Conservatives fear 'dysfunctional' campaign and 'civil war' in the party: sources

CBC

29-03-2025

As Conservative infighting over how the campaign is handling U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats spills into the open, sources within the party are describing a "dysfunctional" campaign with too much centralized power and belittling and aggressive treatment of staff.
More than half a dozen Conservatives, who spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named for fear of retribution, describe a campaign that is "highly disorganized" and "a mess." The sources include individuals both inside and outside the campaign.
Several of the sources allege that too many decisions have to go through Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's chief strategist, Jenni Byrne.
"Jenni's in charge and that's all you know," said one Conservative campaign worker, who described the situation as dysfunctional.
There's no evidence of a master plan, said the Conservative, and people are left to figure things out themselves.
Sources said some people learned what they'd be doing on the campaign just hours before the race officially began — even though the Conservatives have been calling for an election since 2024.
Relying on 'tight inner circle'
One source described how the campaign didn't have some "basic stuff" in place before the writ was issued.
Poilievre and Byrne are not inclined to listen to outside advice, sources said, relying instead on "a tight inner circle," which is composed, in part, of people who also work at Byrne's lobby firm outside the campaign period.
The frustration is amplified because Conservatives have gone from anticipating they would form a majority government to seeing a dramatic rebirth for the Liberals under its new leader, Mark Carney, fuelled by concerns over Donald Trump's plans for Canada.
CBC's Poll Tracker suggests the Liberals are now most likely to form government — and claim a majority.
CBC News reached out to the Conservative campaign about the issues raised in this story. A spokesperson declined to comment.
The tension spilled out into the open this week when veteran Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke began publicly calling out the federal campaign, suggesting it was headed for disaster.
"Look, I think for the Conservatives in the campaign cockpit, every buzzer and alarm is going off. And the plane is like going 'bzzzzz' and it's like 'pull up, pull up, pull," Teneycke told an audience Wednesday as part of a panel at Toronto's Empire Club of Canada.
He argued the Conservative campaign was wasting energy talking about concerns around the World Economic Forum and trying to link the Liberals to an initiative to boost immigration levels known as the Century Initiative, rather than leaning in on the public's concerns about the U.S. president's treatment of Canada.
"I'll make the case tonight, and hopefully this will permeate the Conservative Party war room somewhere — you've got to get on the f****ing ballot question that is driving votes. Or you are going to lose."
In a subsequent interview with CBC News, Teneycke said Poilievre is acting too "Trump-y" with his pet names for political opponents and sloganeering, and it's a turnoff for voters the party needs to win.
Teneycke managed the last three election campaigns for Doug Ford's Ontario PC Party, including Ford's recent re-election to a majority government. He also worked under former prime minister Stephen Harper, including working on Harper's 2015 campaign with Byrne.
The Conservative loss to the Liberals that year left many hard feelings, particularly as the party resorted to now-panned measures like the '"barbaric cultural practices" tip line in an unsuccessful effort to shore up their support.
This week, Teneycke went as far as releasing internal PC party numbers to the Toronto Star to show the federal Liberals taking a significant lead over the Poilievre's Conservative Party of Canada.
The public criticism that the campaign has failed to adequately address concerns about Trump is just not landing at the top levels of the federal campaign, sources said.
Poilievre and Byrne "just reject that this is the central ballot question," said one Conservative.
'Weird fixation' on minor issues
One Conservative suggested the tension — not only between Teneycke and Byrne but also between the Ontario and federal Conservative leaders — amounts to a civil war within the Conservative movement.
Yet another source said the campaign has a "weird fixation" with relatively minor issues, like how the media is reporting Poilievre's rally crowd sizes. This Conservative said this should not be a concern for senior leaders like Byrne, given other issues they are grappling with.
This source said the priority should be on crafting a better strategy to blunt the Liberal momentum.
But the source wasn't hopeful that would actually happen.
"There won't be a shift because the people who run this campaign don't want to shift," this person said, referring to both Byrne and Poilievre.
What is likely to happen, this source said, is some sort of "counteroffensive" against Carney, with "persistent attacks" to try and sully the Liberal leader's reputation and drive down his favourability ratings.
One Conservative said Poilievre has repeatedly condemned Trump and some of the criticisms of him being too soft on the president are unfair, pointing to Poilievre's forceful statement after the president announced a plan to slap tariffs on autos.
But this source said the campaign has missed the mark on its policy announcements, focusing on non-U.S. or trade-related issues that are of little concern to voters when the country faces a crisis with its one-time closest friend and neighbour.
The source said Thursday's TFSA top-up announcement sounded tone-deaf, while Poilievre's tough-on-crime pitch on Friday at a B.C. sawmill, which could face disruptions because of U.S. tariffs, was bizarre.
This source said Poilievre is not used to running behind, and he's wedded to the playbook that got him in the lead in the first place.
WATCH | Poilievre asked about declining poll numbers:
Poilievre says it's election day result that matters, not polling
2 days ago
Duration 1:51
Responding to a question about how some public opinion polls show the Conservatives losing their lead over the Liberals, leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadians will make their decision on voting day.
A source said the campaign staffing is also a particular concern, with last-minute adjustments to who's doing what causing uncertainty and confusion.
Allegations of 'bullying'
In addition to concerns about focus, several sources describe aggressive behaviour by leaders on the campaign, suggesting it is an environment ruled "by fear."
There's frequent yelling and belittling, sources said. One source says the way the highest echelons of the campaign have treated one team member can only be described as bullying.
"It's bullying. There's no other word for it."
Two sources said Poilievre is set to speak more about Trump and his threats in an upcoming swing to Ontario.
Some Conservatives defend the direction the campaign is taking.
Kate Harrison, a Conservative strategist, said on CBC's The House the ballot question that will help the Conservatives is "around cost of living, affordability, and frankly the problems and the track record that brought Canadians to this place of vulnerability based on the last nine years."
Harrison pointed to a poll from Narrative Research, which found two-thirds of respondents identified the cost of living as one of the most important issues facing Canada today.
"I think that there is a link that Conservatives can make between the policies of the last nine years — yes, the threat and the impact of tariffs and this existential threat that Canadians face — without it having this be a referendum on Donald Trump alone," Harrison said.