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National Observer
14 hours ago
- Politics
- National Observer
Poilievre's byelection win allows for his return to Parliament this fall
After a summer of rodeos, dinosaurs and door-knocking, Pierre Poilievre is now officially heading back to Ottawa as a Conservative member of Parliament for Alberta. The Tory leader will represent the sprawling rural riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, in the province's eastern region, after winning a byelection on Monday. "Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life," Poilievre told a crowd at a victory party in Camrose, Alta., on Monday night. "In fact, I've had a hell of a lot of fun." Poilievre spent weeks this summer meeting constituents, attending events and stopping by local businesses in his new riding. It was precisely the kind of boots-on-the-ground campaign he ran in 2004 when he became an MP for the first time in the Ontario riding of Carleton. It's also exactly the kind of local campaign he could not run in Carleton in the spring, when his leader's tour criss-crossed the country for 36 days before holding a final rally in his home riding the night before the April 28 election. Poilievre lost to Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, who had spent more than two years campaigning against him in the Ottawa-area riding. Poilievre's return to the House of Commons in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country was all but guaranteed, observers said. Now Poilievre's attention will turn to two things: the fall sitting of Parliament and his upcoming leadership review. When Parliament resumes on Sept. 15, Poilievre will square off with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the House of Commons for the first time. "The (Conservative) party and the country have moved past the election campaign. We're now in a new government. He's going to have to show that he's really good at holding their feet to the fire," said Amanda Galbraith, a Conservative strategist and partner at Oyster Group. Poilievre has already signalled some of what he plans to focus on. At a press conference on Aug. 7, he said he will introduce a bill in the House of Commons called the Canadian sovereignty law. He also said Conservatives were calling on Carney to begin construction of at least two pipeline projects, a new natural gas liquefaction project and a road to the Ring of Fire in Ontario by March 14. With Poilievre once again leading the party in Parliament, Andrew Scheer will return to his Opposition House leader duties. There will be changes to the party's front bench, too. The Conservative leader pledged in the spring to shuffle his "shadow cabinet," a group of 74 MPs appointed to critic or leadership roles in the House of Commons, this fall. "We've seen which ministers are performing, which ministers are not, where the weaknesses lie in that government. So they'll realign," said Galbraith. Poilievre's former campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, said in a recent podcast interview that the fall House sitting is when "the real next chapter starts" for the party. Byrne, who said during the interview that she's still involved as an adviser to Poilievre and takes calls on a daily basis, also said the Conservatives will focus on issues like immigration and crime. The cost of living will likely remain a top priority for the Opposition, particularly as trade and US tariffs command the government's attention. Ginny Roth, a partner at Crestview Strategy and a Conservative commentator, said Poilievre has been successful as Opposition leader in pointing out the places "where Canadians are struggling and where the government is failing." The Conservative party will hold a national convention in Calgary in late January. The party's constitution stipulates that any leader who has just lost an election will face a vote on their future. Running a byelection campaign all summer has meant Poilievre has not been travelling the country. The rallies that were a fixture of his leadership since 2022 have been scrapped in favour of door-knocking. And while that's likely given him a good window into the mindset of Conservative voters during the Carney government's post-election honeymoon, it's also meant he has not been in the national spotlight. "While that might feel frustrating when you come off this high-energy election, I think it was the right approach. Lie low, get back to basics," Roth said. The Tory caucus has been firm in its support for Poilievre, and it is widely expected that he will win the leadership review — not least because no one has so far publicly challenged his leadership. "There's a lot to be excited about and I think Conservative members will recognize that in the leadership review," Roth said. Galbraith said things can shift quickly, and Poilievre can't take the leadership review for granted. "For example, he was going to be prime minister until he wasn't going to be prime minister, right?" she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 19, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Poilievre's byelection win sets the table for his return to Parliament this fall
OTTAWA – After a summer of rodeos, dinosaurs and door-knocking, Pierre Poilievre is now officially heading back to Ottawa as a Conservative member of Parliament for Alberta. The Tory leader will represent the sprawling rural riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, in the province's eastern region, after winning a byelection on Monday. 'Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life,' Poilievre told a crowd at a victory party in Camrose, Alta., on Monday night. 'In fact, I've had a hell of a lot of fun.' Poilievre spent weeks this summer meeting constituents, attending events and stopping by local businesses in his new riding. It was precisely the kind of boots-on-the-ground campaign he ran in 2004 when he became an MP for the first time in the Ontario riding of Carleton. It's also exactly the kind of local campaign he could not run in Carleton in the spring, when his leader's tour criss-crossed the country for 36 days before holding a final rally in his home riding the night before the April 28 election. Poilievre lost to Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, who had spent more than two years campaigning against him in the Ottawa-area riding. Poilievre's return to the House of Commons in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country was all but guaranteed, observers said. Now Poilievre's attention will turn to two things: the fall sitting of Parliament and his upcoming leadership review. When Parliament resumes on Sept. 15, Poilievre will square off with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the House of Commons for the first time. 'The (Conservative) party and the country have moved past the election campaign. We're now in a new government. He's going to have to show that he's really good at holding their feet to the fire,' said Amanda Galbraith, a Conservative strategist and partner at Oyster Group. Poilievre has already signalled some of what he plans to focus on. At a press conference on Aug. 7, he said he will introduce a bill in the House of Commons called the Canadian sovereignty law. He also said Conservatives were calling on Carney to begin construction of at least two pipeline projects, a new natural gas liquefaction project and a road to the Ring of Fire in Ontario by March 14. With Poilievre once again leading the party in Parliament, Andrew Scheer will return to his Opposition House leader duties. There will be changes to the party's front bench, too. The Conservative leader pledged in the spring to shuffle his 'shadow cabinet,' a group of 74 MPs appointed to critic or leadership roles in the House of Commons, this fall. 'We've seen which ministers are performing, which ministers are not, where the weaknesses lie in that government. So they'll realign,' said Galbraith. Poilievre's former campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, said in a recent podcast interview that the fall House sitting is when 'the real next chapter starts' for the party. Byrne, who said during the interview that she's still involved as an adviser to Poilievre and takes calls on a daily basis, also said the Conservatives will focus on issues like immigration and crime. The cost of living will likely remain a top priority for the Opposition, particularly as trade and U.S. tariffs command the government's attention. Ginny Roth, a partner at Crestview Strategy and a Conservative commentator, said Poilievre has been successful as Opposition leader in pointing out the places 'where Canadians are struggling and where the government is failing.' The Conservative party will hold a national convention in Calgary in late January. The party's constitution stipulates that any leader who has just lost an election will face a vote on their future. Running a byelection campaign all summer has meant Poilievre has not been travelling the country. The rallies that were a fixture of his leadership since 2022 have been scrapped in favour of door-knocking. And while that's likely given him a good window into the mindset of Conservative voters during the Carney government's post-election honeymoon, it's also meant he has not been in the national spotlight. 'While that might feel frustrating when you come off this high-energy election, I think it was the right approach. Lie low, get back to basics,' Roth said. The Tory caucus has been firm in its support for Poilievre, and it is widely expected that he will win the leadership review — not least because no one has so far publicly challenged his leadership. 'There's a lot to be excited about and I think Conservative members will recognize that in the leadership review,' Roth said. Galbraith said things can shift quickly, and Poilievre can't take the leadership review for granted. 'For example, he was going to be prime minister until he wasn't going to be prime minister, right?' she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2025.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Canada's Conservatives threw away a 27-point lead to lose again
Conservatives in Canada are trading blame for Monday night's election loss, showing that Pierre Poilievre will need to heal divisions within the movement as he fights to stay on as leader. As a clear Liberal win was emerging on election night, Conservative candidates and their supporters had one question: What the heck just happened? The party had lost a remarkable 27-point lead in opinion polls and failed to win an election for the fourth time in a row. And while it gained seats and earned almost 42% of the popular vote - its highest share since the party was founded in 2003 - its leader Poilievre was voted out of the seat he had held for the past 20 years. "Nobody's happy about that," Shakir Chambers, a Conservative strategist and vice-president of Ontario-based consultancy firm the Oyster Group, told the BBC. The party is now trying to work out how it will move forward. At the top of the agenda will be finding a way for the Conservatives to perform their duties as the Official Opposition - the second-place party in Canada's parliament whose job is to hold the sitting government to account - without their leader in the House. Ahead of a caucus meeting next Tuesday to discuss this, Poilievre announced on Friday his plan to run in an Alberta constituency special election to win back a seat. That special election will be triggered by the resignation of Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek, who said he will voluntarily step down to let Poilievre back in after what he called "a remarkable national campaign". "An unstoppable movement has grown under his leadership, and I know we need Pierre fighting in the House of Commons," Kurek said in a statement. Unlike the US, federal politicians in Canada do not have to live in the city or province they run in. Poilievre grew up in Alberta, however, and will likely win handily as the constituency he is running in is a Conservative stronghold. A big question is whether Poilievre still has the backing of his own party to stay on as leader. Mr Chambers said the answer, so far, is a resounding yes. "Pierre has a lot of support in the caucus," he said. "I don't think there's anybody that wants him removed, or that has super high ambitions that wants to replace him as leader." A number of high-profile Conservatives have already rallied behind him. One of them is Andrew Scheer, a current MP and former leader of the party, who said Poilievre should stay on to "ensure we finish the job next time". Others are casting blame on where they went wrong. Jamil Jivani, who won his own constituency in a suburb of Toronto handily, felt that Ontario leader Doug Ford had betrayed the conservative movement and cost the party the election. The federal and provincial Conservative parties are legally different entities, though they belong to the same ideological tent, and Ford is leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party. He frequently made headlines during the election campaign for his get-tough attitude with Donald Trump and the US president's trade war. "He couldn't stay out of our business," Jivani told a CBC reporter. Jivani, who in a past life attended Yale University with US Vice-President JD Vance, where the two became good friends, accused Ford of distracting from the federal Conservatives' campaign and of "positioning himself as some political genius that we need to be taking cues from". But Mr Chambers, the Conservative strategist, said that Poilievre will also need to confront where the party fell short. Poilievre, who is known for his combative political style, has struggled with being unlikeable among the general Canadian public. He has also failed to shore up the support of popular Conservative leaders in some provinces, like Ontario's Ford, who did not campaign for Poilievre despite his recent landslide victory in a provincial election earlier this year. Ford did, however, post a photo of him and Liberal leader Mark Carney having a coffee. "Last time I checked, Pierre Poilievre never came out in our election," Ford told reporters earlier this week. "Matter of fact, he or one of his lieutenants told every one of his members, 'don't you dare go out and help'". "Isn't that ironic?" Another Conservative premier, Tim Houston of Nova Scotia - who also did not campaign for Poilievre - said the federal party needs to do some "soul-searching" after its loss. "I think the Conservative Party of Canada was very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in," Houston said. Not every premier stood on the sidelines. Poilievre was endorsed by Alberta's Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, both western Conservatives. Kory Teneycke, Ford's campaign manager, who publicly criticised Poilievre's campaign during the election, angering federal Conservatives, rejected the notion that Ford's failure to endorse Poilievre had cost him the election. He told the BBC that, to him, the bigger problem was Poilievre's failure to unite Conservative voters in Canada. "What constitutes a Conservative in different parts of the country can look quite different," he said, adding that Poilievre's populist rhetoric and aggressive style appealed to Conservatives in the west, but alienated those in the east. "There was a lot of Trump mimicry in terms of how they presented the campaign," Mr Teneycke said. "Donald Trump is public enemy number one to most in Canada, and I don't think it was coming across very well." He added he believes some of the "soul-searching" by Poilievre's Conservatives will need to include a plan of how to build a coalition of the right in a country "as big and diverse as Canada". Asked by reporters what it would take to heal the rift, Ford answered: "All they have to do is make a phone call." Why young voters flocked to Canada's Conservatives 'Build, baby, build': Five things Carney has pledged to do as Canadian PM How Canada voted - in charts The blunt-speaking Canadian taking his fight with Trump to Washington
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
How Canada's Conservatives threw away a 27-point lead to lose again
Conservatives in Canada are trading blame for Monday night's election loss, showing that Pierre Poilievre will need to heal divisions within the movement as he fights to stay on as a clear Liberal win was emerging on election night, Conservative candidates and their supporters had one question: What the heck just happened?The party had lost a remarkable 27-point lead in opinion polls and failed to win an election for the fourth time in a row. And while it gained seats and earned almost 42% of the popular vote - its highest share since the party was founded in 2003 - its leader Poilievre was voted out of the seat he had held for the past 20 years."Nobody's happy about that," Shakir Chambers, a Conservative strategist and vice-president of Ontario-based consultancy firm the Oyster Group, told the party is now trying to work out how it will move forward. At the top of the agenda will be finding a way for the Conservatives to perform their duties as the Official Opposition - the second-place party in Canada's parliament whose job is to hold the sitting government to account - without their leader in the of a caucus meeting next Tuesday to discuss this, Poilievre announced on Friday his plan to run in an Alberta constituency special election to win back a special election will be triggered by the resignation of Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek, who said he will voluntarily step down to let Poilievre back in after what he called "a remarkable national campaign"."An unstoppable movement has grown under his leadership, and I know we need Pierre fighting in the House of Commons," Kurek said in a the US, federal politicians in Canada do not have to live in the city or province they run in. Poilievre grew up in Alberta, however, and will likely win handily as the constituency he is running in is a Conservative stronghold.A big question is whether Poilievre still has the backing of his own party to stay on as leader. Mr Chambers said the answer, so far, is a resounding yes."Pierre has a lot of support in the caucus," he said. "I don't think there's anybody that wants him removed, or that has super high ambitions that wants to replace him as leader."A number of high-profile Conservatives have already rallied behind him. One of them is Andrew Scheer, a current MP and former leader of the party, who said Poilievre should stay on to "ensure we finish the job next time". Others are casting blame on where they went Jivani, who won his own constituency in a suburb of Toronto handily, felt that Ontario leader Doug Ford had betrayed the conservative movement and cost the party the federal and provincial Conservative parties are legally different entities, though they belong to the same ideological tent, and Ford is leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative frequently made headlines during the election campaign for his get-tough attitude with Donald Trump and the US president's trade war. "He couldn't stay out of our business," Jivani told a CBC who in a past life attended Yale University with US Vice-President JD Vance, where the two became good friends, accused Ford of distracting from the federal Conservatives' campaign and of "positioning himself as some political genius that we need to be taking cues from".But Mr Chambers, the Conservative strategist, said that Poilievre will also need to confront where the party fell short. Poilievre, who is known for his combative political style, has struggled with being unlikeable among the general Canadian has also failed to shore up the support of popular Conservative leaders in some provinces, like Ontario's Ford, who did not campaign for Poilievre despite his recent landslide victory in a provincial election earlier this year. Ford did, however, post a photo of him and Liberal leader Mark Carney having a coffee."Last time I checked, Pierre Poilievre never came out in our election," Ford told reporters earlier this week. "Matter of fact, he or one of his lieutenants told every one of his members, 'don't you dare go out and help'"."Isn't that ironic?"Another Conservative premier, Tim Houston of Nova Scotia - who also did not campaign for Poilievre - said the federal party needs to do some "soul-searching" after its loss."I think the Conservative Party of Canada was very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in," Houston every premier stood on the sidelines. Poilievre was endorsed by Alberta's Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, both western Teneycke, Ford's campaign manager, who publicly criticised Poilievre's campaign during the election, angering federal Conservatives, rejected the notion that Ford's failure to endorse Poilievre had cost him the told the BBC that, to him, the bigger problem was Poilievre's failure to unite Conservative voters in Canada."What constitutes a Conservative in different parts of the country can look quite different," he said, adding that Poilievre's populist rhetoric and aggressive style appealed to Conservatives in the west, but alienated those in the east."There was a lot of Trump mimicry in terms of how they presented the campaign," Mr Teneycke said. "Donald Trump is public enemy number one to most in Canada, and I don't think it was coming across very well."He added he believes some of the "soul-searching" by Poilievre's Conservatives will need to include a plan of how to build a coalition of the right in a country "as big and diverse as Canada".Asked by reporters what it would take to heal the rift, Ford answered: "All they have to do is make a phone call."
Winnipeg Free Press
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Conservatives wrap up ‘wild election' asking voters to choose change
OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's voice was filled with emotion Sunday night as he wrapped up his election campaign in his home riding of Carleton, in Ottawa. 'I want you to know that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will be there to fight for you,' he said, standing on the back of a pickup truck at a farm just outside Ottawa. His wife, Anaida Poilievre, openly cried as she and her husband waved goodbye to the crowd that welcomed them with cheers and chants. This is the riding where Poilievre was first elected in 2004. He won it for the seventh time in 2021 with 50 per cent of the votes cast. It was supposed to be among the safest sets in the country the party. But in the final week of the campaign, the Conservatives were pulling volunteers from other ridings to push the vote in Carleton, as even it was turning into a close contest with the Liberals. It is just one of the things about this election campaign that has come as a surprise to even the most plugged-in political observers. 'It's been a wild election that has not played out how I thought it would play out by any stretch of the imagination,' said Amanda Galbraith, a partner at Oyster Group and a former adviser to Stephen Harper. '(U.S. President Donald) Trump as the X-factor has been fascinating. Watching the campaigns play off of that — or try not to — has been fascinating to me.' Trump's tariffs and his repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state were constant features of the campaign. With fear and anxiety over the U.S.'s latest geopolitical manoeuvres growing in Canada, the Liberals pitched leader Mark Carney as the one best suited to dealing with the mercurial president. And the message resonated in ways the Conservatives could not have predicted just a few months earlier. Poilievre wanted to talk about anything but Trump unless the news cycle forced them to. Poilievre's campaign instead pumped out a steady stream of slogans with a central theme of voting for change after what he called 'the lost Liberal decade.' He held more than two dozen rallies, drawing in hundreds, even thousands, of supporters. Galbraith said the Conservative campaign was well-executed but the campaign team 'struggled at points to meet the moment when it comes to Trump.' For two months leading into the campaign Trump took Canadians on a wild ride of threatened tariffs, pauses and repeated insistence that this country would be better off as a U.S. state. Canadians responded en masse, cancelling U.S. travel plans, and shunning U.S. products, even booing the U.S. national anthem at sporting events in an explosion of Maple Leaf pride. Just five days into the campaign, Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on vehicles made outside the U.S. and demanded that automakers relocate their production to the United States. Carney, who paused his campaign to return to Parliament Hill and meet with cabinet ministers and business advisers as the prime minister, responded by saying Canada's old relationship with the U.S. was over, and promising billions to help the auto industry and its workers. 'We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States,' he said. Poilievre's policy announcement that day promised that a Conservative government would increase the annual limit on tax-free savings accounts. He paused only briefly during his daily statement to address the tariffs. 'My message to President Trump is, knock it off,' he said. Lori Turnbull, a professor in the faculty of management at Dalhousie University, said that was a key moment just four days into the race. 'I think this election, more than any I've ever watched, is about who is going to be the prime minister,' she said. And on that front, Turnbull said, 'Poilievre was the wrong candidate for this moment, and (the Conservatives) couldn't have seen that coming and they could not have changed it.' Poilievre has spent the better part of three years developing a strong narrative against the opponents he expected to face: former prime minister Justin Trudeau and the carbon price and the rising cost of living. He 'spoke directly to people who are feeling left out of Trudeau's vision for the country,' Turnbull said, and was a highly effective opposition leader. The way he held the Liberal government to account resonated with Jason Shoji, who attended a Conservative rally in Oakville, Ont., on Sunday morning. 'I really like how he talks in the House of Commons, he just speaks in really simple language, just like 'Yes or no? What's the exact number?'' he said. That pointed style of opposition helped build up a 25-point Conservative lead in the polls earlier this year that looked unshakable. Former prime minister Stephen Harper, talking to an American podcaster in January, said it would be almost impossible for a new Liberal leader to turn the tide. 'It would require a miracle on their part and some kind of disaster on our part, and Pierre is a smart enough politician, I just don't see those things happening,' he said. Polling firm Leger's latest national survey on Saturday suggested the Liberals have a four-point lead over the Conservatives nationally heading into voting day. Many Conservative supporters don't believe it. At events in the campaign's final days, some predicted a 'blue wave.' 'I think that people are very manipulated by media and stories that are put out there for propaganda, and I think we are going to show them that there's a silent majority, that there's people that are desperate for change,' said Ashleigh Pelser, who was the rally in Oakville. Joelle Weil, who hosted Poilievre's event at her family's farm in Keene, Ont., on Sunday afternoon, said she was feeling nervous about the election. Margaret Siddall, who came to the event from Peterborough, was also feeling anxious and said she thinks there will be protests and unrest if the Conservatives don't win. 'Part of me is hopeful that the media is wrong and I'm hoping he does it,' she said. Galbraith said if there is a path to victory for the Conservatives, it's a narrow one. The numbers in the national polls are tightening, but she said 'if you look at the regional numbers, it's not in the places that would benefit the Conservatives.' Many have questioned why Poilievre, who earned a reputation over the last two decades in Ottawa as a skilled political attack dog, never turned those sharp attacks against Trump. 'Canadians are very frustrated by what has happened over the last decade with the Liberal government, and there's lots of ways to prosecute that. But to me, you need to sound angrier at the U.S. president than you do at the Liberal leader,' Galbraith said. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. On the brighter side, she pointed out, Conservative support is actually quite high, according to polls. Leger's poll suggests 39 per cent of Canadians support Poilievre's party. That's roughly the same percentage that won Harper a majority in 2011. The major difference this time is that support for the NDP, and to a lesser extent the Bloc Québécois, has cratered. 'No matter what, should the Liberals form government on Monday, there will a lot of soul searching and within the party on a path forward,' Galbraith said. — With files from Cassandra Szklarski in Oakville, Ont., and Catherine Morrison in Keene, Ont. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.
