have been held responsible “and have been reassigned within the campaign.”
