Poilievre pledges to listen to voters as Conservative caucus meets in Ottawa

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OTTAWA — Fresh from last week’s federal election, Conservative MPs new and old gathered for the first time in Ottawa Tuesday morning.

Speaking to reporters outside of west block, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canada’s political map has changed drastically.

“If you had told me we would get 41% of the vote a couple of years ago, I would have said, ‘Wow that’s ambitious,’ but if you had told me that we’d get 41% of the vote and still not win, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy,'” Poilievre said.

“Our electoral map has changed. Right now, it’s looking more and more like a two-party map, where getting 41% — by the way, the best result we’ve had since 1988 — was not enough to form government.”

The party, he said, will examine not only how keep the new support they got last Monday, but grow it.

He said the summer will be spent listening to voters and determine how to move ahead as a party.

As for embattled campaign manager Jenni Byrne — at the centre of a burgeoning civil war in Canada’s conservative movement — Poilievre praised her efforts in the campaign.

“She did a lot of hard work, our team has a lot to be proud of,” he said.

“We’ve expanded our support, we’ve broadened our team, we’ve got 25 new members of Parliament, but we’ve got to go further.”

Members of the Tory caucus were largely optimistic as they headed into the meeting.

“Anytime you don’t form government you have to take a look at why, but we’re also incredibly optimistic about the base that we’ve built, the expansion of our voter pool,” Conservative MP Andrew Scheer told reporters outside of the caucus room, describing the Tory effort as a “fantastic campaign” that fell short.

“If you look at the new people that Pierre Poilievre has attracted into the conservative movement, some people who say they’ve never voted conservative before, or never voted.”

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The caucus elected Scheer to act as House leader when Parliament resumes on May 26.

Scheer served as party leader from 2017 to 2020 and as House Speaker from 2011 until the Conservatives lost power in 2015.

He said Monday’s meeting will be but the first of several in-depth discussions and examinations into how the Conservatives fared in the election, and chart the path forward.

“I’m confident our leader Pierre Poilievre will be able to make some adjustments and finish the job next time,” Scheer said.

Scheer described getting 42% of the vote as an “incredible accomplishment,” and credited his party for picking up seats in ridings normally not won by Tory candidates.

The Tories also face a spring sitting with their leader forced to watch the House of Commons from the audience gallery, after Poilievre failed to win his suburban Ottawa riding of Carleton.

Poilievre spent the weekend visiting Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek at his rural Alberta home — Kurek offered to step aside to let Poilievre run for his seat in the reliably-conservative constituency.

A byelection can’t be held until Kurek officially resigns his seat, and that can’t happen until he’s sworn in as a Member of Parliament later this month.

While the PMO has 180 days to call a byelection in vacant ridings, Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier his week said he’ll declare a by election in Kurek’s riding as soon as possible.

Once Kurek steps down, Poilievre would have to wait a minimum of 47 days before that byelection takes place, meaning he probably wouldn’t be able to take a seat in the house until the fall sitting.

Poilievre, who has garnered unwavering support from MPs who’ve spoken publicly, said in a video released Monday that he plans to “learn and grow” after this month’s election.

— With files from Canadian Press

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume