Pierre Poilievre has tapped a veteran Conservative campaigner to help steer the party through the next federal election.
Steve Outhouse, an affable Nova Scotian with deep roots in the federal Conservatives as well as provincial Tory parties, will serve as Poilievre’s campaign manager in the next federal campaign. It will be Outhouse’s first time running the national campaign.
Outhouse replaces Jenni Byrne, who publicly announced in August she would not continue in the role after last April’s election loss. Byrne told Global News Monday that she will remain as an adviser to both Poilievre and the party, and that she has spoken to Outhouse.
He joins Poilievre’s team at an interesting time for the party — still polling near 40 per cent support, but lagging behind the Liberals. Poilievre has also faced repeated questions about his leadership amid slumping popularity numbers, one MP crossing the floor and another heading for early retirement from federal politics.
Another federal election is unlikely in the immediate future — with the Liberals having passed their budget over the opposition of Poilievre and the Conservatives — but in a minority Parliament, Outhouse can’t bank on time to get the party campaign-ready.
Outhouse declined an interview request when reached in Saint John’s, Newfoundland, on Monday, where he is still working on newly-elected Premier Tony Wakeham’s transition team.
Conservative spokesperson Sarah Fisher confirmed Outhouse’s hiring, which was first reported by the Toronto Sun on Sunday.
A longtime Conservative staffer turned campaign consultant, Outhouse has recently run successful provincial conservative campaigns in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as former New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs’ unsuccessful bid for re-election last year.
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He’s also had experience running federal campaigns, notably Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis’ failed bid for leadership in 2022.
Outhouse has connections to the social conservative wing within the larger Tory movement, but he’s well respected across the various factions that make up the Conservative Party — something that could prove useful when he has to sell tough decisions to caucus.
“Steve is very consultative, but I don’t think that should be confused with weakness or not knowing his own mind … He’s very good at deciding what direction to go, but also making sure that other people’s voices are heard,” said Hamish Marshall, the party’s former campaign manager under Andrew Scheer.
“This job requires tough decisions, which not everyone is going to love. So starting from a baseline of respect is a great place to start.”
“Steve has always been a happy warrior type that can be very motivating for people on the campaign, and I think that’s important for the team, it’s important for candidates,” said Rob Batherson, a former party president and Halifax West candidate, in an interview Monday.
“(Outhouse) is very connected with all parts of the Conservative movement, and can work well with different parts of the coalition.”
While Outhouse has the resumé to run a national campaign, perhaps more important is his personal connection with Poilievre himself.
Outhouse served as Poilievre’s chief of staff when the Conservative leader served as the minister of Employment and Social Development in the waning months of Stephen Harper’s government, meaning their professional relationship goes back more than a decade.
Given his personal rapport with the ultra-partisan Poilievre, it might be surprising that Outhouse started his life in politics identifying as a Liberal. Outhouse recently told Liberal pollster David Herle that he was inspired by former Finance Minister Paul Martin’s deficit reduction policies.
“Of course, that was because I was a fiscal conservative,” Outhouse said on the Herle Burly podcast.
“As a person of faith, however, I remember going to church and people saying, ‘How can you be a Liberal?’ I’m like, ‘I feel totally at home, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’”
Outhouse said that changed in the 2004 campaign and the Liberals’ attacks on Harper’s social conservatism.
“It was the first time a wedge issue was used on me … So that sort of made me start to look at other things and go well, maybe I am a bit more conservative than I thought, certainly on the fiscal side for sure and on some of the crime issues and so on like that.”
Twenty years on, it’s unlikely that anyone in the movement would doubt Outhouse’s conservative bona fides. He joins Poilievre’s team as the Conservative leader prepares to face the party’s grassroots at a convention in January, where his continued leadership will be put to a vote.
Poilievre is expected to win that vote handily. A more challenging test will arrive when the Conservatives face Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party in the next general election, whenever that comes.
Polling aggregator 338Canada currently has the Liberal Party polling ahead with 42 per cent support to the Conservatives’ 40 per cent — near the party’s high-water mark in the last federal election.
Poilievre’s personal popularity with voters, however, appears to be slipping. Last week, the Angus Reid Institute released polling that found 60 per cent of Canadians had an unfavourable opinion of Poilievre, compared to just 34 per cent who view him positively, for a net score of negative 26, Poilievre’s worst showing since becoming leader in 2022.
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