Liberal Leader Mark Carney has condemned the actions of Liberal staffers who placed campaign buttons featuring inflammatory slogans at a conservative conference last week, describing their bid to sow discord within the rival party as “totally unacceptable.”
Liberal election staffers planted buttons featuring sayings like “Free Alberta” and “Lock up Justin” at last week’s Canada Strong and Free Network conference held at a hotel in downtown Ottawa. The conference, previously known as the Manning Conference, was held from April 9 to April 13. Its aim is to give conservative Canadians an opportunity to discuss policy proposals and build connections.
The Liberal staff members managed to gain access to the conference and strategically placed the buttons in locations where they would be discovered by attendees before heading to a bar near Parliament Hill, where they were overheard boasting about what they had done by a Conservative party staff member and a CBC reporter.
Carney, who was questioned about the button-planting during his April 14 campaign stop in Dorval, Que., said those “responsible” have since been “reassigned within the campaign.”
“I was unaware of this behaviour, but on behalf of my campaign, I apologize for it unreservedly,” he told reporters during the press conference. “I’ve made it absolutely clear to my campaign that this behaviour or anything approximating it or in that spirit is unacceptable, cannot happen again.”
A Liberal party spokesperson released a statement over the weekend after pictures of the buttons popped up on social media, along with accusations from several Tory candidates and party members about unfair campaign practices.
The spokesperson said the buttons being displayed online had no connection to Liberal team members, and emphasized that the party “acted quickly to resolve” the situation.
“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,” the spokesperson said in a media statement. “As leader, Mark Carney has also made it clear to the campaign that this does not fit his commitment to serious and positive discourse.”
One of the buttons bore the phrase “Stop the Steal,” alluding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election while another said “Make Canada Great Again.” Other buttons left at the conference included phrases like “Danielle Smith for CPC Leader 2026” referring to Alberta’s premier as well as one taking a stab at Carney which says “A Vote for Carney is a Vote for WEXIT.”
A Conservative campaign spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the buttons show the Liberals are “attempting to bring American-style politics to our country.”
“One wonders what other dirty tricks the Liberals are behind as they desperately seek to distract from their disastrous record while seeking a fourth Liberal term,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Conference spokesperson Alex Spence called the incident “unfortunate, but not surprising,” saying the buttons were a bid to “misrepresent the views of attendees of our conference.”
“These divisive, gimmicky tactics say more about the Liberals than they do of the united and growing Conservative movement,” Spence said in an emailed statement.
Reactions
Incumbent Conservative MP Chris Warkentin had earlier called on Liberal Leader Mark Carney to fire those involved in the button planting.“This wasn’t a couple of rogue Liberal staffers. This took planning, designing and manufacturing,” Warkentin said in an April 13 post to social media. “When will Mark Carney denounce his team for importing America-style politics into Canada?”
Incumbent Conservative MP Raquel Dancho also criticized the Liberals, saying that “planting lies about an opposing party’s position can never, ever be tolerated.”
“I never want to hear another Liberal talk about ‘the dangers of disinformation’ in our politics,” she wrote April 13 on the X platform. “Mark Carney needs to take responsibility for his employees’ actions and denounce this crap immediately.”
Incumbent Conservative MP Michael Barrett, who serves as his party’s ethics critic, called the buttons “American-style divisive tactics from the Carney Liberals” and accused the Liberals of orchestrating “an astroturf disinfo campaign.”
“Media must demand answers about his team’s role in the banners, sweaters, & buttons,” Barrett said in an April 13 social media post.
Barrett accompanied his post with a picture showing a button displaying the crossed-out name of Conservative campaign director Jenni Byrne, alongside that of Tory strategist Kory Teneycke.
Teneycke, the communications director when Stephen Harper was prime minister, has expressed strong disapproval of how Byrne has been managing the federal Conservative campaign.
