New book details how a would-be prime minister was defeated

CARLETON – The election upset of Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre in the federal riding of Carleton April 28 was the result of two-and-a-half years of work by Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy. The stunning defeat of seven-term incumbent Poilievre made international headlines. Now a new book is out detailing how Fanjoy, a retiree from Manotick, defeated a leader who only three-months before was expected to become Prime Minister.

Ottawa-based author, journalist, and Ottawa Citizen columnist Brigitte Pellerin’s new book Bruce Fanjoy’s Apple Crumble Recipe: How one man defeated a would-be prime minister details what led up to a historical campaign win in a veritable David and Goliath story in Canadian politics.

“Politics is a people business,” Pellerin said about Fanjoy’s campaign success in connecting with voters. “If you connect with people at the basic level, everyday conversations – just show up and talk to people.”

The book, which was written on a very short time line following the April 28 election is not only a detailed account of how Fanjoy accomplished a staggering feat in politics, but also how a candidate crossed the invisible political lines to address a riding that was unhappy with its choices and opted for change. Pellerin was a consultant on the campaign.

“The people of Carleton made the choice to kick Pierre out,” Pellerin said.

The book, which is available on Amazon’s Publishing imprint, was self-published but only due to expediency of getting the book to print.

“People are interested right now in this story. I wasn’t sure if people would be interested in a year-and-a-half,” explained Pellerin. “I wanted it documented, wanted to inspire normal people. I want them to know how this happened.”

Retired, Fanjoy was unhappy after seeing Poilievre and some other Conservative MPs on Parliament Hill during the 2022 Trucker Convoy encampments interacting and supporting protesters. Once Poilievre became Conservative Party leader, Fanjoy looked to help organize and find a candidate who would challenge Poilievre locally in the next federal election – whenever that was held. Fanjoy eventually realized he was going to have to be that candidate.

“The rise of Trumpian politics, headed by Poilievre, heading towards Conservatives – Bruce did not like that,” detailed Pellerin. “He set about looking for a candidate. For some reason, no one wanted to do that and he talked himself into doing it.”

Fanjoy started campaigning, first for the Liberal nomination in the riding, then as the candidate for Carleton. Over a more than two year period, he knocked on 15,000 doors and met people across the riding – many who were unhappy.

“His strategy was to speak to big ‘C’ and small ‘c’ conservatives. A lot of conservatives voted as a protest in Carleton.”

Pellerin said that one of the important parts of the story is that voter turnout in the riding was among the highest in the election. The national voter turnout was 68 per cent, in Carleton it was nearly 82 per cent.

“Bruce gave people a chance to engage with the process in a way that people found meaningful. It gave them hope that they could make a difference.”

About two weeks before the election, Globe and Mail parliamentary bureau chief Robert Fife broke the story that Poilievre may lose his seat, and that the party was sending in resources to help keep Carleton blue.

“My reaction was ‘about time they found out’,” Pellerin said. “We had know for some time that it was absolutely possible. We knew from the beginning there was a path for victory. There was not a lot of room for error.”

They continued that momentum started after a viral video went on the internet where Poilievre chomped on an apple while goading a local news journalist during an interview. The apple video is even reflected in Pellerin’s title for this book.

Pellerin continued that word of mouth and meeting people – a lot of people – led to Fanjoy’s victory the morning after the election.

“It was a campaign of firsts. The number of people who were involved with the campaign had never done so before. This was a campaign where people who never did things before were doing so. People were so happy to have a way to be involved.”

Bruce Fanjoy’s Apple Crumble Recipe: How one man defeated a would-be prime minister is available through the author’s website at https://www.brigittepellerin.com , and on Amazon.ca.