Houston Has a Problem with Poilievre

Tim Houston, Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative Premier, has a problem with Pierre Poilievre, Canada's Conservative Party leader who fell short in Monday's federal election.

Houston, who was re-elected to a second term in office last November, was asked what he thought of the Conservatives' performance and was direct and to the point.

"I think that after four consecutive losses to the Liberal Party, I think it's time for them to do some soul-searching," said Houston, "And I hope they do." Houston added the federal Tories are "very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in."

Former federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer disagreed with Houston's assessment stating, "You can't simultaneously say we pushed people away when we got more votes. That's just factually incorrect. That doesn't work on a mathematical level."

It is true that the Tories gained seats under Poilievre and their share of the popular vote topped 40%. Yet it doesn't change the fact the Tories were expected to win in a landslide. Poilievre wasn't supposed to lose his own riding by more than 4,000 votes. He certainly pushed away voters in his own riding and elsewhere by failing to stand up to President Trump and stand with Canadians.

I'm curious as to what another former Tory leader has to say - namely fellow Nova Scotian Peter McKay. On election night, I saw McKay interviewed during Global TV's election coverage by Dawna Friesen (who I remember when she was anchor at Thunder Bay Television News 40 years ago). Friesen questioned McKay about Houston not publicly supporting Poilievre during the election campaign. McKay denied the claim, but rather meekly said that Houston's wife was at Poilievre's rally. 

Houston made a point of stating there are "many shades of blue" within the Conservative movement while also noting he did not have a relationship with Poilievre. During Nova Scotia's election campaign, Houston made a point of saying he had no plans to invite Poilievre to campaign alongside him:

There is no federal equivalent to the Nova Scotia PC Party. I'm the leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives. There is a Conservative Party of Canada. It's a completely different party with its own leader.

This isn't a question of different shades of blue. Houston is clearly a conservative of a different color. When Poilievre came to Nova Scotia during the federal campaign, Houston released a video about Nova Scotia which left the impression with some that he was coming after Poilievre's job. 

Of course, Houston isn't the only Tory premier that has no love lost for Poilievre. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Poilievre butted heads over the 2022 convoy occupation. After Conservative MP Jamil Jivani (a friend of VP Vance who attended his inauguration) won his seat on Monday, he blasted Ford for being "a Liberal hype man." Ford responded that Poilievre and the Tories didn't help him during this year's Ontario election while claiming that Poilievre or one of his top advisers told Ontario Tory MPs to stay away from campaigning in the provincial election. Not that they needed it, mind you.

It is clear that Conservatives in Canada are a house divided, and the triumph of Mark Carney and the Liberals laid those divisions bare.