By Andrew Macdonald
Topic: MacPolitics: Jordi Morgan Advising Tory Tim Houston Campaign – A Former Canadian Alliance Candidate
As The Notebook reported over the weekend the advertising agency contracted to advise the PC party campaign in the NS election is Revolve, the well-known agency founded 35-years ago by Phil Otto.
In recent weeks, Otto made a significant hire of the one and only well known broadcasting personality Jordi Morgan, who becomes the first government lobby position to be created at Revolve, based in offices on the Bedford waterfront.
And, now during the campaign, Revolve is doing the agency work for the Team Tim Houston Tories – including online advertising, and social media.
“Jordi is the person on the Revolve team managing the PC party work”“, Otto tells The Notebook.
During the first year of the pandemic, Morgan continuously made headlines in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and regional media outlets.
He fought for the survival of small business operators across the region, many severely impacted by the economic meltdown from COVID-19.
He made the news as the high profile Atlantic vice-president for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which has circa 11,000 members in this region.
Jordi Morgan and Tareq Hadhad, of Peace By Chocolates, based in Antigonish.
But last spring, Morgan was shuffled out of the role, which he has performed in since being hired by the business lobby group in 2014; he has lost his job because CFIB is downsizing and cutting back expenses as part of the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.
So, a champion of small business operators throughout the pandemic last winter, Morgan, himself, become a victim of the pandemic as CFIB restructures its offices across the nation.
Morgan has been a household name in Halifax, across the province, and the region thanks to a long-running legendary broadcast journalism career.
The 62-year-old native of Moncton spent the 1990s as both a radio and TV journalist with CBC.
He also is a former anchor on the Rogers radio station in Halifax, having in 2013 been restructured out of that hosting gig after a series of station layoffs that year.
While he has impeccable communication skills and talents, he has also dabbled in political work.
Chester’s Tim Moore, left with Jordi Morgan
A former 2000 candidate in Dartmouth for the Canadian Alliance, he also worked in Ottawa in 2001 for Stockwell Day, and would later serve with Stephen Harper.
He also once toiled for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), a Halifax-based think tank.
Morgan’s spouse, Sherri Morgan is on the NS PC ticket in Halifax Citadel.
In case you missed the Saturday story on Phil Otto’s agency, Revolve advising the Tory Tim Houston campaign, here is that story:
MacPolitics: Phil Otto’s Revolve Agency Backed Grit Randy Delorey, Now Working With PC’s Tim Houston
By Andrew Macdonald
The Progressive Conservative party led by Tim Houston has contracted well-known ad agency entrepreneur Phil Otto to do digital and social media and advertising in the campaign leading up to the Aug. 17 provincial election.
Otto’s agency Revolve did similar political work last February for Randy Delorey in his unsuccessful bid to become the leader of the Liberal party.
Explaining his current work for the PC leader, Otto explains he is not a partisan individual although he donated personally to Delorey’s leadership bid.
Having known Otto since 2002 and infrequent chats over the last two decades, I can definitely state it’s true when he says he is non-partisan.
He has worked on different political campaigns, multiple parties, as an agency that is paid to do the political work. He was involved early on with the 2018 leadership bid of Tim Houston, which saw him win on the first ballot against four opponents.
Revolve was founded 35 years ago by Otto, who was raised in Lower Sackville. He is the dean of the Halifax regional agency business.
“We have a pretty good track record on election campaigns in the past. I am relatively non-partisan (but Revolve) has worked on Rodney MacDonald’s campaign, Mike Savage’s campaigns, and I have worked on Randy Delorey’s leadership bid. We have worked with Rick Perkins in the past. We did (campaigns) for Peter Christie, (and)Don Downe,” he tells The Notebook.
MacDonald is a former Tory premier, Mike Savage is Halifax mayor, Perkins is a South Shore Conservative candidate, the late Christie was a Tory MLA for Bedford, and Downe was a 1993 Liberal leadership contender.
To help elect Houston, “I think we are doing everything except for television (advertising) buy,” so that includes digital and social media and online advertising.
Question: You did support Delorey’s leadership bid last winter. If he had won the race to become Liberal leader, would you have supported his campaign in this election?
“Well, remember, it is a little bit different in publicly supporting somebody and having their agency hired. We’re not (partisan), no we’re not.”
On Backing Randy Delorey
(Back in February, I ran this story on Otto’s work for Grit Randy Delorey
One of the interesting backers of Randy Delorey’s campaign is agency owner and founder, Phil Otto.
He also appears on the donation list for Delorey. The list was released in January but did not come with specific dollar amounts of the donation list.
Otto owns Revolve, an agency that is headquartered in Bedford and founded decades ago.
Otto joined the Delorey campaign in January after Delorey and his campaign manager Dr. John Gillis asked for some communications work from Revolve, says the agency founder.
“Revolve is doing some video work for Randy, but this is more me in a volunteer capacity of stepping up and working with their campaign team. It is me personally,” explains Otto.
Otto says he “is not really active” in politics, “but I support the person, not the party. One of these three will be the next premier, at least until the next election, and I felt as a business person in Nova Scotia, it is important to have a vested interest in supporting who I think is the best candidate.”
Back in the Progressive Conservative party leadership race in 2018, “myself and some friends, Darren Nantes, Matt Harris, Paul Douglas, Cory Bell and John Flemming, and a couple of others, said whoever wins that PC leadership campaign will be head of Opposition and potentially be premier someday. Let’s see what they are all about,” adds Otto.
Back then, “we each brought a different (PC) candidate into our boardroom over the period of a month, asked questions, heard them out, heard their story, and we are all happy to see Tim (Houston) voted into (the leader’s) position,” says Otto.
Phil Otto’s agency in Bedford is one of the deans of that industry in Halifax, called Revolve.
“It’s really about just being involved. No, I wouldn’t call myself a staunch Liberal or staunch Conservative. It is just (about) helping good humans who are doing the right thing for our province,” Otto tells The Notebook.
Question: What was the thing that attracted you to volunteer on the Delorey team?
“I think Randy has got that really great combination of common sense. He was a cabinet minister and minister of three very big portfolios. He did an excellent job in all three, and I think he has a vision of where we need to go. Hearing that articulated by him, I am looking forward to him being the next premier.”
Otto believes Delorey can win the next election, which has to be called by the spring of 2022. “Yeah, very possibly. I think he has the best opportunity,” he said last winter.
If Delorey wins the convention, Otto does not know if he will be active in the next election. “I am taking one campaign at a time,” he said at the time of this chat, in February.
Otto explained his role in the Delorey ticket is to offer communications support.
“My role would be to make sure the communication, the video ads, the radio (spots) and the mailers — all of the pieces are in Randy’s voice. That they are authentic and consistent,” Otto previously told The Notebook.
