Federal and provincial Conservative leaders have exchanged public barbs since the election results came out, feeding into rumours of bad blood between the parties.
On Monday, Canadians headed to the polls to choose the next federal government, resulting in a fourth Liberal term with leader Mark Carney as prime minister.
Following the election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre lost not only the chance to become the prime minister but also his seat in his Carleton riding in Ottawa, which he held for over 20 years and was won over by Liberal Bruce Fanjoy. Despite the loss, Poilievre has yet to confirm whether he will be continuing as party leader or resign.
Although the Conservatives had a 25-point lead in vote intentions by the end of last year, they increasingly lost support after former prime minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January, and the U.S. President Donald Trump took office, imposing tariffs on Canadian goods and making remarks about the country being America’s 51st state.
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After his re-election on Monday night, Conservative Bowmanville—Oshawa MP Jamil Jivani accused Ontario Premier Doug Ford of sabotaging the federal party, while speaking with a CBC reporter.
“Doug Ford just went through an election. I have differences of opinion with him. I don’t like how he has managed healthcare and education. But, out of respect, we didn’t say anything—the federal party, we didn’t get in his way,” he said.
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“When it was our turn to run an election, he couldn’t stay out of our business. Always getting his criticisms and all his opinions out, distracting our campaign, trying to make it about him, trying to position himself as some kind of political genius that we needed to be taking cues from.”
Additionally, Jivani also made some harsh remarks about Ford and his Ontario administration, remembering the time when he worked as the premier’s first appointed Advocate for Community Opportunities between 2019 and 2022.
“I see Doug Ford as a problem for Ontario and for Canada. He’s not doing a great job in running his province and now he’s trying to exercise his influence on other levels of government, and it’s not like this guy is doing anything particularly well,” he said.
“I speak from experience. I was trying to fix problems in his province, and he kept getting in the way,” he added.
— Jamil Jivani (@jamiljivani) April 30, 2025
FORD’S CAMPAIGN MANAGER CRITICIZES POILIEVRE
Last month, Ford’s campaign manager Kory Teneycke, who helped Ford win three straight elections, spoke out about Poilievre’s campaign in a Curse of Politics: The Herle Burly Political Panel podcast episode, accusing the Conservative leader of campaign malpractice.
“Blowing a 25-point lead and being like 10 points down is f***ing campaign malpractice at the highest f***ing level. And I’m sorry to have to point that out, Conservatives, but that is the actual reality,” he said at the time.
“This campaign is going to be studied for decades as the biggest f***ing disaster in terms of having lost a massive lead in ways that were so obvious, with so much information.”
A few days later, Ford defended Teneycke’s opinion while speaking with reporters, saying that “sometimes the truth hurts.”
“He is the best campaign manager in the country. And to be frank, if Kory was running that campaign, I don’t think Mr. Poilievre would be in the position he is in right now,” he said.
Ford also never endorsed Poilievre during his federal election campaign, despite being recently re-elected for a third term as a leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
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In March, rumours of bad blood between the federal and provincial Conservatives had already surged, after the Toronto Star reported that Poilievre had reached out to Ford for campaign “advice” and was refused by the premier, who said he was too busy governing Ontario to help him.
At the time, the premier pushed back on the rumours, denying that Poilievre ever came to him for help.
“What was reported is not accurate at all, he didn’t ask me for help,” the Ontario premier told reporters.
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FORD AND JIVANI EXCHANGE BARBS
Responding to Jivani’s election night comments, on Tuesday Ford said that he is focused on trying to unite Canadians across the country.
“I’m focusing on unity right across this country,” he told reporters during a press conference. “We have to bring this country together like we never have before.”
During a press conference in Mississauga on Wednesday, Ford spoke out again responding to Jivani’s remarks, saying that he didn’t want to interfere in the federal election, and recalling that Poilievre also did not endorse him during his provincial re-election campaign.
“Last time I checked, Pierre Poilievre never came out in our election. Matter of fact, him or one of his lieutenants told every one of his members, ‘don’t you dare go out and help the PCs.’ Isn’t that ironic,” he said.
After Ford’s re-election, Poilievre allegedly told Conservative MPs not to congratulate him and his Tories, according to a report by the Toronto Star.
When asked about rumours of bad blood between the provincial and federal Conservative parties on Wednesday, Ford said that it is not his fault.
“Well, all they have to do is make a phone call,” he said.
Following Ford’s remarks, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also voiced his opinion, suggesting that the federal Conservatives needed to “do some soul searching” after losing the election.
“I think the Conservative Party of Canada was very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in. And I think that they probably saw that in some of the results they had across the country,” he said to reporters on Wednesday.
Speaking to CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday, Conservative-Saskatchewan MP and former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer also joined the discussion.
When asked if the federal Conservatives should take notes from the Ontario premier, Sheer said that his party doesn’t need advice from “someone like Doug Ford.”
“I wish Conservatives at other levels around the country would help, would be more cognizant that it’s about the people. It’s about the people that they represent as premiers or as other politicians. It’s not about settling interpersonal differences. I don’t think Canadians care about that,” he added.
But the argument didn’t stop there, as Jivani spoke out about Ford’s supposed election interference again on Thursday at CBC’s Power & Politics.
The MP said that his remarks were not personal against the premier and were an attempt to comfort Conservative voters after Poilievre’s loss, but emphasized that he is not intimidated by Ford.
“For those folks, to see Doug Ford undermine the campaign, bad-mouth Pierre, leak all kinds of stuff to the media, they were frustrated. And part of my job as a Member of Parliament for Bowmanville—Oshawa North is to say the tough things that need to be said so the voices of my constituents are heard,” he said.
“Doug Ford can get mad about that, he can have his goons say mean things about me. I’m not afraid of him, I don’t need his approval. I believe that we accomplished many things over the course of this campaign, and I want people to focus on these things,” he added.
CANADIANS REACT TO BAD BLOOD BETWEEN CONSERVATIVE PARTIES
Canadians online are divided after the public exchange of barbs between provincial and federal Conservative leaders.
Responding to an X post by Jivani, many online users seemed concerned about the parties not getting along and called out the MP for being unprofessional.
“Respectfully. Please unite Jamil, this country is wounded and needs healing, not more controversy,” one user said.
“How does anyone take you seriously? If the Federal CPC can’t get along with its Provincial counterpart how can they be expected to work effectively with anyone,” another user inquired.
“I’m a Conservative. Proudly so, yet @fordnation will never see another vote from me. I’m also a fan of yours. This however, is immature and unbecoming,” a different user added.
Meanwhile, some residents have been criticizing Ford for not standing with his party, and saying that he should not have commented on Poilievre’s campaign.
“Bravo to you! I’m a card holding member for both the provincial and federal Conservatives. In the last election, I declined my vote for Ford. Something has shifted with him, and he’s no longer the representative that I voted for. Like you said, he shouldn’t have stuck his nose in the federal election,” one user said.
“I love it. We need (to) see more politicians who are not shy to speak blunt truth like this in (the) Canadian political sphere. Let’s put an end to the culture of playing safe politics and always be politically correct,” another user added.
