O’Toole names senior staff

Durham MP Erin O’Toole is beginning to build the team that will help guide him as the new federal leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

After taking the Conservative Party leadership race on Aug. 24 with 57 per cent of the votes against Peter MacKay, O’Toole has announced three new senior staff appointments and one nomination.

Tausha Michaud has been appointed to chief of staff to the leader of the official opposition.

Michaud, a long-time political veteran with more than 10 years of experience working in municipal, provincial, and federal government, formerly served as O’Toole’s senior advisor when he was Canada’s minister of veteran affairs.

Fred DeLorey has been appointed to national campaign manager, most recently serving as national campaign manager for O’Toole in his leadership campaign.

DeLorey previously served as director of field operations for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and as director of political operations for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He was also the national spokesperson for the Conservative Party’s majority winning 2011 election campaign.

Lastly, Alupa Clarke has been appointed as senior advisor to the leader.

A former Conservative MP for Beauport-Limoilou (2015 to 2019), Clarke was O’Toole’s leadership campaign chair in Quebec. Before being elected for the first time in 2015, Clarke served in the Canadian Armed Forces in the ranks of the 6^th field artillery regiment, based in Levis, Quebec.

O’Toole also nominated Janet Fryday Dorey for the role of executive director of the Conservative Party. As per the Conservative party’s constitution, the role must be ratified by the National Council of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Fryday Dorey is the former president of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party, and has chaired provincial election campaigns and managed countless campaigns across Canada. She is the current Atlantic organizer for the national party.