As the trade war dominates Canadian politics, Conservatives fight among themselves

Big tent party's debate over what defines a Conservative on display this summer

The Conservative Party's big tent has been filled with infighting these past few months.

It may not be obvious to anyone who spent the summer in an actual tent, rather than on social media, but fractures are forming within the coalition cultivated by leader Pierre Poilievre.

Fred DeLorey, the chair of NorthStar Public Affairs and a former top party adviser, said it feels like everyone's trying to "define what is a Conservative."

Party members have been airing grievances through opinion articles, online missives on the topic of leadership and social media squabbles between prominent MPs.

Some see it as a mostly healthy discussion about the path forward. Others fear it's a symptom of the disunity that has plagued the Conservative Party of Canada since it was first unified.

"The leader's not leading. We're all over the place. Our message isn't consistent, there's infighting, there's all these different factions," said DeLorey, who was the Conservatives' campaign manager in 2021.

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DeLorey said he's frustrated by the sight of caucus members who appear to be freelancing. Conservative MP Jamil Jivani has twice travelled to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. trade officials. On the day trade talks broke down, in social media posts he accused Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford of putting "their political self-interests ahead of Canadian workers."

Conservative MP Dean Allison is this week hosting what he calls an inquiry into injuries caused by COVID-19 vaccines in Ottawa. His caucus colleague MP Chris Lewis claimed his mother was diagnosed with "turbo cancer" after receiving the shot. (Turbo cancer is an unproven conspiracy theory that claims the mRNA vaccines caused cancer to spread more aggressively.)

Conservative AI critic Leslyn Lewis got into a public argument this summer with longtime MP Michelle Rempel Garner over the Alberta government's data centre strategy.

Ontario MP Matt Strauss posted online that he joined the Ontario Liberals to vote in their leadership race — prompting a public rebuke from Poilievre's former campaign manager Jenni Byrne.

Through it all, Poilievre has avoided weighing in publicly.

DeLorey said that's a sign that caucus discipline is weak, and so is the leader.

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Conservative strategist Cole Hogan said soul-searching can be a healthy exercise.

Hogan considers himself part of the "new right" — a group of mostly younger Conservatives who think it's time to shift away from the fiscal conservative playbook that provided electoral success in the Stephen Harper years.

"There are larger cultural and social issues that are at the forefront for Canadians. Think immigration, think crime and safety, public drug use," he said.

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He said he thinks some of the party's newer MPs — many of whom joined under Poilievre's leadership — want to campaign on those hot-button issues.

Part of the problem the party faces is that conservatism looks different from region to region — and it's hard to assemble policies that appeal across the country.

Poilievre's coalition also faces some unique challenges.

There's been a growing backlash within Conservative circles against the online influencer crowd Poilievre helped bring into the fold by appearing for sit-down interviews or inviting them to campaign events and the Conservative Party convention.

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Jason Kenney, a former federal cabinet minister and Alberta premier, argued online that those influencers are a better fit for U.S. President Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

"It doesn't take these anger merchants of the Canadian right very long to figure out that there is a much bigger market for their bile in the United States," Kenney said on X, adding that incentive encourages the creation of content that "mocks Canada."

If the party truly believes those influencers are truth-tellers, he said, "it should get used to a very, very long run in Opposition."

Pollster David Coletto said Poilievre's is the only federal party in Canada with a supporter base that includes a significant number who hold a positive view of Trump — 38 per cent, according to his latest data.

Coletto called it a deep division on "the dominant theme and issue of our time."

The Conservative Party has long been concerned about a split on its right flank and Poilievre worked to bring voters further to right into the tent.

"After Pierre Poilievre became leader, I think his job No. 1 was to basically kill the People's Party of Canada," said Coletto.

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In the 2025 election, when Canadian voters moved their support away from smaller parties, the Conservatives scooped up some 800,000 votes from the right-wing People's Party — about four percentage points.

Hogan said he thinks it's time to cut those supporters loose.

"You don't need to gesture to these folks. The People's Party is right there," he said.

People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier, a former Harper-era Conservative cabinet minister, couldn't agree more.

Bernier said he thinks people will realize that Poilievre "is like the Liberals and people will vote for the real Liberals."

"The majority of the population are more centre-left, and that's a big challenge for Poilievre," he said.

Polls show most Canadians support Carney's handling of the trade war. The Liberals have strengthened their majority and Carney's personal popularity is polling way beyond that of Poilievre.

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But replacing Poilievre does not feel like a viable option for many Conservatives — at least not right now.

Strategist Laura Kurkimaki, a senior vice-president at Vantage who was the Conservative Party's deputy campaign manager in 2021, said many people inside the party feel like the 2025 election slipped away from them.

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"Most people that I talk to don't want a leadership [contest]," she said. "They want Pierre to turn it around and be successful and offer an alternative, but that just doesn't seem to be going very well."

Poilievre's summer itinerary has been fairly under the radar.

Pierre Poilievre tailgates at Labour Day Classic

He made headlines in June when, at a speech to a friendly Calgary Stampede crowd, he made a pointed jab at conservatives in British Columbia who were still stinging from losing a close leadership race.

Poilievre said new B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, a former member of the federal caucus, won in spite of "Liberal lobbyists from out east."

The intended target was widely seen as Ontario Premier Doug Ford's former campaign manager Kory Teneycke, who ran the losing campaign for Caroline Elliott in B.C. alongside multiple former Poilievre staffers.

Since then, Findlay has watched nine of her members of the legislature walk away, some to form their own party.

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It feels to some like a warning of what could happen if the federal party tries to replace its leader.

There's one thing almost everyone agrees on: it's a tough time to be the Official Opposition.

With Trump's trade war sucking up most of the political oxygen, the Conservatives are once again struggling to get traction.

Ginny Roth, communications director for Poilievre's leadership run in 2022 and a staunch supporter, said Conservatives need time — for Trump and Canada-U.S. relations to fade as issues, or for the trade war to really start to hurt the Canadian economy and the Liberals.

"[Poilievre] has to assert where the Conservative Party does stand and where the caucus does stand, and then all kinds of people, whether it's influencers or pundits or candidates or voters, can decide for themselves," she said.

Sarah Ritchie is a reporter with The Canadian Press.