LILLEY: Carney government hires Democrats to learn how to speak to Republicans
Embassy staff in Washington hired a firm headed up by Democrats to learn how to speak to American conservatives
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If you need proof that the Liberal government doesn’t have a clue how to deal with the Trump administration, just look at this contract. Signed just over a week after Mark Carney became Liberal leader and days after he was sworn in as prime minister, it’s a complete waste of money.
Uncovered by Ottawa-based media outlet Blacklock’s Reporter, it seems the Canadian Embassy in Washington signed a contract with an almost entirely Democrat Party firm to teach them how to engage with conservative and right-wing media in the age of Trump.
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In the grand scheme of things, this contract isn’t a big deal, it’s worth just US$6,000 or about C$8,300 but on an hourly basis it works out to US$2,000 per hour or C$2,775 per hour.
The question is what did we get for this?
The contract was signed on March 17, 2025 – perhaps five months or more after they should have looked into this – and the description according to the documents obtained by Blacklock’s doesn’t sound good.
“Signal Group will conduct a two-hour session on right-wing media and messaging including questions and answers,” the contract states. “This session will cover a deep dive into the conservative media landscape, right-wing messaging analysis, and workshops on adapting messaging on key issues to Canada.”
Sounds good, we should want our embassy staff and diplomats to know these things, though they already should.
“Signal Group will conduct a one-hour executive level media training for the embassy,” the contract stated. “Printed materials Signal Group will provide concern the conservative media landscape and right-wing message analysis.”
OK, so what did we get?
That part we don’t fully know, but here is what you need to know about Signal Group LLC. This company is headed up by Blake Androff, whose claim to fame is helping Nancy Pelosi win the 2018 mid-term elections and allowing the Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010 while Trump was in his first term.
A publicly available presentation deck posted on Signal’s website advises clients who want to understand Trump and his team to read the Wall Street Journal, watch Fox News, and follow the online news site Breitbart. These are things that embassy staff should already know and shouldn’t have to pay for, not based on the salaries they are getting.
There is no mention of major influencers in the American conservative media landscape such as Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Matt Walsh, Jordan Peterson, Benny Johnson, or Ben Shapiro. Instead, there are vague references to Newsmax, the Washington Times, and The Spectator.
I have my doubts about any group that would put out a public document like this being able to point me in the right direction. But the Liberals have no clue about the American right, they simply sneer at it, which is why we are in such mess in dealing with the Trump administration.
When Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with Ben Shapiro, she was widely criticized in Canadian media and by the Canadian political establishment. There were stories aired on national newscasts about how controversial Shapiro was and why it was wrong for Smith to meet with him.
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This is a man who was invited to sit in the gallery for Trump’s joint address to Congress and who holds incredible sway in the MAGA movement. In other words, he is exactly the kind of person Canadians should be talking to in order to make our case.
Despite the sneering from the smart set, Smith was right to meet with him and days after the meeting, Shapiro was telling his audience of millions about the benefits of trading with Canada and explaining why Trump targeting Canada was wrong.
Our embassy and the Carney government wouldn’t know to do this — that’s why they hired a Democrat consulting firm to teach them how to speak to Republicans.
This is beyond ridiculous.
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