OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney said on Monday he was “unaware” that Liberal staffers had planted some fake Trump-style buttons at a conservative conference last week but nonetheless apologized for this “unreservedly” on behalf on his campaign.
“This is totally unacceptable, to be absolutely clear,” he said at a campaign stop in Montreal in response to
CBC News, who broke the story on Sunday.
“I was unaware of this behaviour, but on behalf of my campaign, I apologize for it unreservedly.”
“I’ve made it absolutely clear to my campaign that this behaviour or anything approximating it or in that spirit is unacceptable (and) cannot happen again,” he added.
Carney said the staffers who were responsible for planting the buttons, have been “reassigned within the campaign.”
Liberal staffers were caught bragging about how they planted buttons at last week’s Canada Strong and Free Network conference, also known as the Manning Conference, in downtown Ottawa. The conversation happened in earshot of a CBC reporter on Friday.
In a statement provided Sunday night, Liberal spokesperson Kevin Lemkay acknowledged the button controversy, suggesting that it was a joke that got carried away.
One of the buttons said “Stop the Steal,” referencing U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Others reportedly included a “Free Alberta” button alongside a pair of handcuffs, a “Lock Justin Up” button printed over prison bars, a “Vote for Carney is a Vote for WEXIT,” and a “Danielle Smith for CPC Leader 2026” button.
Another featured Tory campaign director Jenni Byrne’s crossed-off name, alongside Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke, in reference to reports of party infighting over campaign strategy.
Calgary-area MP Michelle Rempel Garner called
the spread of fake campaign pins “disgusting.”
Sam Lilly, a campaign spokesperson for the Conservative party, said the Liberal campaign “has been caught red-handed importing American-style politics to Canada.”
“The Carney Liberals are even willing to stoke election denial and jeopardize national unity in order to distract from the misery of the last decade of the Liberal government,” he said.
Lilly said the campaign’s decision to reassign the staffers responsible was not surprising.
“Of course, Mark Carney won’t fire those responsible,” he said. “From the top down, Carney’s entire campaign has been based on pushing those very same divisive attacks on their fellow Canadians.”
— With files from Adam Huras, Postmedia.
More details to follow.
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
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Liberal staffers were caught bragging about how they planted buttons at a conservative conference in downtown Ottawa
OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney said on Monday he was “unaware” that Liberal staffers had planted some fake Trump-style buttons at a conservative conference last week but nonetheless apologized for this “unreservedly” on behalf on his campaign.
“This is totally unacceptable, to be absolutely clear,” he said at a campaign stop in Montreal in response to CBC News, who broke the story on Sunday. “I was unaware of this behaviour, but on behalf of my campaign, I apologize for it unreservedly.”
Story continues below
“I’ve made it absolutely clear to my campaign that this behaviour or anything approximating it or in that spirit is unacceptable (and) cannot happen again,” he added.
Carney said the staffers who were responsible for planting the buttons, have been “reassigned within the campaign.” The Liberal campaign did not immediately clarify how that affected their employment in concrete terms.
Liberal staffers were caught bragging about how they planted buttons at last week’s Canada Strong and Free Network conference, also known as the Manning Conference, in downtown Ottawa. The conversation happened in earshot of a CBC reporter on Friday.
In a statement provided Sunday night, Liberal spokesperson Kevin Lemkay acknowledged the button controversy, suggesting that it was a joke that got carried away.
One of the buttons said “Stop the Steal,” referencing U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Others reportedly included a “Free Alberta” button alongside a pair of handcuffs, a “Lock Justin Up” button printed over prison bars, a “Vote for Carney is a Vote for WEXIT,” and a “Danielle Smith for CPC Leader 2026” button.
Story continues below
Another featured Tory campaign director Jenni Byrne’s crossed-off name, alongside Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke, in reference to reports of party infighting over campaign strategy.
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Lemkay denied that all of the button slogans being reported were from the Liberal camp.
“While it is worth noting that many materials being shown online have nothing to do with members of our team, the party has acted quickly to review the matter,” he said.
Carney’s blanket apology means that he is not distinguishing between which ones were crafted by his campaign and which ones were not.
Sam Lilly, a campaign spokesperson for the Conservative party, said the Liberal campaign “has been caught red-handed importing American-style politics to Canada.”
“The Carney Liberals are even willing to stoke election denial and jeopardize national unity in order to distract from the misery of the last decade of the Liberal government,” he said.
Lilly said the campaign’s decision to reassign the staffers responsible was not surprising.
“Of course, Mark Carney won’t fire those responsible,” he said. “From the top down, Carney’s entire campaign has been based on pushing those very same divisive attacks on their fellow Canadians.”
Calgary-area MP Michelle Rempel Garner called the spread of fake campaign pins “disgusting” and a clear attempt to sow disinformation.
— With files from Adam Huras, Postmedia.
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.