By: Spencer Fernando
The Conservative Party of Canada has had more than a year to grapple with and adapt to the way Donald Trump’s assault on Canada’s sovereignty and economy is reshaping politics in this nation.
They’ve had more than a year to detach themselves from the pro-Trump influencers they cultivated.
They’ve had more than a year to do the work of persuading pro-Trump elements of their party base that supporting Trump is incompatible with Canadian patriotism.
And they’ve had more than a year to learn from electorally successful Conservatives like former prime minister Stephen Harper, former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, all of whom have gained the confidence of a wide-swath of Canadians for standing up for Canadian sovereignty and being willing to criticize the Trump Administration in strong terms, even as they have their own unique tones and styles of doing so.
What has the Conservative Party done with that time?
Have they adapted?
Have they learned anything?
No.
Instead, the Conservative Party of Canada has tried to play a sneaky double-game. The party puts out one set of messaging for the broader public, proclaiming unity against U.S. tariffs. Then, there’s another set of messaging for the party base, messaging which casts Canada as to blame for the trade war, ignores the undeniable fact that Donald Trump started it, and pretends Trump is some sort of good-faith and rational actor, despite the immense evidence to the contrary.
Even worse, much of that messaging is put out by CPC-aligned “influencers” who are almost uniformly pro-Trump. Those same influencers were featured at the 2026 CPC Convention, received special “influencer passes,” feted by top party leaders, and even given speaking slots.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, CPC MP and noted J.D. Vance friend Jamil Jivani is openly attacking Carney and Ford as “Liberal” politicians “playing politics,” and blaming them for the trade war, while refusing to criticize Trump. Jivani, who has previously claimed Canadians were having an “anti-American hissy fit,” has become a prominent voice for the Conservatives, with a message that is often directly at odds with that of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Yet, Poilievre’s refusal to remove Jivani from the CPC caucus indicates either weakness or complicity with Jivani’s anti-Canadian stance. Either Poilievre is too weak to stand up to Jivani, in which case he clearly wouldn’t be able to stand up to Trump, or he agrees with Jivani’s message and is only putting out unifying rhetoric as a cover. Either way, the implications are concerning.
The deeper issue here is that while there are surely individual Conservative MPs (like Kyle Seeback who Tweeted criticism of Jivani only to rapidly delete said criticism), who recognize that it is disastrous for them to be associated with pro-Trump influencers and MPs like Jivani, the party as a whole does not recognize this, and do not recognize that something very profound is happening in this country.
Donald Trump is openly trying to destroy Canada’s economy to force us to give up our sovereignty. As Carney said, “You’re at war when you’re attacked. We got attacked.”
Many Canadians view Donald Trump as an enemy of Canada, and that view is not surprising given that Trump repeatedly threatens our existence as a sovereign nation and is deliberately inflicting pain on Canadian workers. This is the fundamental fact of Canadian politics right now, and voters won’t listen to anything else you have to say if they aren’t sure you are united with them against Trump.
As a result, this is not a normal political moment. If a faction of the Official Opposition sides with someone Canadians see as an enemy, that will be seen as disloyalty, and as the deliberate undermining of Canada from within. That sense of disloyalty will then damage the reputation of those associated with the CPC in its current form, including the many MPs and party activists who oppose Trump and stand with Canada. As unfair as that is, that is the reality of pandering to a pro-Trump, anti-Canadian faction.
And “anti-Canadian” is the right term here. After all that has happened, after all of Trump’s threats and mistreatment of our country, it is simply impossible to be pro-Trump and pro-Canada. It’s one or the other. And the influencers and MPs who have chosen the pro-Trump path cannot try to weasel their way out of the implications of that choice.
With the decision to pander to pro-Trump elements, it’s no surprise that the CPC has continued to hemorrhage support since losing in 2025, nor is it a surprise that Pierre Poilievre now trails Mark Carney by about 30 points on the preferred PM question. The more the CPC is associated with the pro-Trump faction that they refuse to remove, and the more the CPC lets the toxic influencers define the CPC brand, the more voters will rightfully recoil from supporting the Conservatives in their current iteration.
The tragedy is that many Canadian Conservatives have been among the strongest defenders of this country in the face of Trump’s assault on our nation. As mentioned at the outset, figures like Jason Kenney, Doug Ford, and Stephen Harper have all been strong and patriotic opponents of Trump’s anti-Canada agenda, and have often done so in ways that are based upon Canadian Conservative principles. And yet, instead of choosing that path, the CPC has chosen the path of pandering to people who side with the annexationists.
It may be true that Poilievre would risk his position if he removed Jivani and cut ties with the influencers. But that risk is what would make the decision a real example of leadership and courage. It takes little courage to do something when you know nothing bad could happen. Courage is about not knowing, and doing it anyway, because it is the right thing to do. If Poilievre showed even a fraction of the toughness and anger in taking on the pro-Trump elements of his party that he showed in years criticizing Justin Trudeau, he would be rendering a deeply patriotic service to Canada.
The Conservative oarty built up through years of painstaking work is slowly being taken over by pro-Trump elements who, while a tiny minority of Canadians and a minority of Conservative voters, have cowed their fellow party members and colleagues into submission. Ignoring it won’t make the problem go away, nor will pandering to it. The only fix is action, and that action must include booting out Jivani, cutting all ties to the influencers, and taking a lesson or two from Harper, Kenney, and Ford on having the toughness to criticize Trump and channel the righteous anger of Canadians towards an Administration that believes our country shouldn’t exist.
Or, the CPC can ignore this advice and keeping doing what they’re doing, since it’s working out so well for them.
Read more from writer Spencer Fernando at his website.
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I get it that The Line likes its Conservatives (conservatives) prostrate, deferential, and labile, if not actually defenestrated.
None of the folks in my Conservative EDA meet the description of the Party you have described.
Every single member of our Board joined due to the decay, diminishment, and destruction of our Country. None has uttered a word of support for Donald Trump, MAGA, or whatever other goblin you have conjured up to further disparage the best Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in our history, the man whose Party chased off the worst Prime Minister since Confederation, and the man who forced The Great Canadian Economic Savant to adopt his own Party’s platform.
Yes, there are problems under this big tent. But are they any more insurmountable than the FarLeft-CentreLeft split between the Palestinian/Climate Fanatic/Woke/Progressive/Postmodern/Deconstructionist wing of the Liberal Party of Canada?
JJ should not have done what he did; like all elected members, the voters will decide his fate.
Given the number of real problems facing conservatism in this Country, perhaps The Line, generally, and this author, specifically, could get back to discussing those, and the actual problems threatening this Country.
With intellectually lazy criticism like this, who needs enemies?
The idea that loyalty is owed to the governing party and prime minister, implicit in this piece, is absurd and disloyal.
As Canadians our first concern is not Trump, but what we can control which is our government. The lack of information and intentional duplicity by our prime minister is hugely concerning and the focus of media like this on supposed disloyalty instead is galling.
What deal did we walk away from? What were the specifics? Is this another Gordie Howe situation?
Literally today they are now saying that they will go back to the table because French label requirements are back on. Did we tank the deal for that?
This essay is just vapid foolishness.