Big crowds turning out for Poilievre suggest a very different kind of Conservative leadership race
In the last two Conservative leadership races, the supposed front-runners stumbled before reaching the finish line. This time, however, the front-runner is only showing signs of gaining ground.
Swelling crowd counts and MP endorsements aren't ironclad guarantees of success, but they certainly don't hurt. And Pierre Poilievre — with his populist appeals to frustration with government "gatekeepers" and calls to make Canada "the freest country on earth" — is doing well on both those measures.
Poilievre has tweeted photos of rallies in British Columbia and Ontario attended by hundreds of people. His visits to Calgary on Tuesday and Edmonton on Thursday are expected to draw more big crowds.
"They're unprecedented in a leadership [race]," said Melanie Paradis, a veteran of the two previous Conservative leadership races who served as former leader Erin O'Toole's deputy campaign director. "He has a compelling narrative. It's important to credit that."
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While no one else in the race has yet shown Poilievre's ability to draw crowds, there are other ways to manage a run for the leadership.
Former MP and Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown is known for his political determination. Paradis said that while Brown has kept relatively quiet on social media lately, he's been working the phones daily from early morning to past midnight, reaching out to potential supporters, while attending numerous events during the day.
MP Leslyn Lewis has tweeted photos of herself addressing sizeable crowds while touring the Prairie provinces. She also showed strength by being the first candidate to officially get on the Conservative ballot by submitting the necessary $300,000 in fundraising and signatures from supporters.
The candidate who has made the most pointed comments about Poilievre to date is Jean Charest, who hasn't seen many large crowds during the race. Instead, he's been taking the fight to Poilievre through the media.
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A woman cries after the body of a relative was exhumed from a shallow grave near his home in the Ukrainian village of Andriivka, in the Kyiv region, on Monday.