Beyond the Ballot: Merrifield says ‘Buttongate’ is ‘election interference at its finest’

Kelowna businesswoman and former MLA Renee Merrifield was back with NowMedia video host Jim Csek for another episode of Beyond the Ballot this week.

With less than two weeks to go until the pair team up for federal election coverage on April 28, that’s what their focus was for this latest show.

And they started with “Buttongate,” as they called it, the controversy surrounding two Liberal campaign staffers admitting to a CBC reporter that they planted Trump-like ‘Stop the Steal’ buttons at a Conservative event.

“It’s election interference at its finest,” Merrifield said. “It was a disgusting manipulation of the campaign and truly not something that should ever be tolerated by the Canadian people.”

Drawing on her past experience as an MLA, Merrifield explained that she considered many members of the press to be friends while noting that it’s a rookie mistake to unequivocally believe that to be true.

She said reporters may be friendly with politicians, but are still always gunning for a story and “are not friends” of MPs and MLAs.

Merrifield was also very unimpressed with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response to the incident, saying it was a “poor show of leadership” for him to simply dismiss it.

Carney apologized on Monday, calling the Liberal staffers' act "totally unacceptable," and added that the two culprits had been “reassigned within the campaign.” Csek and Merrifield inquired as to why they weren't fired.

The duo also suggested that Buttongate calls into question “everything we’ve been seeing on the campaign trails” that has potentially linked Canada’s Conservative Party to President Donald Trump.

“How about the Nazi flag at the truckers rally that just showed up for a few minutes that nobody ever knew who it was?," noted Csek. "(They) had a mask on and everything, and Justin Trudeau’s photographer happened to be right in the right place at the right time.”

“Yes, indeed, very strange,” a nodding Merrifield replied.

It didn’t stop at Buttongate, as the outspoken Conservative supporters had plenty of criticism for Carney and the Liberal campaign throughout this week’s episode of Beyond the Ballot.

They discussed the Liberals strategy of “running on the fear of Trump,” with Csek claiming that they can’t run on their record or policies.

Merrifield scrutinized Carney’s comments about pipelines not necessarily being among major projects to prioritize, calling it “a scary, scary thought.”

She also cited a pair of recent troubling incidents in Vancouver, which you can read about here and here, as the latest examples of Canada desperately needing tougher penalties for crime.

They had plenty of critique for the Liberal housing plan, questioned Carney’s connections to Brookfield and asked about whether the prime minister’s allegiances lie with Canada.

“Is it really to the Canadian people or is it just to his power and his own ego and his own bank accounts?,” Merrifield asked of where Carney's loyalty is.

You can watch this week’s full episode of Beyond the Ballot by clicking this link.