Conservatives had a ‘somewhat frank’ talk about their fourth election loss to Liberals since 2015, some want a full post-mortem: 'there should be accountability'

The federal Conservative caucus held a full-day meeting on Parliament Hill last week—their first since the election—to discuss what went right and what went wrong in the April 28 election, but Conservative sources described the discussion as "somewhat frank" and some now want a candid post-mortem report, which should be shared with the party’s rank-and-file members. “There should be accountability,” said one Conservative MP, who spoke on a not-for-attribution basis with The Hill Times as caucus discussions are confidential. “Our membership is going to expect some kind of accounting.” All 143 newly elected and re-elected Conservative MPs met on Parliament Hill on May 6 for a closed-door caucus meeting. The full-day session focused on reviewing the campaign, electing an interim leader and caucus chair, and voting on the Reform Act. Staffers were not allowed at this meeting. Usually, chief of staff Ian Todd attends national Conservative caucus meetings. With Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre having lost his seat, the caucus elected an interim leader to serve until he runs in a byelection in Alberta. Conservative MP Damien Kurek (Battle River-Crowfoot, Alta.), who secured re-election for a third term with 81.8 per cent of the vote in one of the party’s safest ridings, has agreed to step down to allow Poilievre to run in that riding. Conservative MPs Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) and John Brassard (Barrie South-Innisfil, Ont.) both vied for the interim leader’s role, with Scheer emerging as the winner. He will serve as interim leader until Poilievre returns to the House. In the lead-up to the meeting, both Scheer and Brassard actively campaigned for support among their colleagues. Poilievre did not endorse any candidate in this election. A Conservative MP told The Hill Times that no official notice was sent to caucus members inviting them to run for the interim leader’s role. Members only learned a couple of days before the caucus meeting that Brassard and Scheer were in the running when they began receiving calls from the two MPs seeking support. The caucus meeting was chaired by Cheryl Gallant (Algonquin–Renfrew–Pembroke, Ont.), the dean of the Conservative caucus. Nine-term MP Scott Reid (Lanark–Frontenac, Ont.) was acclaimed as caucus chair, marking his second term in the role. Cheryl Gallant, the dean of the Conservative caucus, chaired last week's first national caucus meeting after the April 28 election. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia The Conservative caucus also passed the Reform Act provision, which gives parliamentary caucuses the power to initiate leadership reviews and remove their leader. To date, the Conservatives remain the only caucus to have exercised this power—removing then-leader Erin O’Toole in Feb. 2022, following the party’s defeat in the 2021 federal election. All parliamentary caucuses with official party status are required to vote at their first post-election meeting on whether to adopt any or all of the powers outlined in the Reform Act for the duration of that Parliament. In addition to enabling leadership reviews, the act grants MPs the authority to expel members from caucus, or to remove the caucus chair. Since its passage in 2015, neither the Liberal nor NDP caucuses have exercised any of the powers available under the act. However, last fall—amid growing calls from Liberal MPs for then-prime minister Justin Trudeau to resign as the party lagged behind the Conservatives in the polls—several Liberals admitted that rejecting the act’s provisions had been a mistake. Meanwhile, during last week's meeting, Conservative MPs engaged in a “somewhat frank” talk about how the Conservative campaign was conducted. Sources said the discussion wasn’t entirely candid, as the election had just concluded and some ridings were still undergoing recounts. It was also somewhat awkward given Poilievre’s presence—he maintains tight control over the caucus, won a record number of votes in the leadership race, raised unprecedented amounts of money, and led in the polls for more than two years by double-digit margins. Many had seen him as a prime minister-in-waiting. Among the concerns raised was why the party didn’t pivot to focus on Trump-era tariffs, an issue that many believed was top of mind for Canadians. Unsuccessful candidates, MPs, and campaign managers told The Hill Times that there is growing frustration over several apparent missteps during the campaign. These include the leader’s combative tone, which failed to resonate with voters; the centralization of control within his inner circle—believed to be dominated by Poilievre and his campaign director Jenni Byrne; and the handling of nominations. Dozens of ridings were flagged as questionable, with concerns that candidates weren’t nominated until late in the campaign, only to be hand-picked—fuelling perceptions of rigging in the nomination process. Several senior Conservatives also questioned why the party failed to emphasize the Trump tariffs, which they say should have been a central campaign focus. Unsuccessful candidates, senior Conservatives, and MPs told The Hill Times that the party should conduct a full review of the campaign—examine what worked, what didn’t, and hold senior officials accountable. They said that the review must include interviews with unsuccessful candidates, MPs, and riding associations to fully understand what went wrong. Sources also questioned why the campaign didn’t allow caucus members and candidates to speak to the media, despite having capable and articulate MPs who are the party's official critics. “Nothing bad ever comes from accountability,” one unsuccessful Conservative candidate said. “It’s the truth. If we want to be a transparent government and earn the trust of Canadians, we need to be accountable to them—not just to ourselves. They deserve to know what happened.” After the 2019 election defeat, then-leader Scheer travelled across the country to meet with unsuccessful candidates and gathered their feedback. However, he was unable to complete the review before resigning as leader. Following the 2021 election loss, then-leader O’Toole appointed former Edmonton Conservative MP James Cumming to lead a post-mortem. Cumming spent several months compiling the report, which he eventually shared with caucus. As part of the process, he interviewed numerous candidates and MPs to gather their insights. “Somebody has to take responsibility for what happened,” said the unsuccessful Conservative candidate. “If you look at where we were and where we ended up, there has to be some accountability, or there will be no change.” Nine-term Conservative MP Scott Reid has been acclaimed as the national Conservative caucus chair. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade A senior Conservative agreed: “We need to learn our lessons and build a better campaign. There's a number of obvious criticisms of the party. The nomination process flawed, the overuse of Pierre’s imagery when he's unpopular, the failure to reach out properly to female voters, a substantial shortcoming, the flat-footedness in regard to Trump and tariffs, those are all substantial issues.” Sources also said the leader should broaden his inner circle to allow for more diverse input in the decision-making process. In the April 28 federal election, the Liberals won 169 seats (43.7 per cent of the vote), the Conservatives 143 seats (41.3 per cent of the vote), the Bloc Québécois 23 seats (6.3 per cent of the vote), the NDP seven seats (6.3 per cent of the vote), and the Greens one (1.2 per cent). In the newly reconfigured 343-seat House of Commons, a party needs 172 seats to form a majority government. The governing Liberals are currently in a minority, just three MPs short of a majority. In comparison, after the 2021 federal election—when the House had 338 seats—the Liberals won 160 seats, the Conservatives 119, the Bloc 32, the NDP 25, and the Greens two. Rob Batherson, former Conservative Party president and director of the Conservative Fund Canada, told The Hill Times that last week’s national caucus meeting marked the beginning of a conversation about what worked and what didn’t in the April 28 election. Batherson said he would leave it to the party leadership to determine how that dialogue should continue. Having run unsuccessfully in Halifax West on April 28, Batherson added that the party plans to build on the gains it made in that election heading into the next one. “I'll let those in positions of national authority decide on the process,” said Batherson. “I'm less fixated on what the process is, as long as it's a process that is inclusive that involves our MPs who won, our MPs who weren't successful, and then the other candidates across Canada, who have a pretty unique perspective to bring to the table. I’ll wait and see where party leadership decides to go on this.” The Hill Times

Conservatives had a ‘somewhat frank’ talk about their fourth election loss to Liberals since 2015, some want a full post-mortem: ‘there should be accountability’

The Conservative Party began its post-election review last week and talked about what happened in the April 28 election, with the process expected to continue in the coming weeks, says Rob Batherson, former Conservative Party president.

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