A multi-million dollar Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) advertisement campaign aimed at humanizing leader Pierre Poilievre has drawn widespread support from prominent conservatives across Canada.
Beginning the launch of a three-month $3 million CPC ad campaign, according to a source who spoke to Global News, Pierre and his wife Anaida Poilievre uploaded two ads to their respective X pages (formerly Twitter) showcasing the Conservative leader’s life as a family man and his primary policy priorities.
The Conservatives will launch a series of ads that will be broadcast on television and will appear in digital and print newspaper ad spots.
The videos received praise from prominent figures in the conservative movement, like Aaron Gunn, who called the video “powerful.”
“Powerful video from a powerful storyteller,” said Gunn.
“Not sure Liberals have an answer for this kind of messaging. Hopefully we get to see/hear more from Anaida as the campaign draws nearer.”
Summa Strategies’ vice-chair Kate Harrison said it was impressive the CPC had the funds to pull off such an ad campaign and it was a smart idea to begin advertising early.
“Smart for @CPC_HQ to advertise and define early, and equally impressive the Party has the funds to make this a reality many months away from an election.”
Tracy Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights chimed in with approval, praising the videos’ messaging.
Former interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen, who resigned as MP in February, praised the ads for portraying a raw version of who Poilievre is and who she got to know during her time in Ottawa.
“I love this ad and the fact that what we are seeing is the real, genuine and authentic Ana & Pierre,” said Bergen.
“They are not putting this on just for the camera. This is who they are and this is who we need to lead our country.”
Of the first two ads, Ana uploaded a video with the caption “Why my husband is doing this,” where she seeks to answer the question “who is Pierre Poilievre?”
Ana highlights some people who have been a major part of Pierre’s life and how these people view him.
“His school teacher parents know him as the boy they adopted and raised in their modest home in the suburbs of Calgary,” reads Ms. Poilievre’s script.
“His children know him in français, español, and English as Papa. And I know him as a guy who loves me for who I am. A Canadian who came to call Canada home. And his wife.”
Later in the day, Pierre uploaded a video of him assembling a puzzle with his infant son and talking about the problems Canada is facing like affordability, rising crime, and societal division.
“Everything feels broken in Canada – unaffordable, unsafe, divided,” says Poilievre.
“But we can put the pieces back together. With a government that lives within its means, leaves more in your pockets, and lets you get ahead. That protects our streets and unites our people in the Canada we know and love.”
The insider who spoke to Global News said that this $3 million ad campaign doesn’t seek to rebrand Poilievre, but instead seeks to amplify Poilievre’s personality and character.
“This is not a branding campaign, it is an amplification of who Pierre is and always has been,” said the source.
In recent months, polls have shown the Conservatives siphoning off support from the Liberals, often pegging the Tories at or near a double-digit lead.
A recent poll from Abacus Data found that 37% of voters would cast their ballots for the Conservatives, while only 28% would vote for the Liberals, 19% would vote NDP, and 8% would vote for the Bloc Québécois.
Nanos had also put out a poll with similar findings, pegging the Conservatives at 37% support, the Liberals at 27%, the NDP with 20%, and the Bloc with 7%.
