Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre arrives on Parliament Hill before a meeting of the Conservative caucus in Ottawa on Wednesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Conservative MPs headed into their weekly meeting Wednesday on Parliament Hill saying they were united as they stickhandled questions about leader Pierre Poilievre’s future, given the role their party’s MPs played in building the new Liberal majority.
The Liberals secured a majority government with a trio of by-election wins on Monday night, victories that followed five opposition MPs joining their party since November.
With the floor-crossers and the by-elections, the Liberals now have 174 seats, a clear majority.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney was all smiles as he arrived for his party’s own caucus meeting Wednesday with the three new MPs.
“We have a great deal of work to do, and we approach that with humility and determination,” he said, the new MPs – Danielle Martin, Tatiana Auguste and Doly Begum – beaming beside him.
“Canadians have placed their trust in the government’s plan. We now have reinforcements to help implement that and we’re going to go straight to work.”
Four of the five floor-crossers came from with the Conservative ranks, and rumours that more could follow persist. The Globe and Mail has previously reported the Liberals are targeting as many as eight opposition MPs.
Conservatives point to the 8.2 million Canadians who voted for them in last April’s general election, and Mr. Poilievre’s victory in his leadership review in February as proof points he has the mandate to stay on.
But recent public polling suggested the Liberals have a commanding lead over the Conservatives, and Mr. Poilievre’s MPs were asked Wednesday what it could take to reverse those numbers.
Rookie Tory MP Andrew Lawton said Mr. Poilievre is already doing it, moving to broaden out his party’s coalition by speaking to more potential voters through channels, such as mainstream media outlets he previously ignored.
“I think this is a long game that we’re playing,” he said.
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said some action on the structure of Commons committees will be taken soon now that there is a majority government, but declined to be more specific. “There’s a generally accepted principle that committees reflect the composition of Parliament, and you can expect news on that not too far away,” he told journalists.
On the prospect of further floor-crossers, Mr. MacKinnon said the Liberals have a solid caucus. “Until further notice, the caucus we have is the caucus we have,” he said.
Amid the Liberal celebration, Justice Minister Sean Fraser sounded a note of caution.
“When it comes to the numbers, yes, we may have a majority. But having been here for more than a decade now, we’ve seen people retire; we have seen people who have become sick. We have seen people pass away in office,” Mr. Fraser told journalists outside the Liberal caucus meeting.
“We need to be responsible in the way we make decisions. We need to be collaborative. Certainly, it was a good result,” he said. “But the work of government demands collaboration, majority, minority or otherwise.”