r/ontario • u/Myllicent • 2d ago
Election 2025 Conservative Candidate Used a Secret Signal Group Chat With Freedom Convoy Leaders, Right-Wing Media and Far-Right Influencers
https://pressprogress.ca/conservative-candidate-used-a-secret-signal-group-chat-with-freedom-convoy-leaders-right-wing-media-and-far-right-influencers/505
u/lopix 2d ago
Yeah, they invited me to that group, but I was busy talking to Hegseth.
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u/krombough 2d ago
Some random Houthi: Pete and Pierre have invited you to a chat? Who are these people? Oh wait, there's Daddy Vladdy, I know him.
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u/StandardHawk5288 2d ago
Their next American chat leak will be plans to raid those penguins to get their eggs.
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u/DukeCanada 2d ago
Andrew Lawton is the human personification of a napkin under a Pizza Hut slice that's soaked with grease. Everything this guy does is just so detestable.
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u/pearshapedorange 2d ago
At least that napkin is serving a function and stopping you from inhaling quite as much grease. I don't know this politician's voting record but I think you may be giving them too much credit.
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u/mbell_1987 20h ago
He has never served in office before. He used to be on radio in the London area but when his started to go deep into conspiracies and alt right ideologies “before it was cool” he moved out west I believe and became a “journalist”. Dude is brain dead
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u/Dear-Future-5920 2d ago
People are right these are not my parents Conservatives. Nothing more than maple maga agendas.
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u/funkme1ster 2d ago edited 2d ago
At its core, Conservatism has a singular solution for everything: don't change anything and stop rocking the boat. Conservatism's diagnosis for all problems is "the last thing you changed is to blame".
This worked great 50 years ago, because we were riding the economic policies that made boomers prosperous and comfortable. "Let the good times roll" was an easy thing to sell.
But we spent the last 50 years gradually dismantling all the civic infrastructure that existed then. We peeled back pensions and old age security, we chipped away at education and healthcare funding, we artificially suppressed property taxes on suburban sprawl to starve municipalities of operating funds. We created a society where "let the good times roll" is no longer a policy anyone can agree with.
But in that time, we also advanced human rights and made considerable social progress. A lot of people who were previously only talked about behind closed doors are acknowledged and included. Not by everyone, and not all the time, but officially the policy changed to include them.
So now we have a society where people whose needs were previously deemed irrelevant are being considered, and the systems we have to meet people's needs have been drastically pared back to a skeleton of what they once were, even when we had fewer needs to consider. (edit: typo)
Fundamentally, the Conservatives haven't changed. They're still the same ideology they were 50 years ago. The problem is that after decades of breaking things under the pretense of "I'm sure it's fine, we're all still doing well", their message of "everything is fine the way it is, let's not spend money to do anything" is a really tough sell compared to 1975. Their only other response is "the last thing we changed is to blame".
However, financially, the last thing we changed is something Conservatism wants. Reverting it would mean increasing taxes and allocating that money to social spending. So by process of elimination, the ONLY things they can say that about are progressive social policies. And that's how we get the MAGA movement far right rhetoric.
tl;dr - Today's Conservatives are fundamentally the same Conservatives from 50 years ago, but late-stage capitalism has painted them into a corner where applying the same basic rhetoric they used 50 years ago only makes sense if they move further and further right. It only feels different because saying "we don't need to spend all this money helping people when there's profit to be made" hits different when you currently have robust social spending compared to when food banks are running out of food feeding people with a home and full time job.
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u/newginger 2d ago
It really is so simple. They need to quit getting so caught up in how people live their lives. The rule is easy. Does how they live their lives affect you in any way? Does it hurt you in any way? If not move along and concern yourself about something else.
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u/Dirty_bastardsalad 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't know Funkme1ster. I think there's a lot of truth to what you're getting at and mostly agree, but would the conservatives of yesteryear (in Canada specifically) promote bug-eating conspiracism? Literally, they have that on their website. It's embarrassing. The far-right contingent, the remnants of the old Reform party, has fully taken the wheel now. Harper was able to keep a lid on the crazy but the genie is out of the bottle now. It's a whole new era. Like yes, the core message is the same, but it's big tent politics. Small c low tax business jerk types are getting steamrolled by the MAGA wing of the party. And the MAGA people want change and they want to rock the boat, that's sort of the problem. They want to blow everything up to loot the wreckage of civilization.
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u/SirZapdos 2d ago
Which makes it so weird that the Mulroney kids seem to have fallen headfirst into the Maple MAGA mindset.
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u/ReanimatedBlink 2d ago
Nepo losers love fascism. It helps them justify what they've always felt about themselves, that "they genuinely are better than everyone else".
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u/Comedy86 2d ago
It's a conservative mindset. They want small government and individualism because they think they are smarter than everyone else and that the world revolves around them.
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u/OldDiamondJim 2d ago
TBF, Ben seems as dumb as a stump.
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u/Independent_Bath9691 2d ago
His old man must be rolling in his grave. Ben is disgraceful to this country. You can hear the desperation in his voice and ridiculous spin he puts on things on his morning radio show.
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u/em-n-em613 2d ago
The Conservative party hasn't been worth their salt since they merged with the Reform, it's really embarrassing for a party that used to be respected, even by their opposition. Now there's nothing worth respecting...
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u/FiveFlavourFire 2d ago edited 2d ago
Your parents conservatives were likely PCs. The modern CPC is nothing more than the Reform Party / Canadian Alliance (still mostly western province driven) at present. The reform party pumped their oil money into politics and drowned out anyone moderate and this disgusting husk is what we have left.
In recent years the umbrella that the Liberal party effectively represents has gotten so large that it has created inevitable infighting due to the ideological differences that people were initially comfortable with disagreeing over having to operate in a smaller space as the social centre right to far right has grown in Canada, and as the CPC has grown to peddle western provinces' agendas to the entire country.
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u/Sulanis1 2d ago
doesn't suprise me at all. I lived in Ottawa during the convey and it was aweful.
Also, Pierre Poilievre supported it in real life, and took pictures with a lot of them.
Both of them look like they were bullied in highschool and now they're getting revenge.
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u/MinuteLocksmith9689 2d ago
there was an article in Toronto star about him. He actually was raised under right wing philosophy
Here is the link Poilievre
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u/Sulanis1 2d ago
Good article.
I've known about Believers past and history with right wing politics. He's been this way his entire life.
What a lot of people don't know is that he was adopted in Alberta. His adoptive father came out as gay his Pierre's in his 20s and he still voted against gay marriage. He has no empathy for anyone.
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u/MinuteLocksmith9689 2d ago
yep. I didn’t know much until this election. I strongly disagreed with his bullying of Trudeau and did not understand the appeal.
I researched his voting record and is bunkers…he even voted against school lunches for underprivileged children!! When I mentioned this to a conservative the answer was: why should I pay for it, no handouts!
It looks like empathy is missing from many conservatives.
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u/Sulanis1 2d ago
I don't understand that logic.. but we're ok with corporate welfare.
The hypocrasy. I would rather taxes go to help feed, educate, and keep people healthy. Then give a billionaire a14th summer home.
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u/MinuteLocksmith9689 2d ago
There is no logic. Some are brainwashed as it did in USA as well. I am the same. I want a humane society and I was/am ok paying taxes to make it happen
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u/Purplebuzz 2d ago
So strange PP won’t get a security clearance. Almost like he knows he’s tied to this sort of nonsense and was hoping to already be prime minister before it comes out.
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u/Additional-Friend993 2d ago
There's photos from 2022 of him with Jeremy Mackenzie of Diagolon, who was involved in fomenting and planning the convoy, what this new article is also about. In 2024 suddenly PP has no memory of these events or photos. A man his age shouldn't have a memory this concerning. Why do all these right wing populists have such terrible memories I wonder. 🤔
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u/smartalek75 2d ago
I don’t recall has been the I’m not gonna admit out loud what we all to be true. Been working for decades, unfortunately.
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u/MinuteLocksmith9689 2d ago
His last clearance was in 2017.
Since then there are multiple red flags and makes one wonder that he knows that he will not pass another one. Some examples:
CSIS said that there is evidence that PP won his leadership in 2022 with help from India. It seems multiple MPs were supported by Modi who is part of the same organization, IDU, as Modi….
Etobicoke MP, Don Patel, was dropped the other day when he suggested for people to be send to India for Modi to take care of them. Was Patel paid by Modi?
- and there is a story how PP’s wife helped her i uncle to stay in Canada illegally although he was on deportation order
too many things will be uncovered by security clearance and he has a good chance of not passing.
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u/gohome2020youredrunk 2d ago
Would the security clearance mean an audit of his online activity? If yes, then interesting, and an explanation for his refusal.
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u/Hali-bound-1917 2d ago
A TS gov security clearance means they look at everything. Internet activity fully, credit debt, loans if you pay your taxes..legal stuff, relationship and their activity (but not as invasive) and they got all the numbers for debts right in front at the interview so you can't fudge it, it could also get very very personal. But yes there is something very wrong if someone can't get a security clearance at his level of importance because they put files at priority as needed- if some caf members are deployed on the spot they put their files on priority and they see them within the week, a political head for a political party should be 1st pri. So yeah it's a bit suspicious. 🙃
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u/taquitosmixtape 2d ago
Oh course it’s Andrew Lawton, he’s always been a real pos.
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u/Lumpy_Substance5830 2d ago
He sounds like he was hand-picked by Poilievre, which says it all. What a disgusting party they are.
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u/Haunting_Kangaroo1 2d ago
Ya well he’s been gifted a notoriously conservative riding who just vote blue no matter what and don’t care to be informed…so now this POS will be getting a government salary…
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u/Lumpy_Substance5830 2d ago
Maybe not, let's hope people will not vote for this, well done to the media for outing this mess.
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u/Hay_Fever_at_3_AM 2d ago
We need a full inquiry into the penetration of the the far-right and neo-nazi movements into the Conservative party, and their ties to foreign far-right movements.
Secret signal chats with convoyers? We knows the convoyers included far-right, white nationalist types, as well as American operatives.
This fucking law group representing/protecting them while throwing out Nazi dog whistles?
An 88-page document with instructions on messaging and narrative control was made available to the alt media personalities and influencers by a lawyer with the right-wing Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
CPC members meeting with AfD (German neo-nazi) MPs in private?
This shit cannot be allowed to fester in Canada.
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u/The_Mayor 2d ago
Yeah, kicking out these nobodies means nothing. Nazi sympathizer Leslyn Lewis represents the true rot in the party and she’s lined up for a cabinet position if they win. And she’s not in some whackadoo riding in rural Alberta, she’s in Ontario getting votes from Nazi sympathizing Ontarians.
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u/ApatheticGenXer 2d ago
Follow the money! The groups are being funded by over seas terrorists who want woman covered head to toe, no rights to anyone except the inner circle.
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u/Ralphie99 2d ago
For those who are unaware, it wasn’t an accident that the document was 88 pages. H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. 88 = HH = Heil Hitler.
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u/themaskedcanuck 2d ago
Andrew Lawton, the author of The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks That Shook the World, was part of a clandestine signal chat with members of the convoy.
I'm absolutely shocked I tells ya. Who woulda thunk it.
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u/Thespud1979 2d ago
Are we talking about the Freedom Convoy that didn't bother with the Conservative provincial government that were responsible for the vast majority of COVID restrictions? The ones that focused on trucking because that is one of the only thing the Federal government had jurisdiction on? The truck convoy that had a few dozen of the 400,000+ truckers in this country attending? I'm shocked!
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u/smooth_talker45 2d ago
The people that were mad at JT for Trump’s USA not letting them cross the border unvaccinated 😂
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u/SpaceFine 16h ago
The people who protested mandates that were already scheduled to end in two weeks
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u/rockviper 2d ago
My Canadian brothers, for the love of god, do not put up with this right wing bullshit! I understand you hated Treadau with a passion, but please don't fuck yourselves like we did!
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u/Away-Combination-162 2d ago
A vote for PP is a vote for fascism, MAGA, bigotry, racism and misogyny. I’m convinced now
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u/UniqueMedia928 2d ago
I posted this link in another group, but feel like it belongs here too.
"Vecchio said she believes the Conservatives are at risk of losing the seat."
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u/ParsnipNaive8494 1d ago
Oh, I really hope she’s right, but they always seem to win this riding by 60%. So far no NDP running so maybe.
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u/sonicpix88 2d ago
They'd see him as a perfect candidate? He's a crybaby convoy supporter and member.
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u/BehBeh11 2d ago
And PP made no secret of his support for the convoy , even buying coffee for some and smiling with them for photo ops.
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u/liltimidbunny 2d ago
Omg it drives me batty that this awful stuff is in our country. Canada can do better.
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u/Lothleen 2d ago
That's because they were all Trump supporters until Trump got in power now they are all trying to make you forget they supported the convoy and trump.
Remember PP was out shaking the hands with the convoy people.
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u/thefrail158 2d ago
Well, here’s another one wonder how long it’s gonna take for them to ditch this one as well
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u/psychoCMYK 2d ago
The group chat member list is also notable given some of the names were under court order to have no contact with one another at the time.
Both Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were released on bail under a condition that they not communicate, either “directly or indirectly” with one another. Lich was also ordered to have no contact with a third convoy leader, Tom Marazzo. The names of all three convoy leaders appear in the group chat.
Good luck with the sentencing guys 🥰
Hope it comes out like a cactus ☺️
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u/lionhearthelm 2d ago
Perhaps this shit-show of an election can showcase how we've lost the plot about holding politicians accountable like my parents generation seemed to have done. Round up all these idiots on both sides and let them scramble to find real jobs for once and have their ideas fade into the nether.
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u/Prize_Horror_1748 2d ago
No wonder Pp doesn’t want a security check. Imagine what they would find? All sorts of communications with his MAGA overlords. He’s such a pathetic piece of shit.
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u/SniffMyDiaperGoo 2d ago
Guess we’re going to settle whether we’re as dumb as Americans or not pretty soon
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u/TriciaFenn88 2d ago
Everything that Lawton has done over the years would once have been the end of a political career or election run. I hope the majority votes left in that riding.
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u/Windowarrior 2d ago
Unfortunately it's polling on track to be a bigger CPC win than the past 4 elections there.
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u/CauseSpecialist5026 2d ago
Colour me surprised, they work together? Maybe come up with some talking point and repeat it on fronts? Never.
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u/TryingMyBest455 2d ago
“Since leaving the group chat, Subramanya says she has learned “several of those people in that group” are “outright bigots.” Subramanya pointed to Bethan Nodwell, one of the group chat’s admins, as a “rabid antisemite bigot” who sent her “vile tweets mocking Hinduism.”
Evan Balgord, Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, notes the full group chat member list reads like a who’s who of right-wing media personalities and far-right activists. “Some of these people are quite extreme in my opinion,” Balgord told PressProgress.
“Bethan Nodwell, for example, is a self-identified white nationalist who has denied the Holocaust,” Balgord pointed out. “Shadoe Davis, another member of the chat, promoted the neo-Nazi Holocaust denial documentary series ‘Europa: The Last Battle’, which is a spanning piece of propaganda that blames Jewish people for starting the Second World War as part of a larger plot to lead to the foundation of Israel, while Adolf Hitler’s Nazis were merely defending themselves and Europe.”
Balgord added other names on the group chat member list are “associated with the white nationalist network Diagolon.”
The group chat member list is also notable given some of the names were under court order to have no contact with one another at the time.”
Colour me shocked that Lawton would associate with those kinds of people /s
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u/guyintoit 2d ago
What more do people need to see to understand that the conservatives are the biggest con ever to hit Canadian politics. Conservatives are MAGA plain and simple. Our media are not being honest. The party is absolutely full of right wing nut jobs.
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u/Consistent-Shoe-6735 2d ago
How did these guy have 10 years to prepare for an election for it all to be scandals
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u/squeekyq 2d ago
He will say anything to get votes to the mainstream while ensuring he keeps his maga folks on board. If he is elected he will align himself to trump policies.
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u/Ululating_Jester 1d ago
Check of Bay of Quinte riding. The local conservative candidate (Ryan Williams...yes that Ryan Williams that was in the national spotlight for using ChatGPT on official releases) created a website for the opposing Liberal candidate that routs traffic back to his website. Clearly in contravention of the Canada Elections Act.
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u/Basic_Ask8109 1d ago
Ugh... So this is the guy in my riding. Even more reason for me to vote Liberal. The previous conservative MP retired so her seat is up for grabs. Unfortunately it will probably still go conservative because I don't see Pierre dropping this candidate.
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u/Windowarrior 1d ago
Karen vecchio didn't retire she was pretty much forced out for not playing ball with PP. There is a good interview with her where she goes out of her way to not endorse Lawton without explicitly stating he's a worthless candidate.
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u/Old-Assistant7661 2d ago
I think Andrew has really changed the man he is compared to his younger years. On true north he was actually reasonable, but he was clearly a complete asshole in his younger years. Not everyone stays the person they were, people change. But I'll admit as a conservative that he's a horrible candidate to put forth. Both parties need to do better at picking people, from threatening of hanging, to shipping people off for bounties. I honestly don't understand how these people make it past even an hour's worth of research.
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u/cannibaltom 2d ago
CPC hasn't dropped this guy yet?
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u/Playful-Ostrich42 1d ago
No because Signal chats of non-protected information are not illegal. And we have known that the cons supported this from the beginning. Not a shock they were involved in helping organize it.
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u/ANGRYLATINCHANTING 2d ago
Man, if only I could get my family to love Signal as much as the conservatives do. First thing they asked me is "why not WhatsApp? I have nothing to hide".
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u/Hopeful-Passage6638 2d ago
Not "Freedom Convoy". A more accurate description would be Krazy Kovidiot Klownvoy.
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u/Kliptik81 1d ago
Dear lord, I really hope PP does not win. Canada will be in worse shape for sure.
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u/Cant_kush_this0709 2d ago
A vote for PC is a vote for Trump!!! If you really love your country and its people, vote Liberal or NDP. But do not vote for Blue PC MAGA. THE RED WACE IS COMING!!!
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u/Nomaddad55 2d ago
Looks lime P.P. Could use a mansierre to hold up those man boobies. Is manboob shaming a thing? My bad.
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u/SmoothOperator89 2d ago
I've never heard of Signal before, and now it's the center of two government scandals. They have the worst or best marketing team in the world.
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u/Nomaddad55 2d ago
C’mon, we all know he and conservatives were supporting the Freedom Convoy! Their occupation would not have lasted so long had they not been supportive. That’s old news
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u/offft2222 2d ago
Maple maga also refuses to get national security clearance
I guess the NDA would prohibit him from Signal chats - outrageous /s
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u/Mr_Komble 2d ago
PP looks like a fool with this smile, like that orange clown with his smile... What a coincidence!😂
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u/seangraves1984 1d ago
Another one bites the dust! Dum dum dum And another one gone And another one gone Another one bites the dust!
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u/save-pandas 1d ago
I’m American and we use Signal (an app) for military plans, international relations, intelligence sources, and anything related to government security so I don’t really understand what the fuss is all about? Are Canadians just pussies or rational human beings?
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u/Myllicent 1d ago
Their choice of messaging app isn’t the issue here.
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u/save-pandas 1d ago
Neither is your understanding of satire. Oh Canada.
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u/Myllicent 1d ago
MAGA Americans have been genuinely defending Hegseth using Signal for communicating military plans in a Signal chat, so how would we distinguish your imitation of MAGA from the genuine article?
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1d ago
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u/Next-Worth6885 17h ago
So, what is the issue here? A Conservative candidate cannot be in a private conservative group chat with other conservatives?
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u/Myllicent 16h ago
I suggest reading the article to see what the issues are, eg. a Conservative Party candidate associating with Neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and people (now convicted of the crimes they were charged with) apparently actively breaking their bail conditions.
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u/Next-Worth6885 16h ago
I did read the article. I just didn’t know you had to 100% agree with everyone in a group chat all the time on every issue. Even if that group chat has 50 people in it. I guess I need to leave my fantasy baseball chat because one of the guys is a Yankee fan and I like the Tigers. I suppose it is not enough that we both generally agree that baseball is fun.
The left has a habit of associating with questionable people as well. I remember a time when the Prime Minister of Canada invited an actual Nazi to a Ukraine rally in Toronto. I think it is safe to assume that most of the people who would attend a rally like that would share the same general view about the war in Ukraine while have very different opinions about other political issues.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hunka-invited-toronto-event-zelenskyy-1.7105610
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u/BobbyJoeMcgee 2d ago
Nobody would use an app like that unless they’re trying to hide something. It’s ridiculous to think otherwise
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u/Myllicent 2d ago
Signal is a reputable open source messaging app used by millions of people. I use it myself.
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u/mechanic1908 2d ago
Did he condone the kidnapping and deportation of a Canadian citizen to a country where he would probably be killed? ,, oh wait that was that other guy,,,,
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17h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Myllicent 17h ago
An American conservative political commentator asked Trump if he was ”looking forward to working with Pierre Poilievre” after the election, and Trump said: ”I am. I am, if that’s what happens. Certainly, it will be very good. Our views would be more aligned, certainly.”
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u/youarenotgonnalikeme 2d ago
We need to investigate signal…seems like all these corrupt conservatives are hiding all the shit they’re talking on the app.
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u/Traditional-Chicken3 2d ago
Im absolutely shocked
That this is newsworthy.
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u/squeakynickles 1d ago
You don't think it's notable that a running candidate was closely conversing with organized white supremacists?
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u/drewdipshits 2d ago
At this point I expect anyone PP has surrounded himself with to have something like this in their closet. 4 conservative MPs dropped this week and counting. PP fanned the fires of these people’s maple maga bullshit and now with election around the corner he can reap what he’s sowed.