The Corridor Files → Edition 001
The Succession Machine
Who actually runs Conservative politics now — the operative inventory.
The top line
Fourteen months after the 2025 election, Conservative power runs through two structures that no longer fully trust each other. Inside: an Opposition Leader's Office consolidated under Steve Outhouse, who since May 2026 holds both the chief of staff role and the national campaign manager title — parliamentary office and campaign machine under one operative [CBC]. Outside: the Ontario/Harper-era operative class — Kory Teneycke, Nick Kouvalis, and the network around them — whose criticism of the 2025 campaign run by Jenni Byrne went public and stayed there.
The fault line stopped being deniable at the Calgary Stampede in July, when the leader's jab at "Liberal lobbyists from out east" — read universally as aimed at Teneycke — drew a public rebuke from the BC Conservative candidate Teneycke and Kouvalis were backing [National Observer].
What the full edition covers
| 1 | The OLO consolidation — Outhouse's dual mandate, Aaron Wudrick's rise to deputy chief of staff, Ian Todd's retirement, and what the structure says about how the next campaign will be run [CBC] |
| 2 | The outside cluster — Teneycke, Kouvalis, the Byrne rupture, and the Stampede flashpoint as the visible edge of the operative-class split |
| 3 | The bench — the "Affordability Team" shadow-cabinet shuffle: Michael Chong to finance, 83 MPs with roles, and the elevation of the 2025 intake [CBC] |
| 4 | Quebec — lieutenant Pierre Paul-Hus and the Rayes → Berthold → Paul-Hus lineage [Radio-Canada] |
| 5 | The signals — the fundraising slump (seven major fundraisers in 2026) and what donor behaviour says about the succession clock [Global News] |
Read the full edition — Corridor Intelligence paid tier
The registry records behind this edition — structured, sourced, exportable — are free on the Corridor Files hub. Corrections: see the corrections policy.
Version française — Édition 001 des Dossiers du Corridor : qui dirige réellement la politique conservatrice — la consolidation du cabinet du chef de l'opposition sous Steve Outhouse (chef de cabinet et directeur national de campagne depuis mai 2026), la classe des opérateurs de l'ère Harper/Ontario restée à l'extérieur (Teneycke, Kouvalis, la rupture Byrne), le remaniement du cabinet fantôme « équipe abordabilité », la structure québécoise sous le lieutenant Pierre Paul-Hus, et le signal du financement. Édition complète sur le palier payant de Corridor Intelligence.