London West Liberals downplay campaign manager's sudden exit

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The sudden departure of Arielle Kayabaga’s campaign manager as the federal election race in London West heads into its final days will not hurt her chances, a campaign spokesperson said Thursday.

Devin Munro, who had been managing Kayabaga’s campaign, has been replaced by Zachary Caldwell, a Londoner and veteran Liberal campaign volunteer.

“We are not concerned. In fact we feel great. We are sad to see Devin go, but Zach is a great choice to manage the campaign,” said Ben Charlebois, spokesperson for Kayabaga’s campaign.

“There is a lot of momentum for us right now. We are moving forward and we feel confident where we are at.”

Munro left the campaign for “personal reasons” on which Charlebois declined to comment, but stressed Caldwell has worked on Liberal candidate campaigns in 2011 and 2019.

“He has a lot of ties to the community,” said Charlebois.

Munro worked on and managed past campaigns for Liberal MPs Sue Barnes and Kate Young, and worked in the constituency offices of both MPs, as Blackburn News reported Thursday.

Young is not running for re-election in London West and Kayabaga has taken a leave from her position as a city councillor to try to win the seat in the Sept. 20 election.

Shawna Lewkowitz of the NDP, Conservative Rob Flack, Mike McMullen of the People’s Party of Canada and Libertarian Jacques Boudreau are the other candidates in the riding.