Derek Sloan’s Ontario Upstart Party Hires Former Trump Adviser Roger Stone

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Roger Stone, an early campaign adviser to Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, has been named strategic adviser to the upstart Ontario Party, according to a party announcement.

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“As a seasoned veteran of tough politics, Roger’s insights into campaign strategies designed to take back Ontario will be invaluable to our grassroots campaign going forward,” the ad reads.

As an American political consultant, Stone has worked for Republican presidents and presidential candidates since the days of Richard Nixon. He is also a longtime friend of Trump’s and worked on his campaign until August 2015, when Stone announced he had resigned, though Trump said Stone was fired.

He was arrested in January 2019 as a result of special counsel’s investigation of Robert Mueller and was later convicted of seven felony counts. But, in July 2020, just days before Stone began serving a 40-month sentence, Trump commuted his sentence; Stone was later pardoned in December 2020.

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Founded in 2018, the Ontario Party is a conservative alternative to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives. Its current leader is Derek Sloan, a former Federal Conservative Member of Parliament. Sloan ran for party leadership in 2020 after Andrew Scheer stepped down. He lost and was later kicked out of the Conservative caucus. In recent years, Sloan has been outspoken in opposing COVID-19 public health measures, speaking out against vaccine passports and promoting anti-vaccine talking points.

The Ontario Party, in its bylaws, says “we believe that all human beings have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and private property,” and says it represents limited government. He supports the development of private hospitals and promises to “guarantee” the rights of freedom of expression.

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Sloan became party leader in December 2021 and is running for a seat in the upcoming provincial election in the Hastings-Lennox and Addington borough.

“I am absolutely delighted to announce that my friend, legendary American Conservative political strategist Roger Stone, a man whose name is synonymous with successful election campaigns, will be joining our team as Senior Strategic Advisor to the Party of Ontario,” Sloan tweeted Monday.

Stone has recently come under scrutiny for any role he may have played in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots in Washington. Stone appeared before the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack, but invoked his rights under the US Fifth Amendment and refused to testify to avoid self-incrimination.

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