Last week, something new and odd happened in the federal election campaign. A news organization dubbed a candidate "mysterious."
The international man of mystery is Québec candidate Pierre-Thomas Asselin. His spokesperson refused to give Le Soleil basic biographical information, such as age or profession, about the Tory hopeful.
On Tuesday, he appeared in a Stephen Harper press conference in Québec City, but stayed silent.
Asselin Jr. isn't the only Conservative candidate keeping quiet. Toronto-area incumbent Joe Daniel is refusing to give interviews until after the election on Oct. 19.
My brief call to office of CPC candidate in Don Valley North, Joe Daniel: No interviews until after #elxn42 https://t.co/Mtxv7arV16
The Conservatives' website lists biographical pages for each candidate, but all are bare...except for Stephen Harper's page.
In addition, many of the social media links only lead to the main Conservative party page. At least most candidates have their own websites where voters can find information.
Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday morning that all nine Tory candidates in the capital area had bailed on a briefing about local issues.
Regrettably all 9 Conservative candidates for a municipal briefing either didn't respond to our invitation or cancelled their participation
The situation seems to have been rectified, though.
Just had a call from @PierrePoilievre - pleased that he has personally committed to attend (with colleagues) a briefing in the next 2 weeks
Scheduling didn’t work for today but look forward to meeting with @JimWatsonOttawa sometime in next two weeks.
The Conservative party did not respond to questions from BuzzFeed Canada about why some candidates are staying silent.
But as some have noted, the Conservatives — known for keeping tight control over party messaging — have employed similar tactics in the past.
@glen_mcgregor memories of 2011 when a lot of #CPC candidates skipped debates.
Eventually, though, the ~Mystery Tories~ will need to start talking if they want people to know what they're all about.
