Conservative Party

KINGSTON, Ont. — Pierre Poilievre said Thursday he disagrees with calls from former Reform Party leader Preston Manning that a vote for Liberal Leader Mark Carney amounts to a “vote for Western secession.”

Manning, whom Poilievre, the federal Conservative leader, has known since his teenage years in Calgary when he become involved with the erstwhile Reform Party, penned an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail, arguing Carney poses a threat to national unity, particularly in Western Canada, which has long been aggrieved with the policies of the Liberal government around natural resources.

As Conservatives face pressure to pivot their campaign strategy in the face of a polling deficit against the Liberals, one of the party’s long-serving MPs says she’s fully behind leader Pierre Poilievre’s plan.

Four-term Calgary-area MP Michelle Rempel Garner told National Post in an interview Saturday that she is confident Poilievre’s deliberate approach of incrementally rolling out detailed policies is the path to victory on for the April 28 vote.

As the 2025 federal election campaign begins its second week, U.S. President Donald Trump and another round of tariffs expected on April 2 could again sidetrack most of Canada’s political discourse.

But making almost as much noise thus far have been the growing grumbles out of Conservative circles about Leader Pierre Poilievre’s messaging and polls that now have him trailing the Liberals and Leader Mark Carney.

As we come to the end of the first week of this high‐stakes, highly consequential Canadian general election campaign, many Conservative supporters—and a fair number of commentators—have been urging Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party to dramatically pivot.

Their argument is straightforward: with Donald Trump ramping up threats against Canada, it seems logical for the Conservatives to seize the moment, confront Trump head‐on, and persuade anxious voters that they are best positioned to stand up for Canada. Yet when you examine the data closely, it becomes clear that such a pivot is likely not the smart strategic choice. Campaigns, especially in their early stages, are about establishing a path to victory, and in this case, shifting the focus to Trump could, in fact, undermine the Conservatives’ remaining paths to victory.

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.

OTTAWA—Pierre Poilievre wants you to know: if he’s prime minister, taxes will get axed. Red tape will get slashed. Crime will get smacked down.

But there is another long-standing Poilievre priority that the party has not highlighted in the same way over the opening stretch of the campaign this week.

His plan to “defund” the CBC.

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday that a list of energy-related demands put out by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was “very reasonable” but wouldn’t commit to meeting them all if he becomes prime minister.

“You’ll have to see the rest of our platform roll out in due course,” Poilievre told reporters, speaking at a campaign style announcement in suburban Ottawa.