Pierre Poilievre is rebranding the Conservative party in his own image
CBC
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in the midst of a major overhaul of the party he's now led for two months.
After members handed him a strong mandate to take the party in a new direction, Poilievre ousted senior staff loyal to former leader Erin O'Toole and rejigged the front bench, with new "shadow cabinet ministers" who are more in line with his populist bent.
He's also redefined the party's relationship with the Parliamentary Press Gallery — skipping interviews and "scrums" with reporters on Parliament Hill in favour of other outlets, including media outfits that serve specific ethnic communities.
The part has hired two new communications directors — one to serve Poilievre personally and the other to work at the party's headquarters.
"I think that part of the problem is that, you know, we're all too obsessed with Parliament Hill," Poilievre told reporters at a rare press conference in Vancouver Wednesday.
"The press gallery believes it should dominate the political discourse. I believe we have a big country, with people who are not necessarily part of the press gallery."
The Parliamentary Press Gallery has over 300 members from dozens of domestic and international news agencies and outlets. As the party's finance critic, Poilievre regularly made himself available to Hill reporters. Since his election as leader in September, he's only fielded questions from Hill reporters once.
It's a strategy similar to one former prime minister Stephen Harper pursued when he was in power. Harper had a frosty relationship with the press gallery.
Many of the new staff picked for the party's top jobs have longstanding ties to Poilievre and his leadership campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, a Conservative operative and lobbyist who also worked for Harper.
Among Poilievre's new hires is Mike Crase, who recently was picked as the party's executive director after nearly four years doing the same job for the Ontario PCs. Crase and Byrne worked together in provincial politics.
The party's legal counsel, Arthur Hamilton, has been replaced with Michael Wilson, a Poilievre ally.
Robert Staley, a Toronto-based lawyer and vice-chair of the Bennett Jones law firm, is now the chair of Conservative Fund, the powerful fundraising arm of the party. He replaced James Dodd, an O'Toole pick.
Staley, who was Harper's lawyer, worked with Byrne when she served as Harper's deputy chief of staff and later campaign manager in the 2015 federal election.
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