Former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole believes his successor Pierre Poilievre needs to change his policies in order to compete with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party.
“I think they do need to moderate some of the positions to reach out to more Canadians,” O’Toole said in an interview with Global News.
“If you look at what the Liberals have done with Mark Carney, they have a leader who is more to the centre, centre-right. They don’t have (Justin) Trudeau on the further left anymore. They have to adapt to Canada as it is now … and the opponent Conservatives have now.”
While O’Toole says Poilievre has done a good job of holding the government to account, he is urging the party to “ignore the culture war issues, ignore the floor crossings, and just focus on the long-term prosperity of Canadians.”
O’Toole led the federal Conservatives between 2020 and 2022, losing the 2021 election to the Liberals under Trudeau. O’Toole was ousted after the Conservative caucus voted to remove him during the Freedom Convoy’s protest in downtown Ottawa.
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The former party leader still believes Poilievre will lead the Tories into the next election, but was critical of the party’s embrace of social media influencers under Poilievre.
“Some of the influencers within the conservative movement now are the biggest gifts to the Liberal Party I’ve ever seen. Ignore all those so-called influencers. They’re going to guarantee you a loss in the next election,” O’Toole said.
Poilievre has done multiple interviews with influencers since blowing a 20-point lead in the polls and losing the 2025 federal election. The party also granted media accreditation to prominent influencers during the last election campaign and gave special accreditation for influencers during the recent Conservative convention.
O’Toole believes the party is too beholden to what those influencers are posting.
“Pierre is a smart policy person as well, so maybe he wants to have a Conservative thinkers conference — not a Conservative tweeters conference — and come up with some smart ideas for the future,” O’Toole told Global News.
O’Toole joined the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations on Tuesday and was very complimentary of Carney.
“Prime Minister Carney is a smart and passionate Canadian,” O’Toole said. “The old tricks that (the Conservatives) used to pull out on Mr. Trudeau aren’t going to work with this guy. So (the Conservatives) might as well acknowledge that and come up with a new strategy.”
Focusing on the four MPs who have left the Conservatives for the Liberals since the 2025 election is also the wrong approach, according to O’Toole.
“My advice to Pierre has been simple: ignore the floor crossings and the machinations of how (the Liberals) got a majority and hold the government to account.”
The Conservative and NDP floor-crossers secured Carney a majority government, which O’Toole believes is a positive for the country.
“I actually think with everything going on with the United States right now and the state of the world, it’s okay to have some stability in Parliament.”
That stability can also present an opportunity for Poilievre, according to O’Toole, who believes the Conservatives have a chance to present a strong plan to deal with trade and national unity.
“I think Mr. Poilievre is one of the most talented parliamentarians there is in the House of Commons, and that can be very helpful for a leader of the Opposition,” he said.
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