The Conservative Party caucus is set to meet for the first time since losing the federal election with a meeting set for next Tuesday, according to an internal memo obtained by CTV News.
The meeting is being called to “exercise provisions set out in the Reform Act contained in Section 49 of the Parliament of Canada Act,” the memo reads.
Through the Reform Act — an initiative from Ontario Conservative MP Michael Chong that came into effect in 2015 — the caucus can vote on giving themselves four key internal powers for the coming session, including the ability to review and remove their party leader and elect an interim replacement.
If Conservatives want to forge ahead with a leadership review, 20 per cent of caucus would need to sign a formal agreement to trigger the process, and then it would require a majority of caucus members to vote to remove the leader through a secret-ballot process.
In 2022, the party used those powers to oust former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole months following the 2021 federal election loss.
But the party’s current leader Pierre Poilievre appears to have support for now, despite losing his own seat and leading the party to its fourth failed attempt to defeat the Liberals.
Speaking to CTV Power Play on Wednesday, former leader and re-elected Conservative MP for the riding of Regina-Qu’Appelle Andrew Scheer said Poilievre is “absolutely” staying on.
“Pierre is a fighter, and he’s doing it for the people who have been left behind for this government. That’s really what inspires him,” Scheer told host Vassy Kapelos.
Several prominent conservatives, including former prime minister Stephen Harper, have also taken to social media to defend Poilievre.
In a post to X on Tuesday, Harper congratulated Poilievre for “making significant gains, both in seats and popular vote, and bringing an entire new generation of Canadians to the Conservative Party.”
According to a Conservative campaign source speaking to CTV News on background, Poilievre is “making calls to the grassroots” and “will get a seat” as party members want to see him back in the House of Commons.
But the process to get another seat will require a Conservative MP to step aside and the federal government to call a byelection, which could take several months.
According to Elections Canada, the Conservatives received 8,086,051 votes in this latest federal election, accounting for 41.3 per cent of the vote.
While the result is the party’s highest total for the party since Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in 1988 with 43 per cent of the popular vote, Poilievre still lost the popular vote to the Liberals, who garnered 43.7 per cent of the vote share.
With files from CTV News’ Abigail Bimman and Rachel Aiello
