Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a press conference in Ottawa on March 14.Chris Tanouye/The Canadian Press
Pierre Poilievre is facing mounting discontent over campaign manager Jenni Byrne’s handling of strategy and operations, multiple sources say, citing what they call her unwillingness to pivot from attacks on the Liberal government record to a laser focus on the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Globe and Mail spoke to 17 Conservatives, who are close to the campaign, and they describe a dysfunctional organization with tensions rising as public-opinion polls show the Liberals now ahead of the Poilievre-led party.
They say Ms. Byrne has belittled campaign workers; given top staff positions to people who work for her consulting company; and discounted advice from party stalwarts, including onetime cabinet ministers, premiers and top advisers to former prime minister Stephen Harper.
Both Mr. Poilievre and Ms. Byrne rejected appeals from veteran party insiders – beginning in January – to switch from talking about consumer carbon pricing and cost-of-living issues to the threat posed to the Canadian economy from Mr. Trump and his America First agenda, the sources said.
The party insiders told the leader and his key lieutenant, Ms. Byrne, that the campaign has to be more than slogans and large rallies of party faithful, and instead be devoted to how a Conservative government could defend the economy from the U.S. President, the sources said.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the 17 confidential sources because they continue to campaign for the party and fear retribution for speaking publicly on the matter.
Poilievre proposes life in prison for fentanyl dealers, human traffickers and gun smuggler
Sam Lilly, a spokesman for Mr. Poilievre, said the leader has full confidence in Ms. Byrne and rejected suggestions that the campaign needs to shift its central message to Trump tariffs directed at Canada.
“From well before the campaign, Mr. Poilievre has been talking about his plan to make Canada stronger in order to stand up to Donald Trump,” Mr. Lilly said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, said he’s been inundated with calls of support after he sharply criticized the Conservative Leader and Ms. Byrne for failing to focus on Mr. Trump earlier this week.
“I got tons of messages from people who, in many cases very senior and very close to these guys, who agreed 100 per cent with what I said,” Mr. Teneycke said. “Unless something changes fast, I suspect she will be dumped.”
Mr. Harper sidelined Ms. Byrne as his campaign manager in the final weeks of the 2015 campaign that led to the election of Justin Trudeau. After the election, a number of Conservatives blamed her for the party’s defeat and criticized her management style.
According to polls, Mr. Poilievre has lost roughly a 20-per-cent advantage over the Liberals since the exit of Mr. Trudeau, return of Mr. Trump to a second term and election of former central banker Mark Carney as Liberal Leader. Three recent polls show that the Carney-led Liberals have overtaken the Conservatives. Top of mind for voters is Mr. Trump’s tariffs and annexation rhetoric, polls show.
On Wednesday, Mr. Teneycke, who ran Mr. Ford’s three back-to-back majority wins, released an internal provincial party poll showing Mr. Carney and the Liberals with a 15-point lead over the federal Conservatives in Ontario.
The sources told The Globe that despite internal tensions, dysfunction and the polling numbers, there is still a path to victory. Mr. Poilievre is an effective campaigner, they say, and a stronger debater who can put Mr. Carney to the test in the TV debates in mid-April.
Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly talked about annexing Canada and referred to Mr. Trudeau as a governor, struck a different tone Friday. He said he had an “extremely productive call” with Mr. Carney and looks forward to working with him on new trade and security arrangements after the April 28 election, adding that he hoped to “end up with a very good relationship with Canada.”
Mr. Poilievre said he was glad to hear that the two spoke and wants to hear what was actually achieved.
“But regardless of what was said, what is now clear is that it was a mistake over the last lost Liberal decade to weaken our economy and become more dependent on the Americans,” he said during a campaign announcement.
Election snapshot: What happened on Day 6 of the campaign
The sources told The Globe that Mr. Poilievre will make more policy announcements next week, calibrated to meet the Trump moment, but provided no details.
The sources pointed to the thousands of people turning out at Mr. Poilievre’s recent rallies in Surrey, B.C., and in Hamilton, and the fact that the Conservatives are still polling above their traditional baseline. Mr. Poilievre has also received endorsements from major unions, a voting bloc he has been courting for years.
Whether the party can turn rally-goers into voters, however, is causing concern among grassroots organizers. While a list of target ridings has been drawn up – the party needs to win at least 52 more ridings to form government – no plan has been delivered to local campaign managers on what assistance the national campaign is prepared to provide to win them, three of the sources said.
Though Mr. Trump is certainly a factor pushing down their support, the Conservatives are also concerned by the apparent collapse of the New Democrats. While the party counts NDP ridings on their target list, they were also banking on support for the New Democrats eating away at Liberal support. In areas like southwestern Ontario, for example, the Conservatives were well-positioned to win NDP ridings but those votes appear now to be going to the Liberals.
Meanwhile, Ms. Byrne – with Mr. Poilievre’s approval – is also being criticized for setting aside about 90 ridings for chosen candidates, causing resentment in local riding associations from people who raised money and recruited volunteers, only to be told they couldn’t run.
Candidates with political and financial experience, such as former B.C. finance minister Mike de Jong, were rejected. Mr. de Jong now plans to run as an independent in the new riding of Abbotsford-South Langley. Ms. Byrne had selected Sukhman Gill, a 25-year-old blueberry farmer to run in the riding.
Some members of the Quebec Conservative Party were also rejected from running for the federal Conservatives, according to one of the sources, who noted that Ms. Byrne doesn’t speak French and is unfamiliar with the province’s unique politics. As it now stands, the source said that Mr. Poilievre is projected to win about 10 seats, the same number the party got in the 2021 election, mostly in the area around Quebec City.
The election call also allowed the party to skip the nomination process altogether and appoint preferred candidates, something Mr. Carney has done as well. Some local Conservative riding executives have told The Globe that they won’t help the party during this campaign as a result.. The executives declined to discuss the matter publicly for fear of retribution.
At a campaign event on Thursday, Mr. Poilievre was asked about the frustrations over nominations from the grassroots.
“We will have strong candidates who are small-business people, doctors, local philanthropic champions and other people who are legends in the communities that they represent,” he said.
He also played down the party’s current standings in the polls.
“We’ll wait for Canadians to make the choice on election day,” he said.