Former Tory leader to Poilievre: forget floor-crossings, focus on policy

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole rises during question period on Dec. 8, 2021, in Ottawa.

OTTAWA — The last Conservative leader to be ousted by his party says he’s advised his replacement to forget the floor crossings and social media trends as speculation heats up over Pierre Poilievre’s future at the party’s helm.

“My advice to him has always been to put the country first and look at the long term,” Erin O’Toole said in an interview on Tuesday.

“Forget about the short-term cycle of political machinations, floor crossings, what’s trending on Twitter. None of that stuff really matters.”

O’Toole was removed as Conservative leader in February 2022 after he lost to Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in the September 2021 election -- and after weeks of rumours that members of his own caucus were organizing against him.

The Conservative caucus voted to oust him during a fraught time in Ottawa, as thousands of protesters blocked downtown streets as part of the “Freedom Convoy” protests against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Poilievre won the leadership race that ended in September 2022.

He built up a 20-point lead over the Liberals in the polls by late 2024, but Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Trudeau’s exit from politics and the Liberals’ selection of Mark Carney as their new leader changed the political landscape dramatically.

The Conservatives lost a fourth straight election a year ago and Poilievre has struggled against Canadians’ negative perceptions of him.

After last spring’s election, the Conservative caucus voted to ensure it has the power to oust its leader under the Reform Act.

Signatures from 20 per cent of caucus members would force a secret ballot vote on his leadership, and a majority of votes against the leader would trigger another secret ballot vote to choose an interim leader.

A new poll out this week from the Angus Reid Institute suggests 30 per cent of Conservative voters now think Poilievre should be replaced before the next election -- almost double the number who said they believed the party needed a new leader back in August.

But 87 per cent of Conservative delegates at the party’s convention in late January voted to keep Poilievre in the top job during a mandatory leadership review, which is required after the party loses an election.

There are no indications that caucus is organizing against Poilievre. Outside last week’s caucus meeting, about a dozen Conservative MPs stopped to tell reporters they support his continued leadership.

Poilievre has remained defiant in the face of sagging poll numbers and four defections from the Tory benches that helped hand the Liberals a majority government earlier this month.

Dimitri Soudas, who was communications director for former prime minister Stephen Harper, recently said the departure of Marilyn Gladu -- whom he called a “true blue” conservative -- weakened Poilievre’s position.

O’Toole, who is the only leader to be ousted by the Conservative caucus, said Poilievre needs to stay focused on what matters.

“What will matter is the Conservatives putting forward a smart and reasonable set of commitments,” he said, adding those commitments will be especially important if Carney’s government fails to live up to its promises on trade, major projects and rapidly rebuilding the military.

O’Toole’s comments came as he joined Carney’s revamped advisory council on Canada-U.S. trade. He said he consulted with Poilievre before agreeing to join that council.

While O’Toole is on the record saying he thinks Poilievre should have the chance to lead the party into another election, he wrote in The Walrus in January that the leader needs to be introspective and learn from the mistakes of 2025. He also urged Poilievre to be optimistic rather than angry and cynical.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2026.