Conservatives battle internally as trade war dominates Canadian politics

The Conservative party has been marked by internal conflict in recent months as Pierre Poilievre’s coalition faces debate over its direction, caucus discipline and supporter base.

Fred DeLorey, chair of NorthStar Public Affairs and a former senior party adviser, said everyone appears to be trying to define what it means to be a Conservative. Conservatives have aired grievances in opinion articles, online posts about leadership and social-media disputes between prominent MPs. Some view the discussion as healthy; others see it as a symptom of the disunity that has troubled the Conservative Party of Canada since its unification.

DeLorey, the party’s 2021 campaign manager, said the leader was not leading, the party’s message was inconsistent and different factions were fighting. He said he was frustrated by caucus members who appeared to be acting independently.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani has twice travelled to Washington, D.C., to meet U.S. trade officials. On the day trade talks broke down, he accused Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford in social-media posts of putting their political self-interest ahead of Canadian workers.

Conservative MP Dean Allison is hosting what he calls an inquiry in Ottawa this week into injuries caused by COVID-19 vaccines. His caucus colleague, MP Chris Lewis, said his mother was diagnosed with “turbo cancer” after receiving a vaccine. Turbo cancer is an unproven conspiracy theory alleging that mRNA vaccines caused cancer to spread more aggressively.

Conservative artificial-intelligence critic Leslyn Lewis publicly argued this summer with longtime MP Michelle Rempel Garner over the Alberta government’s data-centre strategy. Ontario MP Matt Strauss posted that he joined the Ontario Liberals to vote in their leadership race, prompting a public rebuke from Jenni Byrne, Poilievre’s former campaign manager. Poilievre has avoided commenting publicly. DeLorey said that showed both weak caucus discipline and weak leadership.

Conservative strategist Cole Hogan said soul-searching can be healthy. He identifies with the “new right,” a group of mostly younger Tories who believe the party should move away from the fiscal-conservative approach that brought electoral success in the Stephen Harper years. Hogan said immigration, crime and safety, and public drug use are among cultural and social issues at the forefront for Canadians, and that newer MPs elected under Poilievre may want to campaign on those issues. He said efforts to moderate conservative views to appeal to Ontario had not produced meaningful gains.

Conservatism varies from region to region, making it difficult to assemble policies with nationwide appeal. Poilievre’s coalition also faces a growing backlash against online influencers whom he helped bring into the fold through interviews and invitations to campaign events and the Conservative convention.

Jason Kenney, a former federal cabinet minister and Alberta premier, said online that those influencers were better suited to U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. On X, he said Canadian right-wing “anger merchants” quickly find a much larger American market for their bile, creating an incentive for content that mocks Canada. If the party truly considers them truth-tellers, he said, it should prepare for a very long time in opposition. Some influencers have responded that they are staying.

Pollster David Coletto said Poilievre’s is the only federal party with a significant share of supporters who view Trump positively: 38 per cent in his latest data. He called that a deep division on the dominant issue of the time. The Conservatives have long worried about a split on their right flank, and Coletto said Poilievre’s first job after becoming leader was essentially to eliminate the People’s Party of Canada.

In the 2025 election, as voters shifted away from smaller parties, the Conservatives picked up about 800,000 votes from the right-wing People’s Party, about four percentage points. Hogan said it was time to let those supporters go, saying the People’s Party was available to them. People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative cabinet minister in the Harper era, agreed and said his party wanted them back. Bernier said he believed voters would conclude Poilievre was like the Liberals and vote for the real Liberals; he added that the majority of the population is more centre-left, creating a major challenge for Poilievre.

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 far above Poilievre’s. Replacing Poilievre does not appear viable to many Conservatives, at least for now.

Laura Kurkimaki, a senior vice-president at Vantage and the Conservative party’s deputy campaign manager in 2021, said many inside the party felt the 2025 election had slipped away. Most people she speaks with do not want a leadership contest, she said; they want Pierre to turn things around and offer an alternative, but that did not appear to be going well.

Poilievre kept a relatively low profile over the summer. In June, speaking to a friendly Calgary Stampede crowd, he took aim at conservatives in British Columbia who were still upset after losing a close leadership contest. He said new B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, a former federal caucus member, won despite “Liberal lobbyists from out east.”

The intended target was Kory Teneycke, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s former campaign manager, who worked on Caroline Elliott’s unsuccessful B.C. leadership campaign alongside several former Poilievre staff members. Since then, nine of Findlay’s MLAs have left, with some forming their own party. To some, that is a warning of what could happen if the federal party tries to replace its leader.

There is broad agreement that this is a difficult period for the Official Opposition. With Trump’s trade war consuming much of the political attention, the Conservatives are again struggling to gain traction.

Ginny Roth, communications director for Poilievre’s 2022 leadership campaign and now a partner at Crestview Strategy, remains a strong supporter. She said Conservatives need time, either for Trump and Canada-U.S. relations to fade as issues or for the trade war to begin hurting the Canadian economy and the Liberals. Poilievre must establish where both the party and caucus stand, she said, after which influencers, pundits, candidates and voters can decide for themselves.