Pierre Poilievre’s campaign claims record-breaking Conservative memberships sales in bid for party leadership

OTTAWA - From its earliest days, Pierre Poilievre's bid for leadership of the federal Conservative party was being called a movement by those in his inner circle.

And now, it appears that movement has smashed records for Conservative party membership sales and outpaced even how many members the Liberals had for the race that crowned Justin Trudeau.

Poilievre's campaign said Saturday 311,958 membership were sold directly by his campaign, with sources telling the Star upwards of 70,000 alone were sold in the 48 hours before Friday's midnight sales deadline.

That number would eclipse the total memberships sold for each of the party's 2020 and 2017 leadership races, and cement his status as the front-runner among the six people vying for the job.

Feeling incredibly proud of the Poilievre movement for this record-setting achievement," said Sen. Leo Housakos, who is among the chairs of Poilievre's campaign.

By comparison - Andrew Scheer sold fewer than 10,000 memberships directly in support of his winning bid in 2017.

The populist front-runner in that year's contest, celebrity businessman Kevin O'Leary, claimed to have sold 33,336 memberships, but without enough support in Quebec, he eventually dropped out.

In that race there were 259,000 members altogether, while in 2020 it was nearly 270,000.

The Star couldn't independently verify Poilievre's sales figure, nor that of any other candidate.

Campaigns know their membership count based on sales tracked through their websites. A chief strategist for the Poilievre campaign has urged the party to validate their claims.

Last night, Pierre's campaign wrote CPC HQ asking it to publicly release the number of memberships sold through the pierre4pm.ca website. We encourage all campaigns to follow suit," Jenni Byrne wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.

Party officials had told MPs in mid-May the numbers were already approaching the 400,000 mark, and had already hired extra staff to begin confirming new members.

Delays in that process in turn created delays in circulating updated membership lists to campaigns, leading several to demand last week for the party to release the most current list right after Friday's deadline so they could get to work courting members.

The party declined.

Party president Rob Batherson said it will take time before the final total is released, and the final list sent - the rules stipulate they must have it by July 29.

In the meantime, neither the party nor race organizers will comment on the numbers coming from campaigns, Batherson said.

We are grateful for the hard work of the six leadership candidates and their campaign teams," he said in a statement, adding it is a sign that Canadians are ready for change from the Liberal government.

Poilievre, now in his seventh term as an Ottawa-area MP, launched his leadership bid on Feb. 5, just days after former leader Erin O'Toole was removed from the job by his fellow MPs.

As the party's finance critic for years, he'd built a reputation on that file, and was already immensely popular with the party's rank-and-file for, among other things, his ability to get under the Liberals' skin.

He began the race with a mailing list that already had tens of thousands of names, thanks to his prowess on social media and his tactic of launching petitions on specific issues to bulk up his digital Rolodex.

His leadership campaign centres around a promise to give Canadians control back over their lives, and remove the gatekeepers" he holds accountable for everything from housing shortages to the high price of gas.

Specific promises include moves to speed up housing construction and immigration, evergreen political issues championed by other candidates in the race and even by other political parties.

But he's also attracted attention for more politically loaded pledges, including firing the governor of the Bank of Canada - a move some warn undermines the crucial independence of the bank - and pulling out of the World Economic Forum, a promise that dances with baseless conspiracy theories about the WEF's role.

His campaign has had a boost from grassroots supporters of the so-called Freedom Convoy, the loose-knit movement whose protests over COVID-19 mandates also encompassed anti-government themes. Members of those groups routinely shared word of his rallies and encouraged new members to sign up.

Altogether, it's led to election-style rallies with thousands of people packing halls big and small across Canada, energetically cheering on his bid to, as he puts it, become prime minister.

When Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ran for leadership in 2013, a total of 294,002 signed up for that race, which included non-paying members.

A membership in the Conservative party costs a minimum of $15.

Membership sales alone aren't enough to win.

The party uses a points system to elect a leader. How many points each candidate receives equals their share of the vote in the 338 ridings in Canada.

So, a riding that has 10,000 members and one that has 100 are afforded equal weight.

Poilievre's campaign shared a regional breakdown in a campaign staff call Saturday morning, parts of which were provided to the Star.

In Alberta, the party's heartland, he sold 71,759 memberships, while in Quebec, a province with traditionally low membership numbers, he sold 25,453.

Poilievre's team claims to have sold over 1,000 memberships in 111 ridings, and over 500 in another 100 spots.

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest's campaign said Friday they believe the where" of their membership sales is more important than their final number - which they have not released.

The campaign said it exceeded targets in areas with traditionally small membership, including Atlantic Canada, Vancouver, Calgary, rural New Brunswick, urban Ontario, and Quebec.

Vote efficiency is key," said Mike Coates, Charest's campaign chair, in a statement.

It is now confirmed that there will be no winner on the first ballot. This is far from the coronation many were expecting at the onset of this race."

Candidate Patrick Brown said Friday he sold 150,000 memberships. He's been carrying out that work quietly for months building on long-standing ties with diverse community groups, including Sikhs and Tamils.

He too claimed to have dominated ridings with traditionally low numbers.

Together, we are building a broad, multifaith, multicultural coalition that will win this leadership race and win a Conservative Majority Government in the years ahead," he said Friday.

Candidates Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber and Leslyn Lewis have yet to release details on their own sales.

Party members will vote by mail-in ballot. The new leader is expected to be announced Sept. 10.

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz