Prime Minister Stephen Harper Role Political figure Name Patrick Muttart | Occupation Political Consultant Alma mater University of Ottawa Education University of Ottawa | |
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Born February 17, 1972 (age 52)
Woodstock, Ontario ( 1972-02-17 ) Party Conservative Party of Canada | ||
Patrick Muttart is a conservative political strategist based in the United States. Originally from Canada he was one of the key strategists behind the Conservative Party of Canada and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s rise to power.
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Career
As Harper’s deputy chief of staff Muttart played a major role shaping the Conservative Government’s policy agenda and communications strategy. He was the architect of Conservative Party ad campaigns targeting former Liberal Party of Canada leaders Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. Muttart left Harper’s office in 2009. He continues to comment on current events.
Outside North America Muttart has campaigned for the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. He is considered an expert on the behaviour and attitudes of working class voters in English-speaking countries. Muttart’s collaboration with centre-right parties has been cited as an example of global knowledge transfer between conservative campaign officials.
Criticism from the left
New Democratic Party leadership candidate Brian Topp, a former union official, has accused Muttart of advocating strategies that manipulate working class voters into voting against their own economic and social best interests.
2011 campaign controversy
During the final week of the 2011 Canadian election, Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of Sun Media Corporation, accused Muttart of attempting to undermine Sun Media by giving a fake photograph of Ignatieff to a Sun executive. Mercury LLC, Muttart’s employer, called Peladeau’s assertion “false and downright bizarre”. The Conservative campaign denied Muttart had behaved improperly but distanced itself from the controversy by announcing Muttart would have “no further role” in the election. Muttart was reportedly furious.