Political “assassin” claims to have “gutted” Scheer, Poilievre and Karahalios

Disclaimer: Since this article was published in August 2020, David John Parker has become the leader of the Take Back Alberta (TBA) organization that seeks to organize grassroots Alberta conservatives for provincial political initiatives. Since doing this The National Telegraph can agree with the idea that this article may not represent Mr. Parker anymore. Mr. Parker has made statements indicating he no longer engages in behaviour like what is described below.

The story of the man who claims to have taken down Andrew Scheer and Pierre Poilievre

Erin O’Toole’s National Director of Field Operations, David Parker, has been caught once again bragging about his vengeful and unethical political behaviour.  Parker, who was caught bragging about “ruining (Jim Karahalios) entire life”, is now claiming to be responsible for the political assassination of Andrew Scheer and Pierre Poilievre.

The “take down” of Andrew Scheer

In text messages that The National Telegraph was able to authenticate, David Parker clearly outlines his malicious intentions towards Andrew Scheer as early as December 10th 2019 saying “A leader of the opposition needs to be gutted”.   Then on December 12th 2019, the day Andrew Scheer resigned, David Parker texted this:

This is what Parker had to say about the incident the day after:

David Parker is a senior member of the O’Toole campaign, making his admission that he was “pretty public about (his) intention to assassinate him (Scheer)” shocking as it displays either a complete lack of ethics or political tact depending on your perspective.

All of this aligns with the Globe and Mail’s reporting in November when they covered a staged walk-out of an Andrew Scheer’s speech by David Parker.

“Erin will do what I tell him”

What is clear from these messages is that David Parker sees himself a political hitman on behalf of Erin O’Toole. But is Parker the man he claims to be?  Is he doing O’Toole’s dirty work in exchange for advancement in his career? In this case Parker claims he will be made Director of Political Operations of the CPC if O’Toole wins the leadership.

Before jumping to any conclusions about the connections between Erin O’Toole and his campaign there are a few more texts of Parker’s that need to be evaluated, especially this one where he claims “Erin will do what I tell him”.

According to the source providing TNT with these texts, David Parker is not controlling Erin O’Toole, but acting as a rogue political operative.  That assessment is backed up by this message where Parker claims to be acting with the knowledge/consent of Erin O’Toole and his Campaign Manager (Fred) and his Campaign Chair (Walied).

A track record of attacking fellow Conservatives

For David Parker this seems to be part of a pattern of behaviour as he was caught by the National Telegraph sending this message about destroying Jim Karahalios’s life even after he was kicked out of the leadership race implying retribution in his personal life, all for his criticism of O’Toole’s Campaign Chair Walied Soliman.

Jim Karahalios was not the only political figure Parker has attacked. Here former Executive Director of the Conservative party Dustin Van Vugt is calling out Parker for a “petty attack” on one of Peter MacKay’s senior campaign staffers Michael Diamond. David Parker did later apologize for this.

Whether or not David Parker is really O’Toole’s political assassin is unclear.  What is clear though is that Parker is openly operating as though he is; bragging about his public takedown of Andrew Scheer and also claiming that he is the reason Pierre Poilievre did not enter the CPC leadership race. At the time, before he bowed out of the race for family reasons Poilievre was perceived as the front runner.

“No Jews”

David Parker’s ethical failings extend way beyond his self-proclaimed role as political assassin, he also failed to report an incident of racism and Antisemitism from people inside the campaign when he took a directive of “no Jews either” in stride when speaking about hiring preferences in Quebec.

There is a great irony here that the O’Toole campaign asked for the disqualification of Jim Karahalios alleging racism and Islamophobia, yet seem to tolerate a “No Jews” attitude within their own camp.

The National Telegraph reached out to Jim Karahalios for comment and he said “”Erin O’Toole and members of his team have a history of bullying and hatred in politics against those who disagree. The fact that they would allow someone like David Parker to remain on their campaign when he threatens to destroy my entire life just because I campaigned, is no surprise, and consistent with their history.”  

David Parker also seems to hold some very questionable views when it comes to his own political friends. Here he refers to a member of the O’Toole campaign team, a Pakistani born Muslim community organizer, as a “swamp creature”.

Here he goes after Stephen Harper’s former campaign manager Jenni Bryne, who is a well-respected member of the Conservative party.

The source wanted to clarify “this should not reflect badly on the wider O’Toole campaign.  Erin O’Toole is a fine man, and there are many great people on the campaign team.  This is really a case of a rotten apple.”

“I’m a wreck”

Further evidence that David Parker was probably not operating at the express command of Erin O’Toole while performing his self-professed political hit jobs can be seen here where he admits to acting on impulse and under the influence of alcohol.

There are two possible explanations for all of these text messages. Either David Parker is a master of political intrigue and a fearsome weapon of the O’Toole campaign, or an insecure man who exaggerates his political power for female attention.  

At this point, whether David Parker is telling the truth about his political exploits or not should be irrelevant to the outcome of Parker’s status inside the O’Toole Campaign. They have a senior staffer claiming that Erin O’Toole is involved in unethical political behaviour. If true, he should be let go for either his actions or his inability to keep them secret depending on your perspective. If he is lying then he is still spreading rumours that make him and Erin O’Toole look very bad to the public.

Erin O’Toole is trying to market himself as a “true blue” Conservative and a man of honor.  However, he has a problem with his National Director of Field Operations who paints O’Toole as a man who will smile at Andrew Scheer and praise him in public, all the while sliding a knife into his back.