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Scheer — a longtime MP who led the Conservatives when they lost the 2019 federal election to the Liberals — told reporters that he will represent Poilievre in the lower chamber until the leader “rejoins us,” something Poilievre is hoping to achieve by vying for a new seat in a yet-to-be-called byelection. 

A Conservative caucus member, speaking to the Star on the condition they not be named, said those in attendance Tuesday chose to adopt the Reform Act, which grants the caucus several powers, including the ability to launch a leadership review if at least 20 per cent of a party’s caucus wishes to do so.

But there were no public calls for Poilievre to go on Tuesday. Instead, the leader, Scheer, and several other MPs defended the party’s performance at the polls in the spring election, even while admitting changes are needed to win next time. 

“We have to ask ourselves: how do we, first of all, keep the enormous number of the 8 million people who voted for us, that were … almost two-and-half-million more than the previous time, but then add another, roughly, million votes that will allow us to get over the finish line?” Poilievre said on his way into the meeting on Tuesday.

Poilievre plans to run in the safe rural Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot after the winning Tory candidate, Damien Kurek, stepped aside so the party leader can clinch a seat in an upcoming byelection. 

“We have to spend a lot of the summer listening carefully to people, in the communities, coffee shops and town halls and other events (so) we can find out who are the people that are most likely to join this growing movement and get us over the finish line,” Poilievre said.  

In the days since the election, some Conservatives have called for changes to the party’s strategy, tone and personnel. Tim Houston, the Progressive Conservative premier of Nova Scotia, has said the federal Tories need to do some “soul-searching,” while Ontario’s Doug Ford has verbally sparred with federal Conservative MP Jamil Javani, who accused the Ontario Tories of sabotaging Poilievre’s federal campaign. 

Under Poilievre’s leadership, the federal Conservatives seemed on track for a likely majority government until prime minister Justin Trudeau stepped aside under internal pressure and paved the way for former central banker Mark Carney to take over the Liberal leadership in March.

With U.S. President Donald Trump imposing tariffs and talking about making Canada part of the United States, Carney’s Liberals were re-elected to a minority government with a campaign focused on defending against American economic aggression. The Liberals also scrapped Trudeau-era policies like the consumer carbon price, and echoed Conservative promises to fast-track development projects and cancel a planned increase to capital gains taxes. 

The defeat raised questions about how the Conservatives ran their campaign, which resulted in the party’s fourth straight federal election loss since the Liberals took office in 2015. 

Caucus’s decision to adopt the powers granted by the Reform Act follows the Conservative party’s decision to do the same following the 2021 election, which eventually led to former leader Erin O’Toole’s ouster in 2022 and set the stage for Poilievre’s successful leadership run later that year.

On Tuesday, however, several MPs expressed support for Poilievre’s leadership. Some noted the Conservatives posted their highest share of the popular vote since the Progressive Conservative majority under Brian Mulroney in 1988, while expanding their presence in the House of Commons by more than 20 seats. 

Earlier in the day, Scheer told reporters that Poilievre brought new voters to the party and that he was “confident our leader Pierre Poilievre will be able to make some adjustments to finish the job next time.”

Scheer also said Jenni Byrne, Poilievre’s campaign manager, who faced criticism from some in Conservative circles for running a tightly-controlled campaign, did a “great job” and “grew our seat count in many areas of the country.”

Other MPs indicated they are also behind Poilievre, while also suggesting adjustments are needed to prevent another loss at the ballot box. 

“We’ll do an analysis with (Poilievre) on the election and we will … suggest a different approach to do even better next time,” re-elected Quebec MP Bernard Généreux said in French.

Dominique Vien, another re-elected Quebec Tory, said she expected the caucus would be in listening-mode for Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s not for nothing,” that they were meeting, Vien told reporters on her way in. 

Moments later, a third Quebec MP, Luc Berthold, added: “We lost, so it’s obvious we need to change things,” but declined to say whether that included personnel around Poilievre, including Byrne. 

For his own part, Poilievre said Tuesday that, while Byrne worked hard and that his team has “a lot to be proud of,” he will be expanding his team.

“That’s one of the things we’ll be talking about today in our caucus,” Poilievre said. 

In a video posted on social media on Monday, Poilievre said he needs to “learn and grow” following his defeat. 

He said Tuesday that he now has “a path back into Parliament to allow me to hold the government to account” that would allow him to continue to advance his mission “to give people back control of their lives.”

“That was the mission that I set out to when I started my leadership campaign back in 2022,” Poilievre said. “It’s the mission that we stay focused on today.”

With files from Althia Raj.