A tale of two caucuses: Liberals cheer newest members, while Conservatives look to the 'long game'

OTTAWA — Liberal MPs were living in the moment on Wednesday, as they lined up to offer thunderous applause to the party’s newest MPs as they arrived for a caucus meeting.

Conservatives, on the other hand, had their attention focused far into the future, playing the “long game,” and emphasizing the party’s unity behind leader Pierre Poilievre.

Both caucuses met on Parliament Hill for the first time since Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government saw its status elevated to majority thanks to three byelection wins on Monday — but it was in large part thanks to five MPs who had previously crossed the floor, leaving them one seat shy of hitting that 172-seat threshold before Monday’s votes were even cast that led them to reach 174.

Four of those came from the Conservatives, including last week when southwestern Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu stunned many by defecting to the Liberals after spending her recent years in Parliament espousing right-wing and social conservative positions on issues like COVID-19 and the Liberals’ latest anti-hate bill. Carney has since said she will vote with the government in Parliament.

Gladu’s exit, coupled with Carney clinching his majority government which allows him to govern until 2029, has raised fresh questions about Poilievre’s handle on his caucus and his future as party leader. But heading into Wednesday’s meeting, the first time Conservative MPs have met behind closed-doors since those two events happened, none were showing signs suggesting any of his 140-member caucus were prepared to air their grievances, at least publicly.

For his part, Poilievre has vowed in the wake of Carney’s new majority to lead the party into the next election.

Ontario MP Andrew Lawton, one of two dozen members elected under Poilievre during the last election, pointed to the leader’s record of winning overwhelming support from party delegates during his January leadership review and his recent attempts to broaden his appeal, speaking to more podcasts and travelling both to the U.S. and Europe, his first international trips since becoming party leader back in 2022.

“I think this is a long game that we’re playing,” Lawton said. “We’re prepared to do that work, but I absolutely stand behind Pierre Poilievre as our leader.”

Successive public opinion polls suggest the Liberals under Carney to be enjoying a double-digit lead over Poilievre’s Conservatives, including in must-win regions for any party like Ontario.

A Postmedia-Leger poll released on April 1 suggests that 48 per cent of decided voters say they would support Carney’s Liberals, well ahead of the 34 per cent who say they would cast a ballot for the Conservatives, with only six per cent picking the New Democrats. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents surveyed also suggested they were satisfied with Carney’s job performance to date as prime minister, including on the international stage.

The Conservatives also saw their share of the vote drop in Monday’s three byelections since voters last cast a ballot in those same ridings in last April’s election. Melissa Lantsman, one of the Conservatives’ deputy leaders who represents the Greater Toronto Area riding of Thornhill, said those were previously Liberal-held seats.

“Caucus is united and united behind a leader that has a vision,” she said.

Later on Wednesday, the party sent a fundraising email signed by Lantsman encouraging supporters to not give up in the face of a Carney majority government.

“You voted. You made your voice heard. And now, behind closed doors, politicians who decided their ambition mattered more than your choice traded your vote away like a bargaining chip,” she wrote.

Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who previously served with Poilievre in the country’s last Conservative government under Stephen Harper, took to social media to defend his leadership.

He posted that while he himself has been at times been critical of Poilievre, “including the admittedly difficult problem of how to deal with the destabilizing threats and uncertainty emanating from Donald Trump,” Kenney says he has been heartened to see changes from the Conservative leader in terms of taking international trips and broadening his communications approach.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he has the confidence of the Conservative Party, and has won the right to contest the next election,” Kenney wrote.

Kenney sits as a member on Postmedia’s board.

He also challenged the calls he says were coming from a “small number of Conservatives” expressing their doubts.

“I ask them how the party benefits from the constant internal strife of changing leaders? What message would it send to Canadians to have a seventh leaders (including interims) since 2015?”

Alberta MP John Barlow offered an optimistic assessment on how the party might look to boost its rank in public opinion on Wednesday. “We’ll get there.”

Another Alberta MP answered more bluntly. “More votes,” said David Bexte.

Carol Anstey, one of the party’s MPs from Newfoundland and Roman Baber, representing the Toronto riding of York Centre, both of which the Conservatives flipped from the Liberals last year, appeared before reporters to express their belief in Poilievre’s continued leadership.

“I don’t care for a handful of MPs who forgot who they represent. Mark Carney’s policies are destroying Canada faster than (Justin) Trudeau’s. Pierre Poilievre and our Conservative colleagues are the last hope to save our country. That’s where we were united behind Pierre Poilievre to lead us into the next election,” Baber said in a brief statement to reporters.

Anstey, who represents the riding of Long Range Mountains, told reporters she believed Poilievre to have the “confidence of caucus,” adding she made history as the first Conservative woman elected in the province in a riding she managed to flip, a feat she credited to Poilievre’s leadership.

As for Carney, he appeared on Wednesday with the Liberals’ three newest MPs fresh off their byelection wins: Danielle Martin in University—Rosedale, Doly Begum in  Scarborough  Southwest and Tatiana Auguste from Terrebonne, who was returning to Parliament after winning the seat a second time from the Bloc Quebecois, following the Supreme Court overturning last year’s razor-thin election result. 

The trio were greeted with cheers and applause by Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers who awaited their arrival before the cameras.

Before they entered, they appeared alongside the prime minister who boasted that the Liberals’ three newest female MPs plus Gladu’s joining of the caucus meant the number of women on the government side in the House of Commons had grown to 71.

“Canadians have placed their trust in the government’s plan,” Carney said. “We now have reinforcements to help implement that, and we’re going to go straight to work.”

National Post

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