Conservatives back Poilievre, but need to see changes and contrition to avoid 'problems'

OTTAWA — A reelected Conservative MP says it is important for the federal party to build relationships with provincial conservative parties and suggests there is “work to be done.” It comes as long-simmering fissures between prominent members of the Conservative Party of Canada and Ontario Premier Doug Ford spilled out into the open during the most recent federal election and has only deepened since the party’s election loss. Ford recently defended his decision not help Poilievre’s campaign, saying federal Conservatives were instructed to do the same during his provincial election. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, who is a Progressive Conservative, also said the federal party “was very good at pushing people away,” which he suggested was reflected in the fact it lost for a fourth time. Scott Aitchison, who was re-elected to Ontario riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka, questions whether the comments Ford made about the Conservative campaign during the race had any real impact, given the contest was already tightening for voters. However, he says he believes public service is fundamentally “a relationship business.” “You build relationships and networks and connections with people and you can’t ever do this stuff alone and so I think it’s important for us as a national party to build those relationships with our provincial cousins and to keep doing that. “So, I think maybe there’s a bit of work to be done there, but, you know, we’ll get to doing that work and, you know, heal whatever relationships we have to heal.” Aitchison is among federal Conservatives voicing support for party leader, Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat in Monday’s election, where the Liberals captured 169 seats to the Conservatives’ 144. Poilievre led the party to an additional 24 seats, including breaking through in regions like the Greater Toronto Area. Supporters point to how he delivered on bringing a new coalition to the party, comprised of young people and those in the blue-collar trades. Re-elected Conservatives Phillip Lawrence, Corey Tochor and Kyle Seeback joined other colleagues like Shannon Stubbs, Michael Barrett and Andrew Scheer in voicing support for the leader. Others expressing their support publicly include Rona Ambrose, a former interim leader of the party, well as Jason Kenney, an ex-Conservative cabinet minister and former Alberta premier. While the support rolls in, the first previews of some of the lessons to be learned from the campaign have also started to emerge. “I think you have a leader who inspired a lot of hearts and minds who, yes, did get a lot of more votes,” said one Conservative source involved in an Ontario campaign, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “But I think it was just a poorly run campaign, logistically.” The source said issues ranged from how the party ran its nominations and recruited candidates to  communicated with local campaign teams and made decisions based on “petty politics.” Others who tried to run for the party have spoken out about how it managed candidate selections, including in some cases waiting until the last minute to make final decisions, despite having spent the past 18 months calling for an election. “There was a lack of an ability to be agile and to pivot,” the source involved in one of the Ontario campaigns. “Campaigns weren’t able or given the freedom to have the flexibility to do what they needed to do to win on the ground, and on-the-ground feedback really wasn’t taken into account,” the source said. One of the candidates in the Greater Toronto Area, also speaking on background, said while they felt Poilievre’s message on affordability and crime resonated, the person suggested that the shift the national campaign made midway through the race to talking more about change, “we might have been able to use some of that messaging a little bit earlier.” “That messaging resonated a lot more.” The candidate also pointed to the party’s focus on the carbon tax through its “axe the tax” slogan, saying while the campaign’s point that it had not been eliminated, but simply zeroed out was “factually correct,” voters did not follow. “That’s a hard thing to explain to people,” they said. “If you’re having to explain, you’re losing.” Another lesson, the candidate said, is the need for the party to broaden its appeal, which cannot only be done by the leader, they said, but by better highlighting the team around him, including candidates. “There was a bunch of remarkable MPs in our caucus that did a wonderful job communicating our message in different ways than the leader did, and I don’t think that they were highlighted enough as often as they could have been highlighted.” While U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and comments around annexation were top of mind for many voters, Conservative also point to the collapse of the federal New Democrats as a factor needing to be reckoned with. Even as the party made gains at the expense of the NDP, it has also historically relied on New Democrats splitting the vote with the Liberals. “One of the things we learned from what happened is what the absolute collapse of the NDP means for our party and for Parliament and for the country,” Aitchison said. Fears over Trump also drove older voters, particularly women, to vote Liberal and for Prime Minister Mark Carney, he added, who voters felt was better equipped to handle the president. Aitchison, who finished last when he ran against Poilievre in the party’s 2022 leadership race, said he is not second-guessing the national campaign. When it comes the work of looking for lessons learned, he said he hopes to “start that conversation sooner rather than later,” which he believes it has. No meeting of Conservative caucus has yet to have been called. A Conservative source, speaking on background, said there is an expectation that within the next few weeks, Poilievre should demonstrate a willingness to make changes, including when it comes to his staffing, but also his approach and tone. He must also show contrition, the source, given how disappointed those across the party feel after spending months riding high in public opinion polls. Should Poilievre do otherwise, he would be “opening himself up to a lot of problems,” they said. National Post staylor@postmedia.com

• Doug Ford, Tim Houston defend decision to not help federal Tories during election
• FIRST READING: If this had been any other election, Poilievre would be prime minister

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