Latest news with #leadershipreview
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
B.C. Conservative leader faces review amid party infighting rumours
B.C. Conservative leader faces review amid party infighting rumours John Rustad, who is facing a leadership review, made his first public appearance in weeks after a caucus meeting.
CBC
24-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad to face scheduled leadership review amid infighting
Social Sharing B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad is set to face a leadership review this summer as the province's centre-right party is embroiled by allegations of blackmail and at least two splinter parties. Rustad's leadership review is part of the party's constitution, and unlike many other parties, will not take place at a large convention. Instead, the votes will happen on a riding-by-riding basis, and the results will be announced at a convention in the fall. Rustad can only be removed if he receives less than 50 per cent support in the review. His party has been rocked recently by allegations of blackmail, with a leaked letter from Rustad containing accusations that MLAs who left to form their own party, OneBC, had threatened to release text messages and alleged secret recordings from Tory staff. B.C. Conservative leader's letter alleges blackmail by ex-members 6 days ago Duration 10:04 In a letter leaked to media on Monday, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad alleges that a group of legislators who left his party are threatening to release texts and messages to intimidate members of his caucus. It comes after two Conservative defectors formed the OneBC party. Tim Thielmann, the chief of staff for the OneBC leader, called the allegations a desperate attempt by Rustad to cling to power. A political scientist says that Rustad continues to face issues uniting the moderate and social conservative elements of his party, even as one of his party's MLAs said the caucus supports him. Aisha Estey, president of the B.C. Conservative Party, said the party was having riding-by-riding leadership votes to facilitate manned voting stations and give its thousands of members a 30-day notice period. "This is purely a practical necessity that it takes place over the summer, because we have many ridings to get to and it'll take a bit of time," she told CBC News. Party members in the Kootenay-Rockies riding voted on Saturday, and another vote is set to take place in Surrey on June 30. The exact date for future votes and of the fall party convention have not been announced. Blackmail allegations In an undated letter written by Rustad, leaked to media last week, the leader says that three MLAs who left the party's caucus had threatened to release texts to blackmail some B.C. Conservative caucus staff into quitting and working for them. CBC News has verified the letter was sent by the Tory leader to his caucus. In the letter, Rustad described the behaviour as "unethical, abusive, and potentially criminal." The Tory leader has, thus far, not commented publicly about the letter, which was seen to reference the splinter OneBC party formed by two former Tory MLAs, Dallas Brodie and Tara Armstrong. Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Brodie was kicked out of the Conservative caucus in March for her statements about residential schools. Armstrong, of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, and Jordan Kealy of Peace River North left the party shortly after in solidarity. WATCH | OneBC forms to court social conservatives: 2 Independent MLAs launch new political party 11 days ago Duration 2:13 All three have denied that they engaged in blackmail, pointing out that Rustad has not produced any evidence to support his claims. The B.C. NDP has written to the RCMP to ask it to investigate the claims. Estey dubbed the blackmail allegations an "unfortunate distraction from the outside" that was having very little effect on party members internally. "I think that our MLAs have been doing a fantastic job under John's leadership in the legislature, and in question period, holding the NDP to account," she said. "So I think generally we're pretty confident." At an unrelated news conference on Monday, Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew was asked whether he had confidence in Rustad. "I think we all have confidence in John Rustad ... we all want to make sure that our party is set up for success, and we all want to make sure that we're focused on the task at hand," he said. Prof says infighting to continue In addition to OneBC, which is aiming to appeal to social conservatives, former B.C. Liberal MLA Karin Kirkpatrick has set up Centre B.C. to appeal to more moderate centre-right voters who don't want to vote Conservative. in uniting moderate and social Conservatives within his party. "The leadership of Mr. Rustad is fraught, and there is no easy way to bring ... these two factions back together again, save the promise of imminent victory. And we don't have that at the moment," he said. "And so, I think the infighting will continue."
National Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
FIRST READING: Poilievre now further from electoral victory than at any point since winning leadership
Article content TOP STORY Article content With Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre facing a leadership review as early as January, his party is now further from electoral victory than at any point since he first became leader in 2022. Article content A new Nanos poll released this week found that public support for the Carney government has surged since election day, to the point where the Liberals would now be poised to win a comfortable majority if the vote was held again. Article content The Liberals now hold a 12-point lead over the Conservatives (44.2 per cent to 32.2 per cent), far higher than the two-point lead they posted on election day (43.76 per cent to 41.31 per cent). Article content According to Liu, the Liberals could expect 190 seats against a Conservative caucus of just 117 seats. Article content Article content This would actually be the best electoral outcome for the Liberals since 1980, when Pierre Trudeau secured his final term with a commanding victory over the Progressive Conservatives under Joe Clark. Article content The Nanos poll also found Prime Minister Mark Carney dominating in rankings of 'preferred prime minister.' Among Nanos respondents, 49.7 per cent favoured keeping Carney in the top job, against just 24.2 per cent who wanted to see a Prime Minister Pierre Poilievre. Article content The shift is particularly dramatic when considering that Nanos had Poilievre as a prime minister-in-waiting as recently as January. When the year 2025 began, the Tories were polling at 45 per cent to the Liberals' 23 per cent, with Poilievre posting an all-time high of 40.5 per cent as preferred prime minister. Article content Article content Against all this, both Conservative MPs and Conservative supporters appear to remain supportive of keeping Poilievre as leader. Article content Article content In the immediate wake of Poilievre's loss of the general election — and the loss of his own Ottawa-area seat of Carleton — dozens of Conservative MPs came out in support of keeping Poilievre at the helm. Article content Even Kory Teneycke, an organizer with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and a vocal critic of Poilievre during the electoral campaign, said he didn't suspect the federal Conservatives would be opting for a new leader. Article content 'I think the caucus that was elected this election is chock-full of Poilievre loyalists and people who owe their seat to his leadership, and I think they'll very much want to see him stay,' Teneycke told The Canadian Press in May.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Conservative leader Poilievre to face leadership review at policy convention, likely in January
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre responds to the speech from the throne during a press conference in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will face a leadership review vote, likely in January, at a full Conservative Party of Canada policy convention in Calgary, CTV News has learned. The Globe and Mail first reported the story. The exact dates of the convention have yet to be confirmed. The Conservatives picked up 22 seats in the last election and won more than eight million votes nation-wide, but Poilievre lost his own seat, which he had held since 2004. Poilievre is set to run in the Alberta riding of Battle River–Crowfoot in a byelection — likely to be held this summer — after Conservative MP Damien Kurek stepped aside to allow the Conservative leader another shot at winning a seat. CTV News has asked the party for official comment.
CBC
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Poilievre to undergo Conservative Party leadership review in January
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will face a mandatory leadership review in January, after the party failed to form government in the last federal election. The Conservative Party's national council agreed on Saturday that the leadership review would take place in Calgary, according to CBC News sources. The Globe and Mail first reported the story. If a leader does not resign following an election loss, the party's constitution requires Conservative Party members to vote on whether that leader should stay on at its next national convention.
