It’s safe to say these probably weren’t the headlines Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives were hoping for this week.
Two announced departures from the Conservative caucus have overshadowed Poilievre’s criticisms of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s inaugural budget, shifting the focus back to Poilievre’s leadership ahead of his party’s convention in January.
While the circumstances around Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont’s defection to the Liberals and Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux’s out-of-the-blue early retirement differ, both were political gifts to the Carney government.
Two connected Tories who spoke to Global News worried they were more symptoms of a “malaise” that has fallen over the party since April’s election loss.
“In caucus, there’s a reasonably widespread concern that maybe Pierre can never get it done, and they’re not sure he’s taking steps to improve,” one Conservative source, who was granted anonymity to speak about internal party business, told Global News. A second source agreed with the assessment.
“There’s a lot of people in wait-and-see mode right now … I don’t think this is about any of the component pieces of what’s happened this week, it’s more like ‘does this guy have it, is he going to get there?’”
Two Conservative MPs recently told Global News that they had signed up to run again in the 2025 election based on the assumption that the party would form government. But those assumptions were made around the time when the party polled around 25 percentage points higher than Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
Both MPs separately told Global that their interest in serving more years in opposition is low, which could lead to more problems for Poilievre when the next federal election comes.
Poilievre and his team have faced sporadic criticism from within the Conservative Party’s tent, but with a few high-profile exceptions — including public criticism by Kory Teneycke, a veteran party operator and Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff, and a recent Toronto Star op-ed from Dimitri Soudas, a former communications director for Stephen Harper — the party has stayed largely behind its leader since April’s disappointing election loss.
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“(Poilievre) was basically constructed to do one thing, and that was unite the party and defeat Justin Trudeau,” said Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Global Affairs
“And that (objective) has in some ways been accomplished … Justin Trudeau is gone, the Mark Carney government has moved in. They are in some ways looking more like an old Tory government would’ve looked like. If you can align it with any government that we’ve had in the last while, (Carney is) more like a Jean Chretien government or a Stephen Harper government than an activist, really aggressive type of government that we’ve had in the past.”
The Conservatives’ week was already derailed as of Tuesday afternoon, when d’Entremont — a veteran Nova Scotian politician who served as a provincial cabinet minister and as deputy Speaker federally — mused openly about considering his options to Politico.
D’Entremont, an affable politician from Nova Scotia’s “Red Tory,” or progressive tradition, was never really a natural fit for Poilievre’s Western-tinged, sharp-elbowed brand of conservatism. Within hours of the Politico story, d’Entremont announced he was joining the Liberal caucus.
On his way out the door, d’Entremont hinted that there were other MPs in the Conservative caucus with their own concerns with Poilievre’s leadership. Whether or not that’s true — and Global’s sources suggest it is — the mere suggestion adds to Poilievre’s headaches.
While half of the politics reporters in Ottawa chased rumours of more floor-crossers to come, longtime Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux abruptly announced his retirement from the House of Commons.
First elected in 2015, Jeneroux said in a statement Thursday evening that he made the decision — seven months after getting re-elected — to focus more on his family. The Edmonton-area MP then issued a second statement — circulated by the Conservative party — that he was not coerced into making his decision.
Typically, MPs don’t have to issue statements clarifying that their decisions were not made under coercion.
Jeneroux was one of the names whispered around Ottawa to be considering crossing the aisle. Multiple news outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Jeneroux met personally with Carney. Global News has not independently verified those reports.
“Since my resignation this evening, I had a great conversation with Pierre Poilievre, who wished me all the best, as I do him,” Jeneroux wrote in the statement.
“I wish him and my colleagues all the best as they continue to raise cost-of-living issues facing Canadians.”
The Conservative source close to Poilievre’s team said the departures were “obviously unhelpful” but downplayed their long-term significance.
“Obviously, the soap opera stuff is much sexier, going to get a lot more coverage. That’s just the way political reporting works,” the source said.
“That’s true when it’s good for Conservatives, and that’s true when it’s bad for Conservatives, right? Obviously that stuff is a massive distraction, of course … Obviously unhelpful, I’m not going to say it’s awesome.”
“(But) I’ve seen many floor crossings over the years, to Conservatives, against Conservatives, at the provincial level and everything else. And the party that loses an MP has a bad week, and the party that gains an MP has a good week. But it’s kind of a story that lasts a week,” the source added.
A second source agreed with the assessment, but warned that it would change if Carney lures more Conservatives into the fold and secures a majority government.
While Poilievre’s leadership currently looks safe from challengers, the prospect of at least three more years of uncontested Liberal control over the House of Commons could change that.
— with a file from Mackenzie Gray.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Bad week for the Conservatives puts Pierre Poilievre on the defensive
