Anaida Poilievre’s Quebec charm offensive

Watching a reality TV personality getting a second shot at the United States’ presidency, it’s hard to believe that it was once considered “un-presidential” for a candidate to campaign for himself. In the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln’s campaign benefited from a group of singers—the Hutchinson family—touring the country as his surrogates to drum up support. Anaida Poilievre Galindo isn’t a celebrity yet, but she’s an ideal surrogate for her husband, particularly in Quebec. The influence of a campaign proxy usually depends on how high up they are in the party or how close they are to the candidate. She clearly meets the latter criteria, but also the former since she is a longtime Hill staffer with insights into the political machinery. Pierre Poilievre’s polling numbers are increasing everywhere, including in Quebec. However, they remain relatively low compared to most other provinces. In Quebec, the Bloc Québécois is getting in the way of really chipping away at the Liberals. As was predictable after her performance on the main stage during the party’s convention in Quebec City, Mrs. Poilievre is now likely to be centre stage in the province while her husband opposes in Ottawa and tours other parts of the country. The strategy and its well-orchestrated implementation was recently on full display. She and her advisers know how to generate free media that is so favourable, viewers would be forgiven for thinking it’s paid sponsored content. On Dec. 11, Québecor-owned TVA Nouvelles published what money can’t buy. And what CBC/Radio-Canada would likely find difficult to rationalize. Éric Blais is president of Headspace Marketing in Toronto. Photograph courtesy of Éric Blais The 13-minute video produced by TVA Nouvelles opens with a drone shot of the snow-covered working-class neighbourhood of Montreal where she grew up. It’s a walkabout with TVA’s news anchor Paul Larocque, whom she greets with “Bonjour Paul” before telling him that she is an immigrant who learned to speak French in just three months. Larocque, visibly impressed, asks: “You speak French, but you really speak Québécois French. Do you feel like a Quebecer?” “Absolutely,” she says, before adding that she watched the hit television show La p’tit vie growing up and “immediately got into joual” (Québécois slang). While standing in front of the small apartment building where she grew up, Poilievre Galindo recalls playing on the front lawn with her brother, adding she wishes she could find the old family photo of the scene. It then appears full screen while soft, emotive music plays—the kind you hear in biopics, not news segments. She tells the story of how she got into politics by accident. How she had applied for a government job and the Canadian Senate called her for an interview, noting that the first senator she worked for was Montrealer Marcel Prud’homme. While standing in front of her elementary school, she tells Larocque without hesitation that she is pro-choice, and “so is my husband.” She reminds viewers that her husband is a sweet guy with this anecdote about how he will call her to find out if she would like an “étoile fric” (French for Starbucks). And adds, “He takes Bill 101—Quebec’s French-language law—really seriously.” Larocque ends the interview by asking Poilievre Galindo how she feels being called her husband’s secret weapon, to which she answers without skipping a beat: “I’m not a secret. I’m here standing in front of you.” It’s also a somewhat different role for a political wife (or husband) in Quebec politics. While they often hit the campaign trail with their partners and are profiled in the media, they tend to stay away from policy issues. Still, given the strategic importance of having strong representation from Quebec in a potential Poilievre government, I suspect the same image-makers who wisely used her to tell us about “Papa Pierre” on television during the summer will continue to have her play a prominent role and leverage the asset she is as much as possible to “bring it home,” as the slogan goes. Éric Blais is president of Headspace Marketing in Toronto. The Hill Times

Anaida Poilievre’s Quebec charm offensive

Given the strategic importance of having strong representation from Quebec in a potential Poilievre government, the Conservative leader's wife is now likely to be centre stage in the province.

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Anaida Poilievre’s Quebec charm offensive

Given the strategic importance of having strong representation from Quebec in a potential Poilievre government, the Conservative leader's wife is now likely to be centre stage in the province.

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