After two years of Pierre Poilievre as their leader, many Conservative MPs say they are much less free now than they were before his arrival.
The man who promised during his leadership run to make Canada “the freest country in the world” maintains tight control over the actions of his caucus members.
Normally loquacious Conservatives close up like oysters and dare not speak without their leader’s approval. MPs are watched by Conservative staffers both inside and outside Parliament. Elected representatives are publicly called to order for deviating from the party line.
Everybody is being watched. What we say, what we do, who we talk to. We’re told not to fraternize with MPs from the other parties. And that’s not normal. – Conservative Party source
Conservative MPs’ words and actions are closely scrutinized by the leader’s office. Partisanship is encouraged. Fraternizing with elected officials from other parties is a no-no.
Those who follow these rules are rewarded. Those who don’t often have to suffer consequences.
“There are always multiple people in the penalty box, there is always someone in trouble,” one caucus member said.
“You don’t need to be told what to do. You watch the leader and understand what’s expected from you,” one Conservative source said.
Pierre Poilievre points to a campaign sign during a news conference in Vancouver on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)
“The leader comes first. Do not undercut him,” said another.
Radio-Canada spoke with more than a dozen elected representatives, employees and members of the Conservative Party of Canada from three different provinces. The sources were granted anonymity so they could express themselves freely. All reported a tightening of caucus discipline under Poilievre’s leadership.
“Since Pierre became leader, you can feel the difference,” said a source in the Conservative leader’s entourage. “MPs don’t get too comfortable. They’re careful.”
But some in the Conservative ranks are beginning to chafe at the restrictions.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses his caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)
Some elected officials feel they come to caucus “to be told what to do and what to think” by the leader, one Conservative source said.
“Sometimes the leader listens to suggestions. But often, his mind is already made up. It’s often a one-way conversation,” another source added.
“It’s not ideal, but it works,” one source said. The Conservatives have a 20-point lead in several polls.
“When you’re leading, it’s easy to keep discipline within the caucus. But if there’s a drop in the polls … well, then we’ll see.”
If the leader invents a new slogan, “we know we’ll have to use it,” said a Conservative source.
Catchphrases deployed by Poilievre in the House of Commons and at media events (axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime) and terms of derision like “wacko,” “radical,” “Justinflation” and “Sellout Jagmeet Singh” are often picked up and repeated by Conservative MPs.
Take, for example, the word “wacko.”
Poilievre was expelled from the House of Commons in April for using this word and refusing to withdraw remarks he made about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Before that incident, the term had been used twice in the House of Commons in the previous 18 months. In the months since, Conservative MPs have repeated it more than 100 times in the Commons.
WATCH | Poilievre ejected from House for calling PM ‘wacko’
“If you repeat the slogans, you get rewarded,” said a Conservative source.
“You are celebrated in front of the entire caucus for being a good cheerleader. And you get more speaking time in the House and during question period.”
Those who refuse to parrot the lines lose their speaking time, another source added.
It’s radio silence at the entrance to Conservative caucus meetings these days. Every Wednesday morning, journalists throw questions at the arriving MPs. Almost all of them pass without answering; some avoid making eye contact with journalists.
Every week when Parliament is in session, journalists wait at the entrances to the party caucus meeting rooms to speak with MPs. The practice was established decades ago. (Radio-Canada)
MPs from the other parties seldom hesitate to answer journalists’ questions. And when Erin O’Toole and Andrew Scheer led the Conservatives, many Conservative MPs stopped by to chat with reporters every Wednesday.
In the early days of the Poilievre era, a press secretary for the leader was seen on a few occasions signalling MPs not to stop in front of the cameras. Like a policeman directing traffic, he seemed to be beckoning them to enter the room without responding to reporters.
More recently, press secretaries from Poilievre’s office have been supervising the entrances to Parliament and monitoring journalists’ scrums with MPs, with the goal of recording the exchanges. The Conservative Party is the only federal party that currently does this.
Sam Lilly, spokesperson for the leader of the Official Opposition, is often present at the entrance to the Conservative caucus room, documenting MPs’ comments to journalists. (Radio-Canada)
As a result, many Conservative MPs who used to be very outspoken are now reluctant to grant interviews to journalists without first receiving the go-ahead from Poilievre’s office.
“It’s not that unusual to act that way,” said Yan Plante, a former Conservative adviser under Stephen Harper. “The leader’s staff wants to limit the risks as much as possible and let the leader, the group’s best communicator, do the heavy lifting.”
He said holding the leash too tightly can also lead to problems.
“It can demoralize caucus members,” Plante said. “Over time, it can become an internal threat, where you also have opposition within your own caucus.”
The ones who watch caucus
Sources told Radio-Canada that Conservative Party staffers keep a close eye on MPs’ activities — who’s talking to reporters, who’s deviating from the party line, who’s fraternizing with MPs from other parties. Journalists have spotted party staffers taking notes and sources say these activities are reported to the leader’s office.
“Everybody is being watched. What we say, what we do, who we talk to. We’re told not to fraternize with MPs from the other parties. And that’s not normal,” a Conservative source said.
“To be a good MP, it’s important to build relationships with colleagues from other parties. That’s how Parliament works best for Canadians. But the leader’s office won’t let us.”
Sources say Conservative staffers monitor MPs’ interactions not only in the Commons chamber but also in the corridors of Parliament and at social events such as the Press Gallery dinner and the Speaker’s garden party.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (right) shares a laugh with then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer as they attend the National Press Gallery Dinner in Gatineau, Que. on Saturday June 3, 2017. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
Poilievre’s press attaché was even spotted jotting down the names of Conservative MPs attending the Press Gallery dinner this spring. It’s an event that Poilievre — who has strained relations with the Parliamentary Press Gallery — and most of his MPs have avoided for the past two years.
“We don’t get told not to go, but we can see that the leader doesn’t go, so we do the same. Otherwise, it would be frowned upon,” said one Conservative source.
Plante said that if Poilievre’s office is maintaining this kind of tight control over MPs, it’s going too far.
“Political employees were not elected by the people,” he said.
“If I were a member of Parliament and this concerned me, I’d go to the leader to denounce the situation and say I’m not going to stand for this.”
Personal discipline
Poilievre imposes iron discipline on himself. He works hard. He works late.
“We’ve been telling him for months that he needs to take a vacation, but he just won’t listen,” one source said.
“He’s the one who decides everything. His main adviser is himself … The people around him are only there to realize the leader’s vision.”
Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Every message that bears Poilievre’s name on social media must first receive his approval, the source added.
“He’s not a dictator,” the source said. “He has a vision, he knows where he’s going and how to get there.”
Poilievre’s chief of staff “doesn’t decide much,” the source added. “He manages his calendar more than the party’s policies.”
“Pierre Poilievre went to the Harper school,” said Plante, referring to the former Conservative prime minister in whose cabinet Poilievre served. “His entourage is made up of several people who went to the Harper school, where message discipline was important.”
Then-prime minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with Pierre Poilievre after the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on July 15, 2013. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
Poilievre follows his mentor’s example in leading his troops. Uunlike his predecessors, he can afford to do so.
Erin O’Toole needed three rounds of voting before being declared Conservative leader; he ended up with 57 per cent of the vote. Andrew Scheer needed 13 rounds and finished with 51 per cent. Both had heavily courted different factions of the party to gain the necessary support.
Poilievre won the leadership decisively on the first ballot, with 68 per cent of the vote.
“He doesn’t owe anything to anyone,” one Conservative source said. “He is not beholden to the religious wing of the party, or the social conservatives or the progressives.”
“He has the credibility to keep people disciplined and to call delinquents to order,” another source said.
“If you stray too far from the message, you get told pretty quickly,” a third source said.
Pierre Poilievre, with his wife Anaida, waves on stage after winning the party leadership on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Recent examples abound. Conservative MPs who have expressed their opinions in public, or who have strayed slightly from the party’s central message, have been swiftly called on the carpet by Poilievre’s office and forced to course-correct.
If a Conservative elected official brings up a subject that contradicts or embarrasses the leader, “the message gets through pretty quickly,” one Conservative source said.
Some MPs have lost speaking time in the Commons or in committees as punishment.
“It’s a way for Pierre to point out who he likes and who he doesn’t,” a source added.
Here are several recent examples of Conservative MPs called out by Poilievre:
November 2024: Seventeen Conservative MPs who pleaded with the government to ensure that cities in their ridings received their share of a federal housing fund were publicly rebuffed by the leader’s office.
In a news release distributed to the media without their consent, Poilievre forced those MPs to renege on their commitment to mayors in their ridings.
October 2024: As Poilievre tabled a confidence motion to bring down the government, Conservative MP Kevin Waugh questioned the utility of holding a federal election just as Saskatchewan voters were heading to the polls for provincial and municipal elections.
Shortly thereafter — in a press release issued under his name but sent by the leader’s office — Waugh wrote, “We need a carbon tax election now.“
July 2024: Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said that a Conservative government would not fund the Quebec City tramway project but that if “agreements are signed, we won’t redo what’s been done. We won’t start undoing contracts … we’ll respect them”.
A few hours later, he was forced to retract his statement on X after a call from the leader’s office: “A Conservative government will NOT invest federal money in a tramway, no matter what Justin Trudeau promises.”
June 2024: In an interview on a Liberal MP’s podcast, Conservative MP Arnold Viersen said he looks forward to a day “when abortion is unthinkable.” He also said he would vote against gay marriage if given the opportunity and hinted that he’s banking on the strength of the Conservatives’ religious caucus to change laws once in power.
Poilievre’s office quickly issued a correction in the MP’s name, saying his comments “don’t represent the positions of the leader, nor the policies passed by Conservative Party members themselves.”
A number of Conservative sources said they’re not bothered by this degree of top-down control. “It avoids missteps and distractions,” one said.
Earlier this year, Ontario Conservative MP Karen Vecchio lost her chairmanship of the status of women committee under mysterious circumstances. Anita Vandenbeld, a Liberal MP on the same committee, claimed Vecchio “was punished because she collaborated too much with the other parties.”
Conservative MP Karen Vecchio listens during a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
“She didn’t subscribe to the Conservatives’ idea that everything should be blocked in committee, especially not on issues like the Status of Women,” Vandenbeld said.
Vecchio did not respond to Radio-Canada’s request for her version of events. Poilievre’s office said it’s common practice to change committee chairs. But sources told Radio-Canada that Vecchio did not take the change well.
In January, MP Leslyn Lewis supported a petition calling for Canada to withdraw from the United Nations. As a result, her speaking time was reduced to question period. According to Radio-Canada’s calculations, the frequency of her statements and questions in the Commons was cut in half in subsequent months.
Lewis and Poilievre’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Prime Minister Poilievre?
Will Poilievre’s iron discipline and tight control of Conservative troops last if he becomes prime minister?
“His personal challenge, I think, will be not to control everything,” said Rodolphe Husny, a former Conservative adviser under Scheer. That will be hard for Poilievre, he said, “because I don’t think it’s in his personality to delegate.”
Several Conservatives agreed.
“There’s a very small circle around the leader. There’s a lack of variety of opinion. That’s our biggest challenge,” said a Conservative source.
“Once in power, it’s important to give some slack so that people feel freer … to see a little more of our team members out in the media,” Plante said.
But until then, the discipline Poilievre imposes on his MPs enables him to avoid most pitfalls and issue a consistent message.
It’s a method that may merely generate resentment against an opposition leader, but can quickly become a pebble in a prime minister’s shoe.