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But that refrain can’t last forever. 

“What (people) didn’t want to be sold was how wonderful the result was,” said Rob Batherson, a former Conservative party president who fell to the incumbent Liberals in Halifax West last week. 

That doesn’t mean it’s time to burn it all down, Batherson told the Star.

“We’ve gone through so much churn and leadership turnover and backbiting and finger-pointing. The party needs some stability,” he said.

“Constantly switching up leaders and teams, it does set us back practically.”

Stability was undoubtedly one of the messages Poilievre sought to convey this week.

In his first public comments since his election night loss, the Conservative leader said he was ready to spend his summer “listening carefully” to Canadians. He wished Prime Minister Mark Carney well on his high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. And he said that instead of axing key members of his team — like campaign manager Jenni Byrne — he would instead bring more voices to the table. 

It reflected a more humble — and human — tone that Poilievre’s supporters concede is necessary to win over more voters.

“I don’t think we anticipated as much of the pushback from baby boomers, if you will, as far as the tone goes,” Greg McLean, the Conservative MP recently re-elected in Calgary Centre, told the Star’s Althia Raj.

“I can tell you seniors’ homes did not like the tone, and they wanted us to make sure we were stronger against Trump. That was a big issue in seniors’ homes, but they also wanted to see a more conciliatory tone in Parliament.” 

While older Canadians appeared to rally around Carney’s Liberals by the end of the campaign, the Conservatives struggled to make inroads with another key demographic: women.

More “personal” moments in the campaign — such as during the leaders’ English-language debate, when Poilievre expressed regret at not being able to meet more Canadians, and when he discussed in an interview his young daughter with special needs — should have been leveraged more, said a source close to the campaign.

“It is absolutely reasonable to hold the government to account, and that is the job of the opposition, but seeing that softer side that is within him, I think that is what folks who consider themselves moderate but Conservative accessible … need to see,” said the source, who spoke to the Star on the condition they not be named.

The humility many in Conservative circles say Poilievre must now embody is particularly critical because the leader lost not only the election but his own Ottawa-area seat.

Poilievre’s decision to run in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot — where he has already spent time trying to earn the respect of voters — also comes as discontent with the federal Liberals and separatist rhetoric in the province is bubbling up anew.

“I think it is a positive thing that Pierre is returning to Alberta, because he can hopefully quell those concerns by having a presence in the province,” the campaign source said. 

That was a sentiment echoed by longtime Conservative MP Andrew Scheer on Tuesday, just before Tory caucus members sequestered themselves in an all-day, closed-door meeting to air campaign grievances and plot the party’s next steps. 

At the culmination of that meeting, caucus members had selected Scheer, a former party leader with a wealth of experience in the House of Commons, to serve as Poilievre’s representative in the lower chamber until his anticipated return.

Veteran Conservatives say that was a calculated choice, weighing the former leader’s resume against concerns that choosing a rising star within caucus could undermine Poilievre, even if a fresh face would indicate the party was serious about broadening its appeal. 

“(Scheer’s) not angling to be the leader of the party again,” said David Tarrant, a vice-president of National Strategic Communications at Enterprise Canada, who has previously worked in the offices of former prime minister Stephen Harper and Premier Doug Ford, and on Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s campaigns. 

“It’s a short-term role. It’s not as if we’re building the Conservative party’s brand long-term over who occupies that role,” Batherson said. 

There are other opportunities now for Poilievre to expand his team, not just behind the scenes but on his “front bench,” said another source involved in the Conservative campaign.

“There’s some interesting faces, some new people that are in caucus now that can help us keep the voters we have and then expand to new people,” said the source, citing Newmarket-Aurora MP Sandra Cobena and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek’s Ned Kuruc as two examples. 

But to better platform new faces, re-elected MPs and even the leader, the party’s decision to eschew traditional media outlets throughout the campaign must be rethought, sources say.

While the party tended to favour alternative media sources like podcasters, YouTubers and livestreamers during the campaign, it has already given some MPs more leeway to return to legacy airwaves since its election defeat.

“You have to speak to the folks who watch more traditional media outlets. With the folks over 65, they’re the folks who have CBC on all day. Younger people are going to be on TikTok and YouTube,” a campaign source said.

“So it’s balancing to ensure that you are reaching as many Canadians as possible on the mediums that they favour.”